Mayor Ray Nagin, take a look at yourself...

www.drudgereport.com...

It is now bieng reported that the same New Orleans paper that is slamming the Bush Administration for not doing enough, ran an article stating the following

the New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE ran a story warning residents: If you stay behind during a big storm, you'll be on your own!

Now, correct me if I am wrong, but you do not need to be white and priviledged to read the paper. Now, This same paper ran an article Monday calling for the firing of everyone at FEMA. Seems a little hypocritical after running a story that explains that the Mayor, city councilman and other state officals knew there was nothing to do, and told eveyone then they had better get out if the big one hits and to look to your neighbor for help.

Staff writer Bruce Nolan reported some 7 weeks before Katrina: "In scripted appearances being recorded now, officials such as Mayor Ray Nagin, local Red Cross Executive Director Kay Wilkins and City Council President Oliver Thomas drive home the word that the city does not have the resources to move out of harm's way an estimated 134,000 people without transportation."

"In the video, made by the anti-poverty agency Total Community Action, they urge those people to make arrangements now by finding their own ways to leave the city in the event of an evacuation.

"You're responsible for your safety, and you should be responsible for the person next to you," Wilkins said in an interview. "If you have some room to get that person out of town, the Red Cross will have a space for that person outside the area. We can help you."

The blame for this goes directly on the shoulders of the Mayor. Ask your local mayor, that is what I did. I asked my father-in-law, a 2 time mayor and has served city councils for over 20 years. He said you have to have a plan in place, and in the end, if the people of your town die no one is responsible except you.

In the wake of tragedy, true leaders are found, and lost, and rediscovered. This was a time to step up, and instead, he kept it real and blamed everyone but himself. If he could have controlled his city for 3 days, 3 days, I feel many more people, who should have headed the warnings anyway, could have survived. You local police force is supposed to handle things until the Guard can arrive, and this did not happen. Total breakdown of local government at a critical time. Why was he not this vocal when he was tryingto get funding, instead it seems he turned a blind eye.

I think we should all look at this and realize also that the terrorists and those who wish to harm America, have seen that if an Act of nature can cause such unrest and imbalance, what would a terror attack in LA or Detroit do?

I wish all those who survivied the strength to start again....



[edit on 6-9-2005 by esdad71]

[edit on 6-9-2005 by esdad71]

Originally posted by esdad71
The blame for this goes directly on the shoulders of the Mayor. Ask your local mayor, that is what I did. I asked my father-in-law, a 2 time mayor and has served city councils for over 20 years. He said you have to have a plan in place, and in the end, if the people of your town die no one is responsible except you.

You have voted esdad71 for the Way Above Top Secret award. You have two more votes this month.

Hear Hear, I could not have said it better myself.

I personally think he should be charged with negligence. He had ample warning of the power of the storm. Like you said, the lack of planning falls squarely on this guys shoulders.



[edit on 6/9/05 by COOL HAND]

it's sorta coincidental that they were just talking about evacuating NO.....i wonder how often this issue has been talked about?

this has shown just how unprepared all levels of govt are in the case of a major disaster. but don't worry, an election is coming up so you can all vote and change things and make them better.

I blame bush, as much as the mayor could and should have done the president could have dropped water and food to the babys we all saw on tv that couldn't hold their heads up we were dropping supplies in asia within hours not days. Yes the mayor has some fault but more so on the man who had the power to save alot of those people that died waiting on help!

[edit on 6-9-2005 by Kramthenothing]

There comes a time in every adults life that you have to assume responsiblity for your own actions. It is a terrible tragedy that has happened in NO but it is a tragedy that could have been avoided. It goes beyond the bounds of economics, race, or intelligence. It goes to
speak to the mind set of the individuals. Common sense tells me that
if I am living in a low lying area or below sea level, it is prone to flood!
Common sense tells me that if I am in the path of a CAT 5 Hurricane and living in a low lying area that is prone to flood that I should think about getting out, if not for me, for my family! I cannot speak for the victims of the flood, but I can for myself and my family. There is no way in hell I would have stayed in a city protected by levee's with a major storm taking aim on me. Nope not gonna happen! Maybe these people were living in denial, I really don't know but even if you don't have a car, you can walk or run to the nearest shelter. I personnaly would have walked out of NO if that is what I had to do to save my family. There was amble time, this storm did not sneak up on anyone. It was forecast, it was foretold and it was expected to happen sooner or later. Everyone in the city knew that the levee's would probably not hold. Everyone knew that once they broke the city would be under water. Everyone knew that many thousands would die if that happened and yet they stayed. The Mayor and the Govenor knew that 100's of thousands had no way out and yet no attempt was made to try and get the people out before the storm hit. There were no decent shelters with food and water provided. There apparently was no planning beyond declaring a mandatory evacuation!!! The public outcry is loud as hell now because 10's of thousands are probably dead. But where was the public outcry before this happen? It is so easy to set back and say that this person and that person or this government offical and that government offical was derelic in their duty. But the cold hard fact is whether the bleeding hearts want to admit it or not is once the individuals made the adult decision to stay in their homes, then their fate was left up to God,
period. You don't have to be educated, white or wealthy to have common sense. As much as I feel sorry for the people that have been affected by this storm, I cannot for the life of me defend their total disconcernment for inpeding disaster! So forgive me if I do not jump on the bandwagon and start blaming Bush, FEMA or anyone else. You see there is enough blame to go around starting with the citizens of New Orleans themselves!

Many were poor and had no means to leave, but the Mayor had access to hundreds of school buses to help them evacuate, but left them in the lot to be flooded:



Source: lonestartimes.com...

It is your right to blame Bush, but please give a reason.

Stating that we were dropping supplies to the tsunami victims in hours is a claim that needs to be backed up, and also, I don't remember the social breakdown overthere that has occured in New Orleans.

Why should we fight over what happened, when we should be adults, and figure out a solution for these people now, and make sure this does not happen in the future.

A category 5 storm is catastrophic. They knew what could happen (based on the article), the local government did not plan well enough. They should have requested the National guard 'before' the storm, that is preparation. They knew what to expect. very,very sad.

Originally posted by djohnsto77
Many were poor and had no means to leave, but the Mayor had access to hundreds of school buses to help them evacuate, but left them in the lot to be flooded:

Could this maybe have something to do with why Mr. Mayor thought the CIA might be out to get him? Maybe Mr. Mayor was not allowed to take the actions he saw fit. I think Mr. Mayor knows a lot more than he dare reveals.

Peace

The only way to COMPLETELY evacuate, besides bussing, was by rail and rail ONLY. It would have taken about thirty seven trains to have COMPLETELY evacuated the city. This would have included putting a MANDATORY stoppage of freight traffic in and around New Orleans.

Would you take 300 people per Amtrak Superliner car for half a million citizens, compared to
only 50 to 60 people per bus?

Originally posted by Kramthenothing
I blame bush, as much as the mayor could and should have done the president could have dropped water and food to the babys we all saw on tv that couldn't hold their heads up we were dropping supplies in asia within hours not days. Yes the mayor has some fault but more so on the man who had the power to save alot of those people that died waiting on help!

[edit on 6-9-2005 by Kramthenothing]

You have to take into account where those ships were when they starting sending in aid to the area. They were much closer to the scene than in the case of NO.

There is no reason to blame Bush for this at all. He sent in the aid as soon as possible after the storm hit. Had the local leaders done a better job in the first place, this could have turned out differently.

I see a lot of blame being placed on different people. I am by no means a fanboi of anyone in politics. But I do have this to say. Any mayor knows what resources he has available to him. City of Slidell mayor told people that if they chose to stay, they'd be on their own.

There were busses transporting people to the supedome for free. Using busses and trains to evacute folks from NOLA would mean that there would have to be a center somewhere outside of the path of the storm to take people to. There were none.

The breakdown in law enforcement occured because the mayor chose to use his resource to rescue people rather than patrol the stores. NO ONE was prepared for a storm of this magnitude, although people have been warning for years that this would happen.

I keep running this scenario through my mind, and I can't see it turning out any different than it actually did.

I think the whole thing is the mayors fault. Before the storm, how come the people who did not have the means or ability to evacuate werent offered solutions to leave? The mayor was aking why there wasnt 500 buses down there to help his devastated people after the storm, I ask why wasnt he asking for those buses BEFORE the storm?

You cannot tell poor people to up and leave and walk away. Did it ever cross his mind that some of these people didnt have the ability to leave?

Heck, I own a home and have a decent job, and even I couldnt afford to just up and drive a few hours away and live out of a hotel for days or weeks with my family, how could they expect the poor to do it?

I think the mayor failed his people in the most severe way. They never should have been allowed to stay and he should have provided them with the means to evacuate just like everybody else.

Every person who wanted to leave, but couldnt and ended up dying is the mayor Nagins and governors fault. Period.



[edit on 6-9-2005 by skippytjc]

Just out of curiosity, Skippy, what do you think he shoud have done for the 115,000 people in his city who had no transportation? Please be specific, get them out is not specific enough. Where should he have taken them to? Thanks in advance.

Originally posted by darkelf
Just out of curiosity, Skippy, what do you think he shoud have done for the 115,000 people in his city who had no transportation? Please be specific, get them out is not specific enough. Where should he have taken them to? Thanks in advance.

That’s just it Dark, that’s the whole point: He is blaming everybody else for not being prepared for all this after the fact, but where was all this energy, compassion, and effort before the storm?

His own school system had hundreds of UNUSED busses that stayed in their yards and got flooded, why weren’t those used? If the Governor and Nagin got on the phone the days before the storm and called their peers, you think they would have been denied? Not a chance.

If Nagin spent half the energy he has after the storm, preparing before the storm, the effects of this disaster could have been hugely mitigated.

But to answer your question more specifically: What does it matter where they would have gone, nobody asked if they could go in the first place…The person MOST RESPONSIBLE to ask never did, so what difference does it make now where they could have gone?

But you know what? Nagin sure does have an opinion now about what everybody else is doing…




[edit on 6-9-2005 by skippytjc]

Originally posted by skippytjc

If Nagin spent half the energy he has after the storm, preparing before the storm, the effects of this disaster could have been hugely mitigated.

[edit on 6-9-2005 by skippytjc]

I agree with you on this point. Everone from those who chose to stay, up to POTUS were ill prepared for a storm of this magnitude. They have been warned about this for years.

Nagin orders first-ever mandatory evacuation of New Orleans

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin called for a first-ever mandatory evacuation of the city this morning, saying that Hurricane Katrina’s devastating power may well create the sort of cataclysmic damage that residents have long worried that a killer storm could cause in a city that lies mostly below sea level.

*snip*

Around 112,000 Orleanians do not own cars, according to census data. Nagin urged those people to seek rides with friends, family, neighbors and church members. Those who could not find rides were urged to get to the Superdome as quickly as possible.

Regional Transit Authority buses were scheduled to ferry people to the dome from 12 locations around the city beginning at noon today.

Meantime, to make sure word of the mandatory evacuation gets out, Nagin said that police and fire crews would be driving through neighborhoods Sunday with bullhorns, directing people to leave.

Given the choice of the superdome or my own home, I may have chosen to stay in my home.

Yes, there were different points that could have served as a point of collection for the evacuees. I know of at least FIFTY cities that could have accepted the evacuees. This list includes Washington, D.C., Atlanta, GA., Jacksonville, Fla., Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, and San Antonio in Texas. This would have also included locations as far north as Chicago and as far west as Phoenix, AZ.

I feel pretty sure the great State of Texas would have accomodated ALL of those people BEFORE the storm....IF they had of been asked!

And thus the point I have been trying to make all along. The mayor of NOLA should have had a plan to evacuate people out of the city of NOLA rather than evac to the superdome.

Even though there have been warning after warning, I still don't believe that anyone seriously felt that the big one would actually happen.

Ill make just one more point on this:

Your choice:

Would you rather have a leader that reacts well to disasters and emergancies?

Or

Would you rather have a leader that avoids and reduces the risk of disasters and emergancies before they happen?


Id rather my leader send me away on a bus not knowing what they are going to do with me or where its even going, than let me sit in my home and hope the feds find me and my family before we die...

Skippy, I have been homeless. I learned how to get out of it. I refused to accept my situation as permanent. I refused to give up.

I have also learned to depend on myself and my family and not my government leaders. It's all part of taking responsibility for myself and family. Unfortunately, those who choose to depend on the government usually get much less than had they learned to depend on themselves.