Alot of folks have been intricantly involved in the "Sitting Buses of New Orleans" fiasco, laying out all the issues. Bryan Preston of Junk Yard Blog has been all over it, so much that he has exceeded his bandwith. Fortunately, Michelle Malkin has given him a home for the time being.
The buses I mentioned earlier and have blogged about extensively all weekend are evidence of and a symbol for those failures. They sit unused and waterlogged, their empty seats representing lives lost to the flood. Their useless presence in flooded parking lots demonstrate that the best plan is useless if it’s never implemented. And they fact of their unuse demonstrates a deeper pathology at work in New Orleans government: The entire thing was rotted from the inside out. New Orleans’ government was a disaster waiting to happen.
This was a massive failure by the New Orleans government, who had them as a possible use in their evacuation plan. Now, this got me thinking: what about the use of buses in previous hurricanes?
For Hurricane Floyd:
In South Carolina, the Marine boot camp at Parris Island was preparing school buses to move 7,000 recruits to inland shelter.
What we learned from Hurricane Floyd
- School buses are not air conditioned and not comfortable for long trips to inland shelters.
- If you are forced to take this emergency transportation system because you do not have a vehicle of your own, go early. Those on the earliest buses have the shortest rides and get to the closest shelters.
- Bring along a snack and something to drink for your family and caged pet.
With water out and power on the blink, emergency personnel were mobilizing yellow school buses to move 2,000 men, women and children from shelters in the threatened region to other parts of Pitt County unaffected by the water loss.
And other stories can be found showing the use of school buses for hurricane evacuation. Floyd was predicted to be just as much of a monster as Katrina. They are also out there showing their use for hurricane relief. Apparently, drivers and the keys for said buses could be found, to refute the currrent lefty meme.
Now, granted, they are not needed as much in North Carolina. Our Governors have a habit of issuing evacuation orders well in advance, particularly for the Outer Banks. Here is the evac routes plan for NC, with minimum times.
It’s a shame that, rather then blogging for relief, or posting stories of hope or good deeds, folks have to waste time refuting the idiots who want to bash Bush. But, a picture says a thousand words (via LGF’s)
