Dealing with past hurricanes in the USA

[rucalobe]

How US presidents have dealt with hurricanes in the past (something to think about...)

President: Richard M. Nixon
Danger: Category 5
Hurricane: Camille (August 1969), Mississippi,
Louisiana
Area: About the same area as that affected by Katrina
Response: Nixon prepared the National Guard in
advance, ordering rescue ships from Tampa, FL and
Houston, TX to stand waiting along with over a
thousand regular military, 24+ helicopters to assist
the Coast Guard and National Guard about as soon as
the hurricane passed.

President: George H. W. Bush (Bush I)
Danger: Category 5
Hurricane Andrew (August 1992)
Area: Florida
Response: In the middle of a re-election campaign,
Bush ceased campaigning the day before the hurricane,
went to Washington, and assembled one of the largest
military forces ever mustered on U.S. soil. Seven
thousand National Guard and 22,000 regular military
were sent in with the necessary equipment shortly
after the hurricane passed through.

President: Bill Clinton
Danger: Category 3
Hurricane Floyd (September 1999)
Area: Virginia, North and South Carolina
Response: Meeting with China's president Jiang in New
Zealand, Clinton immediately declared the
hurricane-affected areas as federal disasters,
allowing the military and National Guard to move in
and help. Clinton flew home immediately, one day
before the hurricane hit, to help coordinate the
rescue.

President: George W. Bush (Bush II)
Danger: Category 5
Hurricane Katrina (August 2005)
Area: Gulf Coast
Response: National Guard troops are down about 8,000
members because they are in Iraq with much of the
necessary rescue equipment needed. Bush was on
vacation, riding his bike for two hours the day before
the hurricane lands. On the day Katrina landed, Bush
attended a birthday party for John McCain.

The levees began to crack during that day. As
emergency 1.5-ton sandbags were ready to be placed to
steady the levee and absorb water, there were
insufficient numbers of helicopters and pilots to set
them before the levees break. While Nagin, the mayor
of New Orleans, pleaded for federal-level assistance
and got none, Bush went to San Diego to play guitar
with a country singer and end his vacation early --
but not until the next day, because he had tickets to
a San Diego Padres game...

[Dave IS VH]

ok, it's a great thread and interesting news, but should it be in the main forum?

[Cathedral]

Well, Bush Jr. certainly didn't act Presidential, can't argue that.

The man was absent from his post by choice and the stink will consume him before he leaves office, if we're lucky.

I just don't want this Administration making anymore decisions. specifically those of a life and death nature or where soldiers are deployed to any other nations.
I'm glad there isn't time for him to focus on Social Security, or am I?
It's what he does instead of, that worries me now.

Tell me where to cast my vote of No Confidence, it's gone, he's gone, game over.
You don't have to be a Democrat or a Republican to recognize a conflict in priorities. especially those of us who are parents.
What i see and what i hear never falls in line together, lol, so adjustment is needed, dig?

The thing is, this time around the RACE card will play, just watch as it unfolds because there is no excuse that can support the lack in response that can't help but be seen and construed as a race and class issue.

I don't know what the President's office, Gov. Blanco's office, and Mayor Nagin's office were discussing in the days before Katrina making landfall, but it apparently wasn't about helping anyone, was it?

I'm sorry, but there was no excuse for those school buses sitting there getting flooded out.
Given the lack of things that should have but weren't done...those buses were a resource that "I" would have seen fit to protect and move to higher ground with as many people as wanted to climb on-board. There would have been many takers, i guarentee it, but something would have been done with them.

Levee's that could only take a Cat-3, The storm was barely downgraded from a Cat-5...Common sense says it's possibly going rupture the levee's....and Nawlen's becomes a huge bowl of cereal, Time to Go!

Given that, I'd have had a Father with me to grant people last right's before moving on to the next home. You don't fuck with mother nature, ever, and if you really made people think about dying...they'll go with you, "Get on the bus!"...

Keep those buses moving until the Fire Departments and the Police are pulled off the streets, then get to your own shelter and buckle in.

The Motorola radio's in buses do have PA options ya know. Radio Shack carries waterproof speakers that take two screws and plugging it in to make work if they don't already.
Then drive down the streets telling people what you're doing.

More than anything, the lack of execution of ANY plan at all before OR just after Katrina hit was unexcusable on every level.

[rucalobe]

Cathedral: My friend, you are right on the money!

[Satan]

The issues with the school buses were these:

1) Lack of qualified drivers.Probably more of an insurance issue than anything else

2) No A/C or toilets on buses that would likely be sitting in traffic for hours before they actually made it out of the city, given the evacuation that was taking place from those who did have cars.

[DrMaddVibe]

Originally posted by Satan
The issues with the school buses were these:

1) Lack of qualified drivers.Probably more of an insurance issue than anything else

2) No A/C or toilets on buses that would likely be sitting in traffic for hours before they actually made it out of the city, given the evacuation that was taking place from those who did have cars.

WRONG!

http://michellemalkin.com/archives/003453.htm

THE RENEGADE BUS
By Michelle Malkin · September 02, 2005 03:46 PM

In case you missed it: Meant to link this incredible story yesterday. Here's another account. Some are characterizing the young, first-time bus driver's act as "looting." But the bus that Jabbar Gibson "commandeered" had been abandoned on a New Orleans street. He took it upon himself to rescue dozens of families--grandmothers, young parents, toddlers, and an 8-day-old infant. That is not "looting." (This is.)

What the young man did was heroic. But according to reports, he may face criminal charges. Bryan Preston points out the real New Orleans bus crime.

After you read the story, go over to Slight Clutter's place at Flickr. The photographer was there when the renegade bus arrived. Pulitzer Prize-level photos, if you ask me. Here's a sample:

bus1.jpg

bus2.jpg

bus00.jpg

I hope the Houston Chronicle or local bloggers can keep track of Jabbar Gibson and the other children on the renegade bus. Perhaps the boneheaded Reliant Astrodome officials who initially refused to let the passengers in after their 13-hour journey can make up for their poor judgment by establishing a Renegade Bus Riders Relief Fund.

Or maybe someone else in Houston can pick up the ball?