For those who want to skip every level of government and point the finger directly at the President, this is for you:
The Louisiana Disaster "Plan," p. 13, paragraph 5, of Jan. 2000 states:
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.
There are 255 busses in this lot. At 60-66 per bus, that's 15,300-16,380 evacuees who could have got the hell out of Dodge... and a helluva lot of gas and oil NOT contributing to the environmental hazard.
Moreover, that's 255 busses the local and state governments (who have the FIRST responsibility to provide aid in situations like this) could be using to distribute supplies and people. Instead, these busses sat dormant in the lot due to local-leader ineffectiveness and have become environmentally-hazardous expenses rather than valuable and re-usable assets!
Meanwhile, the Governor played politics with the White House over the Federal Aid offer. She needed 24 hours...
Some people think.... well, "suppose" the Federal Government should have just moved-in and taken over. Let's not pretend for a second we wouldn't be hearing about "abuse of power" had the Federal Government forced itself upon the state. Shit don't work that way, people!
Here's a clue:
"First Response to a disaster is the job of local government's emergency services with help from nearby municipalities, the state and volunteer agencies. In a catastrophic disaster, and IF the governor requests, federal resources can be mobilized through theU.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for search and rescue, electrical power, food, water, shelter and other basic human needs."
- http://www.fema.gov/library/dproc.shtm
No, the Federal Government does not get to wash their hands of this; however, those who are strategically skipping the obvious blameline for a perceived partisan gain are no better than the looters who are/were "saving themselves" with carts-full of high-end electronics, clothing, etc.
Someone explain to me how that kind of opportunism is "American!"
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