Why didn't the press write about how the mayor evacuated Houstonites efficiently before Hurricane Rita struck?
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.
499270
Hey Blondey. You can find heaps of information just by using the Yahoo! search engine. Just type in "Hurricane Katrina".\n\nI just did a presentation on Katrina last week, myself. \n\nKatrina made landfall on Monday, August 29, 2005. It came ashore just east of Grand Isle, Louisiana, at 6:30 A.M. E.T. (eastern time). Katrina was a category 3 storm with 115 mph sustained winds on Saturday, Aug. 27th- but by Sunday, it had intensified to a Category 5 storm, with winds of 160 mph.\n\nThe president of the New Orleans city council estimated that more than 100 people in the city were stranded on their rooftops or in their attics, because there was up to 14 feet of floodwaters in and around their homes (reported by Dave Cohen of CBS radio affiliate WWL).\n\nSome facts that support the government response:\n\n1. Coast Guard, U.S. Navy, and other search and rescue units were in New Orleans or elsewhere in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama on Monday, after the storm passed out of the area. \n\n2. The full extent of the devastation to the Gulf Coast Region and the levee breaches in New Orleans were not known until Tuesday.\n\n3. A convoy of about 500 buses reached the Superdome late Wednesday.\n\n4. The first of 500 busloads of evacuees reached Houston early Thursday.\n\nThere was a lot of criticism towards the government's response to Katrina, as well. Do a little research, and you will find plenty of things to talk about. Good luck!
1058142
There are a lot of reasons, but let me try to list some:\n1) the city is below sea level, so it is a huge challenge to get it dry.  The soil is saturated and that makes every effort a hundred times harder.\n2) The money involved is staggering.\n3) Government inefficiency, though perhaps no organization could deal effectively with such a huge task.\n4) Corruption and fraud, as some people use the situation to their personal advantage.\n5) The war in Iraq splits attention and resources.\n\nI do not think it is a government conspiracy to keep New Orleans down, due to race or politics.  The above reasons are enough to explain the troubles without adding conspiracy theory.
625931
I asked this here 4 months ago and again 2 months ago, and everyone thought ole Mayor Nagin had a handle on it. Bull crap!! He has done nothing to search for those bodies in the houses. Only when the National guard was there they were searched for. Or when sad family member came home looking. I can't believe they voted this man in again. One week after Katrina there was a news report that he went and bought a brand new large home in Texas. His clothes back then started to get richer looking. He is a complete moron!!
303395
The government can't even respond to things when it has 3 days advance notice. Bush was advised that Katrina was going to hit the Gulf coast and what did he do? Go on vacation. The National Guard, usually the first responders to disasters like Katrina, has been decimated by deployments to Iraq. We are not prepared for another terrorist attack, aside from more of us having duct tape and plastic sheeting in our homes.\n\nIn response to your second question: Does anyone know what color we are today? Are we at orange or yellow?
861970
The bad thing about this, really there are still alot of innocent people that are displaced, looking for jobs (in which our state doesn't have because the economy and crime is so high), and have no permanent place to call home. I have a family that lives down the street that lost everything because they lived in St. Bernard parish, and can't find the same paying job in our parish....so they are still living in a pop-up camper. \nIt was disgusting that these people were doing all these things with the FEMA card (some even bought wide screen TVs while they were in the Cajun Dome for a shelter!) because of this abuse there are still hard working people out there that don't deserve to live the way they have to.
198034
I was deployed to Louisiana with the National Guard for two months after Hurricane Katrina. I had the distinct displeasure of meeting Mayor Nagin on a couple of ocassions. The man is an incompetent, racist boob.\n\nTrue leaders find solutions for their people NO MATTER WHAT THE CIRCUMSTANCES ARE. All Mayor Nagin did was whine and complain. He had no real plan of action to help his people.\n\nHe deserves neither the office nor the title of Mayor.
805259
She did not.  Blanco and Nagin are incompetent.  They blamed all the problems on Bush, when it was their job to evacuate.  It was done in every other state, which are all run by Republicans. \n\nThe federal government cannot send in the National Guard without the governor asking first.
932780
In my personal opinion, it was a failure of communication.  Everybody seemed to want to be in charge at that point.(city,state,federal etc.)  But nobody actually took the bull by the horns to make the very important decisions that needed to be made at the last minute. \nOnce the hurricane did hit,  the were no communications what so ever. No cell phone, no radio, nothing, for I think it was 4 or 5 days.  Nothing but each other.  \nIn short, to many chiefs and not enough Indians.\nI would like to note, that New Orleans was not the only affected area by the hurricane.
1117291
Yes, This Gov't is too ready to jump for conflict yet when it comes to disaster they leave victims hanging. Look what happened w/Katrina If Gov't had been paying att. to what was happening maybe FEMA wouldn't have been ripped off $1million by people and $ wouldn't have been wasted on those damned trailors that are justsitting in Arkansas. FCKN IDIOTS!!!!
476972
I don't think it was preventable at all.\n\nIf you piss off a large proportion of the world for long enough then someone is going to do something crazy.\n\nEven with the somewhat police state methods now being used we're still due for more terrorism. \n\nHurricane Katrina couldn't have been prevented as it was caused by weather, but the reaction in terms of getting people out could have been better. So could actually rebuilding the levies properly before the hurricane. bit of a pity most of the national guard  and army engineers who were supposed to be working on it were out of the state relieving other national guards sent to iraq or sent there themselves....
1153041
I'm guessing they did it to avoid the press.  If so, it worked.  \n\nBritney just said it was not true about her wanting to have her baby in Namibia.
223540
Man that is going to be a touchy subject. I am in Houston and I have friends and family on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.\nSo I have seen the devastation and the destruction and the free loading first hand.\nLet me fist say that not everyone in N.O. needs a hand out. Some are good honest people and had the sense God gave a fly to get out of dodge before the storm. They will do so again. The ones that did not are the problem..\nDid they learn their lesson the first time - we will see?\n\nHowever!... If they choose to go back and it is a choice. I.E. There are a LOT of N.O. residents that are now residents of H town that are not going back.\nAnyway... If they choose to go back it should be at their peril.\nContrary to what "lynn" thinks. The Government does not owe them anything. That has been the problem all along. Too many people feel the U.S. Government should pay for their losses. Ahhh have ya ever heard of insurance? If you didn't have it before and you are going back it should be REQUIRED. \nThe government is not a charity. It was not established to support and bail out the people who are to stupid to plan for an emergency. It is not like they did not know they were below sea level, it is not like they did not know a storm was coming. An accident is unexpected and catches you by surprise... a majority of N.O residents feel like this was an accident. \nHow many of them are willing to move back there and pay 2 or 3 times the taxes they were paying to build stronger levees and better drainage systems? I doubt many. So what... the rest of the tax paying U.S. is supposed to foot the bill?\nWRONG. \nIf they did not know before, they know now. N.O is below sea level and will flood. Anyone that rebuilds there should do so at their own expense and risk.\nI would be happy to come spend a few days "helping", that is what neighbors do... but do not expect me to pay for any aspect of your choosing to live there.\nIf I build my next home on the rail road tracks... there is a higher than probable chance that it is going to get hit by a train.... duh.\nThe people of the US and the US Gov. have given and given and are still giving... Don't expect us to do it again.\nAs to where are they supposed to go...\nAnywhere? As I said... there are lots of them here in Houston and to the best of my knowledge there are 49 other states to choose from. I mean come on... \nBurn me once shame on you, burn me twice shame on me. NO THEY GOV SHOULD NOT PAY TO EVACUATE THEM.\nDon't look for the free hand out. Make a better choice.\n\nAdditional Comments:\nI don't think anyone should NOT move back there. I do however think it should be at their own risk. Put it anyway you want... It is BELOW SEA LEVEL and building there INVITES problems. I just heard on the news not an hour ago that the cost to rebuild the levees is now over 10 Billion. \n\nThat money should not have to come from the federal Government and the rest of the citizens of the U.S. Nor should any future federal funds for the next time. The lessons have been taught and should have been learned. If you can't afford to insure your property to the level of replacement... you shouldn't live there and expect me to pay for it. \n\n\nGo ahead rebuild. I am all for it. As I said I would be happy to help. Point in case... I am leaving Tuesday 4/12 for my third trip back to Mississippi to help rebuild... So the work is not the issue. I just think the same values and nuances you and others are so fond of could be relocated to a safer place.\n\nBottom line it is not the buildings it is the people that make it.\n\nand Yes I have been there several times.
444933
I moved away from NOLA (Gretna) several years ago.  I was thinking about moving back the beginning of last year, but my mother became ill so I stayed in Texas.  When I found out Katrina was heading for New Orleans I stayed glued to the T.V. I couldn't sleep.  When the mandatory evacuation order was issued I broke down and cried like a baby.  I got so depressed watching the footage of the aftermath I had to make myself stop watching.  Next thing I knew here comes Rita, heading straight for my area. (Texas coast)  The poor people evacuating from N.O. now have to evacuate, because of Rita, along with all the people from Galveston, Houston, Baytown etc. It was horrible!!!\n\nTo answer your question about going back to N.O., yes, I plan on moving back.  You can take the people out of New Orleans, but you can't take New Orleans out of the people!!!
184177
well, bush did say that he was prepared for katrina.  and i think homeland security or somebody like that knew the levee were gonna break.  bush took a gamble i suppose.  i bet that he must have thought that the storm wouldn't have ravaged New Orleans like that.  i mean, plenty of storms have hit the US but not this severe.
688895
Finally, we have discovered the roots of George W. Bush's "compassionate conservatism." \n\nOn the heels of the president's "What, me worry?" response to the death, destruction and dislocation that followed upon Hurricane Katrina comes the news of his mother's Labor Day visit with hurricane evacuees at the Astrodome in Houston. \n\nCommenting on the facilities that have been set up for the evacuees — cots crammed side-by-side in a huge stadium where the lights never go out and the sound of sobbing children never completely ceases — former first lady Barbara Bush concluded that the poor people of New Orleans had lucked out. \n\n"Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this, this is working very well for them," Mrs. Bush told American Public Media's "Marketplace" program, before returning to her multi-million dollar Houston home. \n\nOn the tape of the interview, Mrs. Bush chuckles audibly as she observes just how great things are going for families that are separated from loved ones, people who have been forced to abandon their homes and the only community where they have ever lived, and parents who are explaining to children that their pets, their toys and in some cases their friends may be lost forever. Perhaps the former first lady was amusing herself with the notion that evacuees without bread could eat cake. \n\nAt the very least, she was expressing a measure of empathy commensurate with that evidenced by her son during his fly-ins for disaster-zone photo opportunities. \n\nOn Friday, when even Republican lawmakers were giving the federal government an "F" for its response to the crisis, President Bush heaped praise on embattled Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Michael Brown. As thousands of victims of the hurricane continued to plead for food, water, shelter, medical care and a way out of the nightmare to which federal neglect had consigned them, Brown cheerily announced that "people are getting the help they need." \n\nBarbara Bush's son put his arm around the addled FEMA functionary and declared, "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job." \n\nLike mother, like son. \n\nEven when a hurricane hits, the apple does not fall far from the tree. \n\n\nBy John Nichols\nReprinted with permission from The Nation.
60745
Does ANYBODY notice that no matter WHAT a president does, the general public has a problem with it?  Bush is cleaning up the mess that Clinton started.  War with Iraq was imminent, meaning going to happen anyway.  Clinton, not having ANY military experience (He dodged the draft by going to Europe), wanted to stay away from war.  As far as the Katrina victims, they were told a week in advance to leave, that a Cat 5 hurricane would flood a city BUILT BELOW SEA LEVEL. Those who didn't leave are morons.  They got what they were stubborn enough to deserve.  Then they cry for help and shoot at the help?  I'm sorry, but a tv and nikes are not going to feed your family.  I feel he is doing all that ONE MAN can do.  You think all you complaining about everything is helping or making it easier?  1000 people died in Iraq...  In how long?  How long does it take 1000 people to die in America?  No one complains about that, now do they?