Re: the school busses

[heidi]

Yes, they should have been used to get people outside the hurricane cone (ie Houston or somewhere in the vicinity) but they would not have been enough to get everyone out.

Many of you know that my brother in law is in the Navy and has been based in New Orleans for nearly a year - he left New Orleans at around four am last Sunday and as of ten am, was only halfway to Houston. The roads were that clogged, and people were driving, at most, at thirty miles per hour. And the concern here in Miami, and all hurrican zone locations, is that people would evacuate and be stuck on the highway in gale- or hurricane-force winds, and die there, from wind or flood, which is why evacuations need to be completed, usually, twelve hours ahead of the eye-wall coming ashore.

So the busses, assuming 70 people got aboard each, would have held perhaps two or three thousand people, at most. In other words, barely five per cent of those who could have gotten out.

And there would have been no time to turn them around and use them for another run. They would have been a one-time outlet.

Yes, they should have been used for the ill, the elderly, the pregnant, and one or two accompaniers for each. They would have saved lives.

But they would have been a band-aid on a slit artery. They would just not have been enough.

Comments

[ceilidh]

They could have got more than 70 on a bus, likely. School buses are part of the evacuation plans here because of the Catawba Nuclear Station, and every year when we have our evacuation training they mention that they would fill buses far beyond capacity in an emergency (ie, putting people in each other's laps and having people sit in the aisle). But you're right, it still wouldn't be enough.

[ashesofautumn.livejournal.com]

Plus... where would they have gone? Was Houston ready for them at that point?

[stephandra.livejournal.com]

I think people's problem here is that had they called for the mandatory evacuations any earlier then getting people out would have been less of a problem. The governor did admit that Bush had been calling and asking her to do it and she hadn't decided it was necessary yet. Knowing the problems of the city, many Louisianians were surprised that they waited so long. We were also surprised they didn't at least try the buses, as they shut down I-10 into the city as well as I-12 and that could have been a way to send the buses out. Not to mention that local media has been reporting at least 255 buses were available in just ONE lot. NO emergency response calls for them to use these buses. As to where they would have gone, that is something that probably should have been a part of evacuation plans for the city. I mean, they KNOW a lot of their parish members have no cars or way out.

I think people just are frustrated that the major and the governor did nothing but say, "all right, get to the superdome" when there were absolutely no provisions for people there not to mention that the superdome itself wasn't necessarily category 5 safe, hence its roof getting ripped off. The lack of local planning is ludicrous, as once their plan fell through they didn’t do anything. No backups, no nothing. It took me a long time to realize that this state doesn't run like other states. Being from Texas, I am used to quick and efficient, and here I am used to waiting and then being disappointed because things don't get done.

NO in no way prepared for this storm, or any storm for that matter. And when FEMA didn't get here as fast as they wanted, they didn't know what to do. Local media has pointed out several times that no one knew that NO would be such a mess until the levees were noticed on Tuesday. The storm didn't leave the state until late Monday evening and with the levees flooding the city, it made accessing it very difficult. I am sure your brother in law told you that a lot of reason for the evacuation proceeding so slowly is that everything here is 3 lanes max and there aren't a whole lot of ways in and out of the city. Then the violence hits its max and people shoot at the helicopters that are there and things go even slower. Not to mention the governor didn't ask for enough NGmen or declare martial law immediately.

I am not saying FEMA was on the ball. They should have been prepared for what happened and alternate ways into the city. But the local government did just about NOTHING and then when the shit hit the fan they said that it is the feds fault and they should have swooped in an handled it for them. But local media also points out that FEMA doesn't have this problem in AL and MS.

In my opinion, this being a state where as soon as I got to school there they handed out hurricane safety sheets, the state should have had their OWN emergency response planning INCLUDING backups, knowing it would be difficult for aid to get here quickly as there would be good chances the city would flood. I also think that too much focus has been put on blaming people. This is why people in Baton Rouge were shocked by the mayor of NO, as his comments started problems with some of the evacuees who were staying here, causing problems in this city. Not a lot of people mind you, but enough that nowhere downtown stays open past 7 and the buildings were evacuated. Even wal-mart closes at 10 now.

This whole situation is a great big mess. This state is about as corrupt as they come, with NOs last mayor being kicked out of office for accepting bribes from people and using that money to influence city councilmen and state reps to get his kids into Tulane on scholarships. Local news has started reporting that a lot of repairs and funding that should have been done to the levees, that were reported to the feds as being in progress by NO haven’t been done at all. I just think it is irresponsible to put the blame squarely on the federal government when this state should have been taking care of its own, with the mayor and the governor doing at least something to step up and handle business before and after.

[chrissyann.livejournal.com]

there were 584 school buses in New Orleans alone ( over 900 in the parish ) . If they put 70 to a bus they could have evacuated over 40,000 people, about half of population that was left in the city. My brother (national guard ) also said that there was about 10 to 15 greyhounds in the area that also were not used. The city also should have used its own evac plan and called for the evacuation of the city 3 days before the storm hit instead of one.

[heidi8.livejournal.com]

Do you have any idea what sort of area the Cone of Doom encompassed on Friday, which was about eight to twelve hours after Katrina passed within 20 miles of my house?