Sep 04 2005
Nagin And Blanco
UPDATE:
From someone on the front lines, who knows where the system failed, please read this from a family that survived and sacrificed in the face Katrina.
END UPDATE:
Folks, I left the yard to the teenager in need of money all summer – so I need to go beat back the jungle that has arisen in my absence this weekend. I am not going to be blogging much therefore, but given all that has come out recently on Katrina I think New Orleans Mayor Nagin and Liousiana Governor Blanco should be prosecuted for negligence. This is hard for me to say because I have positive feelings towards both of them and have not wanted to blame anyone for not being able to handle an act of nature of this magnitude.
But the two of them caused this to much worse than necessary. Many stubborn people in the storm’s path were going to die. The fact they will not leave even now, shows how ridiculous the claims are that the only reason people stayed was they could not get out. Many who wanted to get out could not, that is for sure. And that is the fault of Nagin and Blanco.
Here are the list of things they did not do, that they should have done:
(1) Declared a state of emergency and mandatory evacuation 72 hours before Katrina hit land Sunday evening. The only reason any declaration was made was because George Bush hounded Blanco and insisted her to follow suit with the other regional Governors – Bush saved the lives of the 390,000 people who did evacuate.
(2) Followed their own emergency preparedness plan to get the word out continuously to the people to leave and being mobilizing assets (buses) to move the 100,000 people New Orleans and Louisiana knew would need assistance leaving.
(3) Follow their plan and move food, water and medical resources for 3-4 days into the areas where people were designated to go
(4) After Katrina passed through Monday afternoon they could have begun moving more buses into place just in case. But at a minimum check on the status of the shelters and re-distribute supplies based on the numbers of people in each location.
(5) Tuesday Morning: when the levees broke: there should have been mobilization of transportation immediately to begin evacuating the Superdome (It took nearly a day for the waters to crest).
(6) Also, when the levees broke a state of emergency should have been called and the feds called in – this a Blanco responsibility.
(7) Nagin should have ended his symbolic stand downtown without real time communication and information at his finger tips and moved to a command center that gave him clear indications of where everyone was and were to focus efforts.
It is now common knowledge that Blanco and Nagin have fought letting the Feds take over because of political concerns. That in itself tells us that they fumbles and fear the backlash once the feds take over.
Thankfully the feds have taken over. And people are being saved again.
And to the media, you get an “F’ for your work. The naive arrogance on display was stunning and embarrassing to us as a nation. Tucker Calrson and MSNBC provided the perfect example of this when they noted MSNBC was able to get their reporters in and reporting within a day – why couldn’t they feds?
Well Tucker, the feds have evacuated nearly 60,000, fed over 100,000 and rescued over 10,000 people.
How many lives did NBC save? How many people did NBC feed (besides their crews)? How many people did NBC save from their flooded homes via helicopter or boat?
Getting imbeciles into New Orleans to report on the efforts of true heroes is not all that challenging. It is saving lives as quickly as possible which is the challenge.
Don’t forget to include Landrieu…….. She is just as guilty….. It would seem Landrieu was pleased with preparation efforts earlier in the week? Now she is in full CYA…………..
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 28, 2005 http://landrieu.senate.gov/releases/05/2005829A34.html
Sen. Landrieu Statement on Hurrican Katrina
WASHINGTON — United States Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., issued the following statement from the Hurricane Command Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. “I would like to commend both Governor Blanco and all of the local leaders who have done a tremendous job helping the people of Louisiana prepare for Hurricane Katrinaâ€
As a matter of the Senate record, Landrieu has been aware of these problems for years and what did she do about it? Blanco, Nagin, Landrieu, New Orleans OEP officials should all be in jail…..
HURRICANES — (Senate – September 15, 2004)
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?r108:4:./temp/~r108xOjrKx:e27721:
Ms. LANDRIEU says: …… On Tuesday, though, most local officials were thinking more about the potential danger than the potential opportunity. If Ivan does pound New Orleans tidal surges could leave the city underwater for months, since its pumps can remove only about an inch every hour, creating a “toxic soup” of chemicals, rodents, poisons and snakes.
The local officials said they could not order a mandatory evacuation in a city as poor as New Orleans in which more than 100,000 residents have no cars, but they urged people to find some way to escape. “If you want to take a chance buy a lottery ticket,” said Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard. “Don’t take a chance on this hurricane .”
New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin seemed flustered as he pleaded with his constituents to flee, at one point suggesting that they take shelter in area hospitals. Visitors were also urged to find somewhere else to go–including 10,000 conventioneers in town for the annual meeting of the National Safety Council
“This is not a drill,” Nagin said. “This is the real deal.”
But the logistics of exit are quite formidable in the Big Easy. In 1998, as more than 300,000 people fled Hurricane Georges, Interstate 10 turned into a parking lot. Similar miles-long snarls unfolded Tuesday. Flights were canceled and the airport prepared to close. The town that gave the world “A Streetcar Named Desire” idled its streetcars.
TROPICAL STORM ISIDORE — (Senate – September 30, 2002)
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?r107:2:./temp/~r1072t6hqH::
Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I come to the floor today regarding Tropical Storm Isidore, which made landfall last Wednesday just south of New Orleans and dumped nearly 25 inches of rain in 24 hours. This massive and destructive storm brought winds of 60 miles per hour to Southeast Louisiana and a storm surge of up to 6 feet.……… Although the final cost of Tropical Storm Isidore is still being determined, Louisianans know all too well the damage a storm on this particular path can bring. Had this storm reached the level of strength earlier predicted, it would have been a category 3 hurricane, packing winds of 130 miles per hour and a storm surge of up to 12 feet…..
As nearly all of New Orleans area rests below sea level, a hurricane of that magnitude alone on the path that Tropical Storm Isidore has taken would devastate southeast Louisiana…………
HURRICANE ISADORE, WETLANDS, AND IRAQ RESOLUTION — (Senate – October 02, 2002)
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?r107:1:./temp/~r1072t6hqH::
Ms. LANDRIEU says: “There is nothing we can do about keeping hurricanes from coming ashore. We cannot prevent them. People say: Senator, can’t you do something? I say: If I could pass a resolution, I would. But, of course, there is nothing we can do about that. But we can be more prepared than we are.
While we are making progress, we have a long way to go. So whether it is at the energy conference, where I hope we will have a positive outcome, or in the new transportation bill where we can talk about the highways and evacuation routes in south Louisiana and the Gulf South need our attention. Not only do they serve as economic highways that are really necessary for commerce to flourish, but, as you know, when the hurricanes come, it is the only way for people to flee the storm.
We don’t have trains, as people do in the Northeast, to get out of harm’s way. All we have in Louisiana are highways dangerously crowded with automobiles and pickup trucks…..
Mayor Nagin? You have some explaining to do!
Mayor Nagin and other critics of the recovery effort in New Orleans, might want to get their facts straight.
The fact is if you must look at who to blame, you might want to look at the City of New Orleans itself.
I think you need look no further than the pictures of the school buses in the middle of that flood lake as prima facie evidence of incompetence and malfeasance of the Mayor of New Orleans. By the Mayor’s own hurricane emergency plan those school buses were to be used to evacuate the indigent to safety.
yes , thanks to all of you not blaming Bush for this …
Mother in Law back behind friendly lines…
In the end we all must take responsibility for allowing this failure
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AJ: Nagin threw Blanco to the wolves this morning on CNN in an interview with Solidad O’Brian–he is clearly trying to save his own skin by setting himself up as the one who, along with the President, was trying to get something done. The transcript isn’t up yet, but it was a remarkable exchange. Now Blanco is off to Houston today to avoid the President.
AcaElie,
If you find the transcript I would love to see it. I have to hit the road for a couple of hours and hopefully will be able to connect back up later this afternoon. But I am not surprised Nagin and Blanco would start throw each other overboard to try and survive. Seems SOP for New Orleans leaders.