Of course, that didn't happen.
It certainly did.
"Both Louisiana and Mississippi successfully employed so-called contra-flow plans that turned super highways one-way out of the coastal area, to speed evacuation. New Orleans officials were pleased that 80 percent of the city's population had reached safety before the storm hit. But neither state had made any provision for getting people without cars out of the danger zone.
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, after receiving the direst of warnings in a dinner-time phone call at home from National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield a day-and-a-half before landfall, delayed issuing a mandatory evacuation order for 15 hours. He finally told residents that the storm surge "most likely will topple our levee system" at 10 o'clock Sunday morning, when Katrina was on his city's doorstep. "
miami.com
"Governor Blanco admitted that President Bush urged Mayor Nagin to order a mandatory evacuation, but the Mayor delayed."
renewamerica.us
"By Sunday, President Bush was not convinced that Louisiana was doing enough to prepare for the hurricane. He personally called Governor Blanco. He asked for a mandatory evacuation, to save the lives of the people in the city. Governor Blanco and Mayor Nagin then called a news conference and publicized that mandatory evacuation. During that news conference, Governor Blanco explained that President Bush's call had brought about this step."
bellaonline.com
We can argue about this from now on. Here are the facts:
the AP report:
"(Blanco)said President Bush called and personally appealed for a mandatory evacuation"
and the Blanco quote:
"Just before we walked into this room, President Bush called ... he asked me to please insure that there would be a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans."
Now, we'll likely never know whether Blanco was trying to make it sound different than it was. It is clear that Bush felt compelled to call and "urge" the locals to take action. And there is no denial, whatsoever, that the NHC had to do so.
The problem here was one of incompetence of local officials. I'll agree, at this point, that FEMA could have moved a day or so more quickly to get some things done -- and that red tape has hampered the efforts since the outset.
But there can simply be no excuse for the state and local governments' failures. Yesterday, it was reported that a Washington State physician was prevented from delivering medical aid because the governor had not waived the requirement for a Louisiana physicians license. The same governor that refused access to Red Cross and Salvation Army volunteers trying to get water, food and supplies to the Dome and Convention Center while people there were suffering.
Any argument that Bush is at fault is clearly and obviously partisan politics at work. Bush has done everything humanly possible to assist these people, and frankly, THEY know it. The people bitching are, for the most part, partisan liberals. The people who know what is going on in New Orleans know who is making things happen there. |
