http://www.theunionleader.com/articl...?article=59834
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The Katrina response:
Louisiana gov’t fails its people
THE FIRST DUTY of government is to protect the citizens. Government can do only so much to protect people from a hurricane, but in the past week Louisiana failed to do even what little it could.
Shortly after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast on Monday, Red Cross officials were describing their mobilization as the largest in the non-profit group’s history. Red Cross and other volunteers were on the scene even before the storm hit.
On Wednesday, two days after landfall, Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco was still trying to decide how the state would react. She had no plan for evacuating the thousands of refugees stuck in the Superdome, no plan for finding survivors elsewhere, no plan for handling corpses, and no plan for stopping looters. And we thought Gov. John Lynch was indecisive.
There was plenty of forewarning for this disaster. New Orleans’ vulnerability was no secret. Katrina was polite enough to telegraph days ahead and tell everyone when and where she was coming. State, local and federal officials have no excuse for being so unprepared. That Gov. Blanco, with all the resources of the state of Lousiana at her command, was shown up by the Red Cross and other charities shows just how slack the state’s preparation was.
After the waters recede and survivors begin to rebuild their lives, there will come a time to hold public officials accountable for their inaction. At that time, Gov. Blanco will have a lot of explaining to do.
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Gov. Blanco had no plan, and is probably the most ill-prepared person to be leading a state in a time like this. Only
after the level of despair was apparent did she order in Nat'l guard troops and a mandatory evacuation of the city. Where were these busses last week? It's not bush's responsibility to evacuate the people from NO, its the governor's. The federal government didn't leave the poorest of the poor in NO to rot. Their own governor and mayor did.
It is true there was an evacuation order before the hurricane struck, but that was givem by the mayor, not the governor. Had the mayor wanted to do more than just lip-service he would have acted with the state to ensure his citizens saftey. He did not.
There is plenty of blame to go around, lets just place it where it belongs.
add:
a quote from Blanco on the NO evacuation on the 28th of August, 2005:
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Originally Posted by Gov. Blanco
While many people are still on the roads trying to get out of the city, trafffic patterns indicate that everyone who has the ability to leave New Orleans will be able to evacuate by this evening.
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Way to help the little man, Gov.