I received a Republican diatribe from a friend that began with a picture of a flooded school bus yard in New Orleans. It went on to blame local officials for not using their resources properly. Here was my response. Sorry it's so long.

Really? The buses were underwater shortly after the storm was upgraded to “monster” status. Who was going to get them started underwater? And those were school buses, whose drivers were busy trying to save the asses of both themselves and loved ones. School Bus drivers are not emergency evacuation personnel. I counted 125 buses in the picture. From the looks of the fence arrangement, the yard had no more than 175. Each bus can SAFELY AND LEGALLY, hold 44 people. That means that, even if each bus works properly, and you had the available bus drivers, and the buses didn’t have governors to regulate speed, and all the evacuation routes were clear, you could evacuate 7700 people.

Frankly I tend to get vaguely angry at any tendency to blame the victims as "stupid". One crucial factor that seems to have been neglected by a majority of the media is one that is among the most crucial, that being the time in the month the storm struck. Coming only days before folks were set to receive their monthly paychecks, the poor in the city (and New Orleans is, last I checked, the third poorest major city in the nation, only behind El Paso and San Antonio, which are marked by huge, spawling barrios of recent immigrants) had little to no opportunity to avoid a storm that, to remind everyone, was only upgraded to a monster storm a matter of hours before it hit.

Theoretically, even if there were enough buses and cabs to get the entire population out (which, of course, there weren’t), can one expect several hundred thousand (what you consider) careless families to gather everyone together, pool every dollar they have, and set off in a cab to a far away city (which, for all you know, will end up getting hit even worse) at the last minute? When you compound this with the CW that the only folks who die in a hurricane are those who live directly in the path of the storm surge, live in mobile homes, or who are stupid enough to go outside or stand in front of the window I find it very difficult to call someone who decided to weather the storm by holing up in the center room in their multi-story apartment complex (which was on a hill) "stupid". It can be an entirely rational decision to determine that you’d rather spend the bits of money you have saved up on supplies to board up your windows (or whatever) and not risk the possibility of being stuck in traffic in an automobile during a hurricane…

It is my understanding that a typical cost to a family of 4, trying to evacuate for any period of time was going to be at least $1200 dollars (Think food, lodging, transportation). Try to do that on under $10,000 a year income. And with the number of hurricanes that threaten the Gulf coast annually, can anyone afford to evacuate every time a storm threatens? Can you?

Fact: New Orleans had a plan: http://www.cityofno.com/portal.aspx?portal=46&tabid=3
Highlights, please note bold print. This was the point that the Superdome and other emergency shelter plans were implemented. After the evacuation routes had to be closed because of flooding.

Follow these steps:

Stay calm.
Take your disaster supply kit.
Remember as you leave your house to do the following:
- Turn off lights, household gas appliances, heating, air conditioning, and ventilation systems.
- Leave refrigerator/freezer on.
- Lock house.
- Only use the phone in case of an emergency, injury, or illness. If you must use the phone, keep calls brief.
- Do not listen to rumors. Turn on your radio or television for up-to-date information from public officials during an emergency.
- Use only one vehicle for your family. If you have room, assist any neighbors that may need a ride.
- Tune to Emergency Alerting System 870 AM or 101.9 FM radio stations for reports about evacuation routes, conditions, etc. Use those travel routes specified.
- Drive safely. Traffic will be heavy. Law enforcement officials along the route will help with traffic.
- If you need a ride, try to go with a neighbor, friend, or relative.
- Let others know when you leave and where you are going.
- Make arrangements for pets. Animals are not allowed in public shelters. Pet carriers are recommended along with pet supplies.

HURRICANE EVACUATION GUIDELINES
The Greater New Orleans Metropolitan Area presents a difficult evacuation problem due to the large population and a limited road system which is susceptible to flooding. The public is encouraged to act in their best interest and voluntarily evacuate the high risk areas (outside the levee system) before a recommended evacuation.

If you plan to evacuate, leave as early as possible - before hurricane gale force winds, heavy rainfall, and storm surge cause road closing. Leaving early may also help you to avoid massive traffic jams encountered late in an evacuation effort. Listen to the radio and/or television for storm reports and current updates.

An evacuation notice will be issued when a hurricane is forecast to present a danger to Orleans Parish. The timing of this notice will depend on the probability of landfall in this area, and the severity and forward speed of the storm.

The Orleans Parish Evacuation Plan has three phases:
1. PRECAUTIONARY
This phase will concentrate on people who are most vulnerable to a hurricane and the effects of both water and wind. It is directed at offshore workers, persons on coastal islands or in wetlands, persons aboard boats, and those living in mobile homes and recreational vehicles. No special traffic control or transportation measures will be implemented.

During the Precautionary Phase of Evacuation:
1. A State of Emergency may be declared.
2. The City of New Orleans Emergency Operating Center (EOC) will be activated.
3. Special facilities, including nursing homes, begin preparation for possible evacuation.
4. Staging areas and/or shelters will be announced.
5. Citizens implement their personal evacuation plan at their discretion.

2. RECOMMENDED
This phase is enacted when a storm has a high probability of causing a significant threat to people living in the areas at risk. Government authorities will recommend that persons at risk evacuate. Staging areas will be designated for persons needing transportation.

YOU ARE AT RISK:
1. If you live outside of levee protection.
2. If you live in a mobile home or recreational vehicle.
3. If you live in a low-lying inland area or on the coast.

During the Recommended Phase of Evacuation:
1. The City of New Orleans Emergency Operating Center (EOC) is staffed for 24-hour operation.
2. Local transportation will be mobilized to assist persons who lack transportation.
3. Bus routes and locations of staging areas for those needing transportation to shelters in or out of the Parish, will be announced via radio and television.
4. Relatives and neighbors should help family and friends who need transportation and other assistance.

Never take any hurricane lightly; everyone is especially at risk if a hurricane is category 3 (slow moving storm) or 4 and 5 (slow or fast moving storm).

3. MANDATORY
This is the final, most serious phase of evacuation. Authorities will put maximum emphasis on encouraging evacuation and limiting entry into the risk area. The State Office of Emergency Preparedness, State Police, State Department of Transportation and The Louisiana National Guard will assume coordination and responsibility for traffic control on all major evacuation routes. Because of deteriorating weather conditions, at some point, evacuation routes will be closed and the remaining people at risk will be directed to a last resort refuge.

During the Mandatory Phase of Evacuation:
1. Persons living in designated evacuation zones will be instructed to leave.
2. Traffic controls will be imposed to direct persons to designated evacuation routes.
3. Emergency Alerting System(EAS) radio stations 870 AM & 101.9 FM and news media will issue evacuation information.

Evacuation Considerations to Keep in Mind:
1. Has your area been advised to evacuate by local and/or state officials via radio and television?
2. Will you stay with a friend or relative, or at a hotel or motel out of the risk area?
3. Will you go to a shelter out of the risk area?

Prepare to evacuate if advised to do so by officials through Radio or Television.

Question. How many conservatives does it take to evacuate poor people from areas of natural disasters? Answer. We don’t know, its never happened. After all, this is God’s way of culling the herd. And its their own fault that they are poor anyway, don’t disturb me during a $100,000 a plate fundraiser.

Fact:
New Orleans had long known it was highly vulnerable to flooding and a direct hit from a hurricane. In fact, the federal government has been working with state and local officials in the region since the late 1960s on major hurricane and flood relief efforts. When flooding from a massive rainstorm in May 1995 killed six people, Congress authorized the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, or SELA.

Over the next 10 years, the Army Corps of Engineers, tasked with carrying out SELA, spent $430 million on shoring up levees and building pumping stations, with $50 million in local aid. But at least $250 million in crucial projects remained, even as hurricane activity in the Atlantic Basin increased dramatically and the levees surrounding New Orleans continued to subside.
HURRICANE COVERAGE

Yet after 2003, the flow of federal dollars toward SELA dropped to a trickle. The Corps never tried to hide the fact that the spending pressures of the war in Iraq, as well as homeland security -- coming at the same time as federal tax cuts -- was the reason for the strain. At least nine articles in the Times-Picayune from 2004 and 2005 specifically cite the cost of Iraq as a reason for the lack of hurricane- and flood-control dollars.

Source http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_con...

Question: Should local officials have raised taxes on themselves to improve the levees when the Federal Government clearly lost interest in locals security projects in deference to Iraq? WHAT? HIGHER TAXES?

How many Republicans does it take to fix a levee? None! When the levee realizes it might break, it will fix itself.

Fact:

According to the Times-Picayune, early in Bush's first term FEMA director Joe Allbaugh ordered a sophisticated computer simulation of what would happen if a category 5 storm hit New Orleans. Joseph Suhayda, an engineer at Louisana State University who worked on the project, described to the newspaper in 2002 what the simulation showed could happen:

Subhayda: Another scenario is that some part of the levee would fail. It's not something that's expected. But erosion occurs, and as levees broke, the break will get wider and wider. The water will flow through the city and stop only when it reaches the next higher thing. The most continuous barrier is the south levee, along the river. That's 25 feet high, so you'll see the water pile up on the river levee.

Whether or not a "breach" was "anticipated," the fact is that many individuals have been warning for decades about the threat of flooding that a hurricane could pose to a set below sea level and sandwiched between major waterways. A Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) report from before September 11, 2001 detailed the three most likely catastrophic disasters that could happen in the United States: a terrorist attack in New York, a strong earthquake in San Francisco, and a hurricane strike in New Orleans. In 2002, New Orleans officials held the simulation of what would happen in a category 5 storm. Walter Maestri, the emergency coordinator of Jefferson Parish in New Orleans , recounted the outcome to PBS’ NOW With Bill Moyers:

Maestri, September 2002: Well, when the exercise was completed it was evidence that we were going to lose a lot of people. We changed the name of the [simulated] storm from Delaney to K-Y-A-G-B... kiss your ass goodbye... because anybody who was here as that category five storm came across... was gone.

Source: http://www.factcheck.org/article344.html

Question: If this could be anticipated, why was FEMA so ill prepared for the possiblility. Are they not in charge with advance planning in case of both man made and NATURAL DISASTERS? Or are terrorist attacks the only thing that Homeland Security is interested in? Can local officials take up the slack for lack of federal funds with out, DARE I SAY IT, raising TAXES?

How many Republican Congressmen does it take to shore up a levee? None. They all too busy blaming Clinton’s penis for the war in IRAQ.

Frankly, it seems that the party of “Personal Responsibility” does its best work at buck passing. Well as far as I am concerned, the buck stops at the President’s desk. It always has and it always will.