I know its well after the fact, but why did New Orleans not use all those school buses to get people out?
547745
Because New Orleans was being run by a dumb *ss who sat back and waited for the Feds to come handle everything for him. And his contingency followed his idiotic example. \n\nHere in FL, we didn't have those problems, despite being hit by four hurricanes in a row. We got off our butts and prepared. Lesson learned? \n\nNo, they still think it's W's fault.
889233
Society uses many things to justify their problems. But Big City problems\nare problems of circumstance. Humans gather in cities for protection,\nbut after a while the get glutted. There are just too many people competing\nfor the same needs.\nI know it's easy to say. Many have lived there all their lives. But people need to\nstop going to the Big City for "excitement". And more people need to Move from the Big City, to smaller cities where life will be easier for them. Less\nexpensive. Easier to get around.
650901
we already have welfare, food stamps, government housing, and medical care. there shouldnt be any other special programs. new orleans has been taken down in the past by hurricanes, it will happen again. it is a stront city, it has rebuilt on its own in the past without the help of the government. i lived in texas where rita went through. i lost almost everything as far as possessions go. i'm not accepting handouts from the government. i moved, life continued on. when the weather dictates that you evacuate, you dont just sit there and then expect compensation for your own lack of listening. i say the government should completely back out of rebuilding new orleans and let it do what it needs to to rebuild itself. people with money will invest, it will come back bigger, better, and stronger.
249497
No, but I was there August 30th.  I'm a pediatrics resident @ Children's Hospital in New Orleans, and we caravaned 30 kids to the airport to have them air lifted to Kansas City & Houston.  It was a jaw-dropping experience.  I have been on many transports before across the gulf coast, but I have never seen anything like this.  I still kick myself for not having a camera.\n\nMyself and other doctors and nurses used our personal vehicles to transport these children from the hospital in uptown new orleans to the airport in kenner (30 minute drive).  Security was extremely tight on the tarmac.  When we finally got onto the tarmac, there were dozens of helicopters &  transport planes coming in and out of the airport - it looked like a fully functioning military base.  Transport teams came out of 3 different national guard aircraft, triaged patients and set off to their destinations in less than an hour.\n\nOn the way back to the hospital (we still had a few patients) we drove by the staging area in metairie @ I-10 and Causeway that you probably saw on TV.  There were thousands of people surrounded by hundreds of emergency vehicles and buses littering the intersection.\n\nThose days after katrina changed by life forever - I will never forget, and I am committed to bring New Orleans back - it's my home
248650
Let us all remember that we have never had a Natural Disaster of these porportions before.  People not evacuating when they were told to is a big part of the problem.  People will need to go home to New Orleans to rebuild they can not do it from the different states they have landed in.  Many do not plan to return, yet they have left homes behind.  In order to rebuild you have to demolish what is there, without owners being involved it may take some time before the demolition can happen.  Two things should have been learned from this disaster and that is the Government always needs to be ready for something of the porportions that they have never seen.  Also that responsible citizens should have left with the first notice's of evacuation.  You have a City that was built below the level of the sea on the sea and you were waiting for this kind of thing to happen. Experts knew that the dykes and retaining walls would not stand up to more than a category 3 storm and the citizens knew it as well, people just choose not to believe it would actually happen to them, which is natural in these circumstances, but not the best choices to make.  There may have been the most impoverished people in this country living in New Orleans, yet they should have had enough notice to get out and not choose to stay there.  It was the lack of people leaving the area that caused the police and National Guard to have to stay there to try to keep order when those effeorts could have been directed to other places.  There still has to be major decisions as to what the new New Orleans will be.  Is it going to be the city of almost a half a million or will it be a remnant of it's former self.  Until we know what we are rebuilding there can be no blaming the government because it isn't done.  Yes we had poor government response, but we also had poor cooperation from the citizens at the sametime.  The government will always bear the brunt of the blame for this, however it should be up to the citizens of New Orleans where we go from here and not the rest of the country.\n\nAs some things never change Mardi Gras is going on as usual, if you want to help the economy of their city this would be the time to go there and help their economy.
577638
You answered it yourself.  They are just stupid.  He single handedly killed many people by leaving all those buses in the parking lot to get flooded.  I guess the more people you kill, the more votes you get.  The feds response was horrible, but wouldn't have been necessary if Nagin had heeded the warnings instead of being defiant in the face of a monster storm.
485323
Also to keep up public image so people aren't as willing to complain about the bad things they do or try to get the city to buy out the service.  It's more of a preventative strategy.
76631
no, New Orleans was a hazard waiting to happen and nothing substantial should have ever been developed there, the people who lived there were in danger the whole time they've been there, it was just simply overlooked
667588
Well, the people of florida had approved a light rail system several years ago. Yet, there is no rail system, no ground broken for a rail system, and as far as I know, no route has been picked yet, Why, because the big money here, IE the theme parks want the rail delivering Guests to their gates. The people want to be able to travel from daytona to orlando to tampa without sitting on this joke of a highway called I4. I believe the idea was to eventually expand it to places south and north also. The bottom line, he is another one of those guys who won't do what the people ask him to do. of course, it could also be that the  state and local representatives won't do their jobs either. I would rate the education system on par with most others in the country. you figure that out for yourself. It does seem that there are more morons here now than ten years ago, but then, a lot of people relocate here each year from other parts of the country, and bring their morons with them.
992547
They need to get rid of their ghettos and shanty towns.  The city is still very segregated.  Those problems could be helped by careful town planning.
566590
The point of the school zones is to keep the drivers under control, not the pedestrians.\n\nIt's kinda hard to cross the street when cars are coming at you at 50 mph...
461542
I live in Slidell, LA on the northshore of Lake Ponchatrain and can tell you that the levies are barely up to the standards before Hurricane Katrina.  While politicians in the state and on the federal level complain and bicker, time is being wasted as the huirricane seaon is only a couple months away.  I have never lived in New Orleans directly but would advice people that it is not a safe place environmentally or sanitarily.  Basic power and water are not available to 35-50% of the New Orleans East and most of that area is virtually untouch since Katrina!!!  my career has directed me toward the MS Gulf Coast where I am seeing vast improvements to the area as opposed to New Orleans.  Please remember the Mississippi Gulf Coast when thinking of Katrina.  The devestation here is something that needs to be seen to believed.
559287
The person who answered 'DESCRIMINATION' has clear vision. If the idea that buses are only for the poor then the quality will stay poor and uncomfortable - since the poor don't really matter.\n\nPeople who have paid taxes all their lives are often physically incapable of driving in old age - yet this is the treatment they get.  Frequent and comfortable bus service is an excellent equalizer. When people are treated like the 'losers' of the earth they are NOT inclined to treat their neighbors with more respect. Dignity breeds dignity.\n\nThose who can be comfortable (and who have their health) take the easy road with nearly empty cars increasing pollution. That's just wrong.\n\nEven carpooling or picking somebody up is too inconvenient for most driving comfy cars - never thinking about those outside. Shame, shame, but this the world we live in.
413969
He did the best he could do with what he had to work with.  It wasn't only Houston trying to get out at that time.  All the surrounding areas were trying to evacuate also.  I feel he did a wonderful job getting a million + people out of the area.  TX DOT could have done better.  They needed to start the contraflow traffic sooner and have fuel stations set up.  People were stuck on the interstates for 12 or more hours. It could take 8+ hours to move 5 miles.
625855
what else could it be but traffic to every street. Even at 2 to 3 in the morning, there's still a lot of traffic! \n\n2nd would be the Gangs and their graffiti! How I wish those who do that should be penalize more heavily, it's an ugly place to go downtown, like it's in a 3rd world country!
611551
My brother lives in Houston, too, and has been complaining about alot of the relocated people from New Orleans not trying to improve their situations on their own by accepting job offers or offers to assist in job placement.  He is not someone who is heartless, either, and he was one of the first people along with his fraternity who gathered food, clothing, and diapers in the immediate aftermath of Katrina.  He tells me of stories of people just panhandling and creating undue ruckus around his community.\nBut, let's be fair.  Some of these people have little or no education and have lived in constant poverty for much of their lives, so there is no quick fix solution for something that has persisted unnoticed by the non-impoverished for so long.  Our country is so interested in fixing every other countries problems, but they neglect to fully realize that our country has needed fixing of the major kind for decades.  Our country is more interested in economic growth than the plight of its own struggling, starving, homeless, jobless, and working poor.  I have a Master's degree, was a teacher, No Child Left Behind came along, and guess what, teachers got displaced, students got lumped together, and even more children are being left behind by a system that sees dollars instead of the human condition.
165407
yep, it makes sence.\n1)  Katrina was a fluke.  It is something that engineers expect to see once every 100-200 years.  No reason to waste time & resources planning for such a rare occasion.  It would cost more to plan for that event than to rebuild.\n2)  New Orleans is a very important port city because of its access to the Mississippi river.  Lots of shipping to midwestern states.\n3)  There is too much pride in our government to ignore one of our own cities when billions of our tax money goes to helping other countries deal with similar tragedies.\n4)  There is a lot of money to be made in the new New Orleans.  This is a chance to adjust zoning laws to attract new businesses.\n5)  The failure to respond exposed massive city corruption that will be corrected so that the city will have a second chance to prosper instead of being dragged down by red tape.  This will also attract more businesses to the city.\n\nIf America was to abandon every city that was struck by tragedy these cities would not exist today:\nWashington, D.C. - War of 1812\nSan Francisco - Earthquake\nChicago - Fire\nAtlanta - Civil War