A Million Words...

Subject: Flooded Buses in New Orleans



It appears that New Orleans had about 600 city and school buses that remained unused and most, if not all, are now flooded.? (See attachments) As I have watched New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin excoriate President Bush and other federal authorities for their slow and inadequate response, it seems strange that no one in the mainstream press has asked why the mayor did not follow the disaster plan and use the buses to evacuate those lacking transportation.? ?Could it be that there is some bias in the mainstream press?? The only place that I have seen the flooded buses mentioned is in the Drudge Report and Free Republic.?
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If 600 buses had a capacity of say 45 each, they could have evacuated about 27,000 persons/trip.? There was enough time between the evacuation order and hurricane arrival to make several trips.? Plus, if the buses had been used instead of allowed to be flooded, they would have been available as valuable resource in the post disaster recovery.? ?Also, the cost of replacement would have been avoided.?
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Here is the applicable part of the Disaster Plan:
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Louisiana disaster plan, pg 13, para 5 , dated 01/00

'The primary means of hurricane evacuation will be personal vehicles. School and municipal buses, government-owned vehicles and vehicles provided by volunteer agencies may be used to provide transportation for individuals who lack transportation and require assistance in evacuating'...



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