Some didn't leave because Nagin didn't call for a MANDATORY evacuation until that Sunday and tropical force weather was already taking place. As for nursing homes, St. Rita's in Chalmette is the one that really pissed me off. Chalmette flooded during Hurricane Betsy and the residents there were fully aware of the dangers.
Living on the east coast, I'm sure that you're aware that your city has an emergency evacuation plan, just as New Orleans does. Nagin failed by all accounts to implement that plan and he's the cause of many deaths. Many of those that stayed did so because they didn't have the means to leave. Some stayed because there were no shelters to which they could bring their animals also. So while FEMA can be blamed for some of the problems in the aftermath, everyone needs to remember that many of those problems could have been avoided with a little foresight from Nagin and Blanco.

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"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways - Chardonnay in one hand - chocolate in the other - body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming "WOO HOO, What a Ride!"

I went to (and graduated) from a four-year university, which is why I know, among other things, that the Coast Guard is authorized to intervene in local disasters without state authorization, that the US govt. is allowed to provide technical assistance without state authorization, and on top of that,

that the Bush administration has never had a reputation of obeying laws, certainly not ones that it felt would only inconvenience it in the pursuit of an objective, and last but not least, that it's very unlikely the state of LA would've

raised a Posse Comitatus objection had the feds offered immediate assistance, given the scope of the disaster. Hello, obvious

Uh, right. . .

Has taught me that there are people in the world who sometimes fail to do any research before arguing a position.

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Life only becomes meaningful at its extremes

-- S

If you graduated from a four year university, you've been robbed!
First of all, do you even understand what Posse Comitatus is? A police force isn't what was needed right after Katrina, rescue efforts were! The US Coast Guard was on the job immediately and no one should argue that fact but further assistance was needed because of the idiots, Blanco and Nagin, that were in office at the time. They simply were not prepared but go ahead and remain ignorant if you want since you're obviously so good at it. I LIVED through the disaster and I KNOW for a fact that the majority of the blame lies with those two. In spite of sewer backups which is only natural when the city is under water, other measures could have been taken, such as stocking the Superdome with food, medicine, water, etc. which would have gone a long way in aiding the citizens that showed up there. We've had threats of other hurricanes in this area and at that time, many showed up at the Dome. Nagin should have known that this would happen again but remember, this man didn't implement the city's disaster plan nor did he call for a mandatory evacuation until tropical force weather was upon us. But go ahead, blame Bush for everything...those of us that know better will continue to laugh at your ignorance.

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"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways - Chardonnay in one hand - chocolate in the other - body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming "WOO HOO, What a Ride!"

You know it never occurred to me that the floods in Iowa could even be considered on par with the disaster in New Orleans. I think the impact is relative to the sheer population involved more than the actual weather conditions. New Orleans is much more densely populated area with not only huge numbers centralized, but centralized over a very large area. Iowa and surrounding areas is a bunch of small to medium cities with varying degrees of exposure to the elements, even within city limits. I asked a friend who lives in Cedar Rapids to make sure if they were ok, and they said "oh we're high and dry" Many parts of that city were largely unaffected.

Then it proves a point.......that the press likes to exaggerate everything.

What does that tell you about Katrina, the war, the economy, rotten-tomatoes?

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"These two entities, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are not facing any kind of financial crisis,"

"The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies,

the less we will see in terms of affordable housing." - Rep. Barney Frank (D)

The rescue efforts provided by the Coast Guard were inadequate,

Clearly, the US military's resources would've come in handy.

And the notion that Posse Comitatus is even relevant (which so many right wing posters have attempted to argue here), i. e. that NOLA and/or the state of LA would've raised a legal objection to the US military helping out is also completely ridiculous.

Even if they did all they could do, the resources of the state and city would've been inadequate. To alleviate it, several nations provided modern ships, etc. to aid in evacuation but those were swiftly turned away by the airhead-in-chief. . .

First Draft: Bush Administration Turned Down Post Katrina Foreign Aid

It also didn't help that the airhead-in-chief had some 3000 of LA's national guard troops deployed in his silly war in Iraq.

(although Blanco herself stupidly didn't make use of all the ones she had).

Even with all that, the Superdome would've been inadequate. Residents were in the Superdome for several days without any adequate sanitation or policing. People were being robbed, raped, and killed there. Additional water, food, and medicine would've helped, but still inadequate.

BBC NEWS | Americas | Survivors reveal Superdome horror

Sorry, another of your incorrect assumptions--I've already stated repeatedly that Nagin and Blanco were to blame as well. . .

And incidentally, the incompetent Gov. Blanco was voted into office by a predominantly Republican electorate !

I'm only arguing that Bush is also to blame. Even assuming nothing else, given the scope of the disaster, it's the height of stupidity for the feds to simply assume the state and NOLA had everything under control. . .

The appropriate thing for a leader to do would've been to be proactive, to not only just accept the foreign aid that came in but also break the law and send in the US military immediately (to keep law and order and aid in evacuations),

because, as is brutally obvious, NOLA was certainly not going to object to that.

Speaking of ignorance. . .

and who did you vote for in 2000 and 2004? ?

"Can I quit now?"

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Life only becomes meaningful at its extremes

-- S

Well, I was going to respond to the whole post but decided it wasn't worth it because you've won't believe the FACTS anyway. The rapes and murders were bogus reports and in reality, only six bodies were found at the Dome, one suicide, one overdose and four died of natural causes. But that's okay, cupcake...believe what you want....your ignorance speaks volumes.

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"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways - Chardonnay in one hand - chocolate in the other - body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming "WOO HOO, What a Ride!"

Or that the FACTS I posted (i. e. citations) about bush's bunglings (rejecting foreign aid, providing insufficient technical resources) were too much. . .

and the wonderful sanitation conditions that saved all those people!

A person's ignorance is measured by the competence of the people he/she voted for.

And as always, it speaks volumes. . .

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Life only becomes meaningful at its extremes

-- S

No one has denied that mistakes were made on a federal level but they began on a local and state level. Nagin failed to follow the Emergency Preparedness Plan which created many of the problems that the feds had to come clean up. You have seen the pictures of the buses sitting in the parking lot...he didn't use them. He didn't call for a mandatory evac until it was far too late and by then, anyone with the means to leave had already left, which included qualified bus drivers.
As for the sanitation, as I said before, that's to be expected when the city is under water. I never said that conditions in the Dome would be perfect but a lot more could have been done to prepare for the arrival of evacuees that everyone should have know would arrive. That's where they always end up! But Nagin failed to stockpile medical supplies, food, etc. even knowing that they were opening it up as a place for special needs people. As bad as the toilet facilities were though, the Dome was still much better than where the people came from and most should just been thankful that they made it there alive.
Despite the unsanitary conditions, only six deaths occurred there and yet there was at least 20,000 evacuees. How many more would have died had they not made it to the Dome????? Living conditions may not have been the best but it was better than dying.

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"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways - Chardonnay in one hand - chocolate in the other - body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming "WOO HOO, What a Ride!"

Not true, I deny that any substantial or systemic mistakes were made at the Federal level (I am sure you could nitpik and find annecdotal indications of mistakes in any operation of this size). Unlike many whose goal is to bash Bush, rather than give a sober assessment of who did and did not perform based on the pre-disaster distribution of responsibilities, I do not ascribe as "mistakes" the Federal Government "failing" to do what wasn't its responsibility or job in the first place. I rank it up there with blaming fast food companies if you get fat because you don't take the minimum expected responsibility for your own health and welfare.

The reelection of Mayor Nagin is a big, bold exclamation point on this!

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"It's a good feeling to shoot a bad guy. Something you democrats would never understand. Americans are homesteaders, we want a safe home, keep the money we make, and shoot bad guys!"

----Denny Crane

So I guess those that didn't have access to transportation should have stolen cars? Then you would be saying that is typical of them and complaining about that.

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"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Pre-disaster preparations within the city definitely weren't the responsibility of the feds! That lies with the local and state government, and of course, to the people themselves. We've been told over and over to have enough emergency supplies to be self-sustaining for three days because it may take that long before help arrives. Sadly, many failed to heed the warning though.
On a federal level though, there were plenty of blunders. There were incidents of trucks full of ice that were diverted to other areas instead of making it down here where it was sorely needed. When the military arrived at the Dome, they didn't have extra food and water in order to feed the general public. I think more could have been done in the aftermath in evacuating people from the Dome and the Arena instead of making people wait for days, often without food and water. I think there was a colossal waste of federal money wasted in no-bid contracts. The list goes on and on...
I will say though that when help came to my city, they brought everything needed. We would drive through a line in large parking lot filled with the National Guard and the first stop was for MRE's, the next stop was bottled water and the next was ice. Church groups were set up in other parking lots and you could get anything from diapers to feminine care products to blankets and pillows. Considering that the only store that was finally opened was Wal-Mart and they were out of many items, the church groups definitely supplied a need!
If I had to grade city (New Orleans), state and federal government, I'd give the city and state an F and the feds a C-!

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"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways - Chardonnay in one hand - chocolate in the other - body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming "WOO HOO, What a Ride!"

I think there will always be some people that couldn't get out. In a city of that size sometimes it's every man for himself. Some people refused to leave to be with pets or protect their homes.

What the media did with the aftermath was the problem. It was disgraceful. They played the race-card and cast blame where it didn't belong.

Even today, Obama is trying to blame McCain for levees breaking in Iowa. This is despicable. It means no dirty tactic is beneath him even though he's claims to hold the high-ground. He claims that the Repugs are going to use the race card, so Obama decided to throw it out first.

Despicable.

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"These two entities, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are not facing any kind of financial crisis,"

"The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies,

the less we will see in terms of affordable housing." - Rep. Barney Frank (D)