What should have happened :
If they didn't want to get on a bus, their only other choice is to
possibly die. You can't save someone that refuses to get to safety.
Authority to issue evacuations of elements of the population is vested
in the Mayor. By Executive Order, the chief elected official, the
Mayor of the City of New Orleans, has the authority to order the
evacuation of residents threatened by an approaching hurricane.
Conduct of an actual evacuation will be the responsibility of the
Mayor of New Orleans in coordination with the Director of the Office
of Emergency Preparedness, and the OEP Shelter Coordinator.
Use of buses is covered in the city plan and the state plan.
I counted in the picture that is being passed around approx 135 school
buses alone that could be seen. If each was used to hold 30 people
that would have been 4,050 per trip that could have been moved . It is
estimated that NORTA(city buses) has 364 buses. If 60 crowed in during
the evac, 21,840 per trip could be moved. Together 25,890 people could
have evaced. Mayor Nagin said 80% of the city left when ordered. The
population census for 2000 says 484,674 people lived there, 387,740
evaced on there own. The buses could have taken the remaining 96,934
out in about 4 trips. Taking the people maybe 100 miles inland and
empty the city in around 12 hours.