Their Local Government Abandoned Them

With all this talk by such great minds as Sean Penn and Pierce Brosnan about how President Bush and the Federal Government are to blame for the disaster and its aftermath people are losing site of the over all picture. Yes, there are things that the feds need to improve and yes there are going to be problems when a disaster like this takes place. I agree with the President that now is not the time to point fingers but since that seems to be inevitable it would be helpful if they were pointed in the right direction. The local government is responsible for the evacuation and the people who were left behind. They were also responsible for sustaining operations for 72 hours after the event.

We have already seen how the city did not use the buses that were available. We have seen how the police responded and how crime broke out around town. I pointed out earlier that one-third of the population said it would not leave if ordered to do so and in that case, as Surfside pointed out, they are responsible for what happened to them. This does not negate the fact that local government was responsible for the evacuations and did a poor job of it.

Amazingly, with all the fingers pointed at DC there is a memo from earlier this year telling residents that if there is a big storm they will be on their own. What this tells me is that local government planned on abandoning these people from the start. Al Sharpton and Kenye West and everyone else can say the federal government discriminated and left people to die and all this other mindless prattle but the reality is the local government decided long before Katrina that 134,000 people would be on their own should disaster strike. Here is what was written:

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.”

Wow, on your own, responsible for your own safety, and make arrangements now. If New Orleans was placing the responsibility (its responsibility) on the local people how can they, or anyone else, now assign that to the federal government? Seems to me if the city neglected its responsibility and told people it was up to them then it was up to them. If they wanted it to be up to the feds then they should have asked for help when they were publishing the memo.

Once again, it is not the time to point fingers but if you do point them in the correct direction.

Read it here.

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9 Responses to “Their Local Government Abandoned Them”

  1. Graymalkin says:

    I guess Mayor Nagin,has decided to show some responsibility, if you can call it that, for his employees at least. He is now sending his police force, firefighters and civic workers on an all expense paid 5 day trip, families included, to Las Vegas with entertainment paid for as well as $200 in their pockets, WTF!! Sure Mr. Nagin you piece of human waste, you moaned about how the Feds did nothing for you and where were they as you cursed and lost control of yourself, now that the National Guard and other tireless workers, many who are volunteers there who have come to bail your ass out, you send you poor beleaguered workers who are suppose to defend and protect and serve their city on a vacation, give me a break. I wonder how those tireless and dedicated law enforcement officers and firefighters in New York after 9/11 will feel about this one? Plus, I never saw any of them leaving their posts! As for Ms. Blanco, the drama queen, what a sorry ass person to call yourself the head of the state of Louisiana, when this fiasco with so many loss of lives and people without the basic life sustaining needs, was your initial doing! Her crocodile tears did nothing to move me and calling for a day of pray in Louisiana, get a reality check lady, and get your butt out there and start doing your job!

    When Mr. Nagin made this announcement on FoxNews, not one reporter asked him about it or why he though they deserved it, hell everyone of the people who are helping in this mess deserve a break, many of the guys from the National Guard just returned from a stint in Iraq, think they would like a break or would they rather be there cleaning up the stench where you dropped the ball and failed to do your job and let your constituents down! You know what Mr. Nagin, they are actually glad to be there to help. In fact, the only thing he mentioned about being questioned, I guess previously before his big news announcement, he had been asked why send them to Las Vegas known as a party town? He replied “New Orleans is a party town, get over it.” My god the balls, yup that is sure what Mr. Nagin has been doing while in office, party!

  2. Surfside says:

    Regarding Nagin, there was a TV news report that the first buses that when the first buses came into New Orleans, Nagin commandeered them for the tourists. He had the Marriott or the W Hotel (can’t remember which they were at) evacuated first — along with his staff. Now, any idiot tourist that chooses to stay in the path of a hurricane when they have a perfectly good home elsewhere should rank much lower on the “save them now” scale than those trying to protect their homes, business or pets.

  3. N. Mallory says:

    Most of those tourists you’re referring to tried to get out of town, but the airport shut down on Saturday. Every possible rental car in the city was rented. They were ushered to the taller hotels and told to stay on floors 3 or higher.

    There are stories of people taking cabs to Atlanta at incredible cost and two couples rented a limo to return to Chicago for several thousand.

  4. N. Mallory says:

    Oh, and then, the hotels started shutting down and kicking out the “guests” so their people could evacuate.

  5. Surfside says:

    You’re right, N Mallory. Some of the tourists couldn’t leave. Some could, and chose not to leave. Some just waited too long to make a decision. My main point, though, was these tourists did not deserve special treatment. It seems the liberals are so quick to throw the charge of racism card at President Bush and/or FEMA — and here Nagin is getting a bus load of all-white, mostly foreign tourists out first. That’s not racism or “classism”?? I guess it’s only acceptable when a liberal does it.

    The cost would have been worth it. There’s no question of that. If you can afford a nice vacation in New Orleans at a nice hotel, you can afford to get transportation out of the area.

    Am I supposed to feel sorry for the “guests?” Good for the hotels! They let their employees evacuate their families.

  6. Surfside says:

    If you’re a tourist in the path of a natural disaster, you should get evacuated and/or sheltered right along with the general population. This storm was not a “surprise.” It wasn’t an earthquake or a tidal wave. They had choices; and, they made them. Actually, the tourist only have to live with the disaster until they can catch the next plane out. These poor residents will be living with this aftermath for a long, long time. The consideration should go to the locals.

  7. N. Mallory says:

    Mind you most of the people who needed to be evacuated in New Orleans, needed to be because they chose to stay.

    Maybe someone should have compiled a list of people who wanted to leave before the storm hit and couldn’t as opposed to the poeple who chose to stay.

    Mind you, I’m saying that knowing full well that if I still lived there, I would have been one of the stupid people who chose to stay.

  8. N. Mallory says:

    Oh, and I have never accused anyone of “classism” or “racism” regarding the events of Katrina. What I believe happened is that everyone from city and state officials to federal officials to the President screwed this one up. Everyone gets the blame. No one is without a little mud on their hands here.

    There was a lack of coordination, a lack of leadership, a lack of preparedness, a lack of funding. I find it all appalling considering that if this had been a terrorist attack of some sort, we’d have screwed it up just as badly, which means we haven’t learned much from 9/11.

    But then, I’d like to see someeone who’s finger-pointing get in there and do a better job. So far, it’s mostly finger-pointing.

  9. Surfside says:

    Maybe you are not accusing anyone of racism or “classism,” but most of the top Dems and many celebrities are.

    Much like 9/11, no one on the federal, state or local level imagined the devastation that could occur. But, that’s where the parallels end. Katrina was expected. The local and state governments failed to provided transportation for the poor, elderly and infirm. Unlike 9/11, which occurred in a relatively small part of a large city, Katrina affected several states — the square acreage alone is mind boggling. Every school bus for the city of New Orleans is now sitting in the toxic soup and may well be ruined. They could have/should have run each of those buses out of the city loaded with those who were unable to find their own transportation. The story of the New Orleans nursing home is one of the most heartbreaking. This home was directly in the path of flood waters; and, everyone should have known it. Most of those people died in their beds when Katrina hit.

    The federal government has no jurisdiction in a state prior to any event, man made or nature made. Then, they must be invited by the governor of each state. The governors have total dominion over their National Guard until that time, can call them up and utilize them as he or she sees fit.