Hurricane watch in effect for the South Carolina coast.
UPDATE: Drifting westward.
UPDATE II: Ophelia Downgraded to Tropical Storm Again — At 11 a.m. EDT (9/12/05), Ophelia was centered 205 miles east-southeast of Charleston, S.C., and 260 miles south-southwest of Cape Hatteras, the hurricane center said. | National Hurricane Center |
“Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these courageous couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.”
I read about an interview that Ray Nagin did with Times-Picayune reporter Gordon Russell over at BuzzMachine. Rather than blog it myself, I thought I’d just leave it to Jeff Jarvis. But, there is this about the buses:
Federal officials have also faulted Nagin’s administration for not marshaling its own buses and those of the School Board to start ferrying the tens of thousands of evacuees stranded at the Superdome and the Convention Center out of town.
Nagin said perhaps some of the criticism is fair. But he said there were various logistical hurdles that made it hard to use that equipment, and the buses would have hardly created a dent in the size of the crowds anyway.
“It’s up for analysis,” he said. “But we didn’t have enough buses. I don’t control the school buses, and the RTA (Regional Transit Authority) buses as far as I know were positioned high and dry. But 80 percent of the city was not high and dry. Where would we have staged them? And who was going to drive them even if we commandeered them? If I’d have marshaled 50 RTA buses, and a few school buses, it still wouldn’t have been nearly enough. We didn’t get food, water and ice in this place, and that’s way above the local level.
“Our plan was always to use the buses to evacuate to the Dome as a shelter of last resort, and from there, rely on state and federal resources.”
Those resources took way too long to arrive, Nagin said – in fact, much of the help didn’t arrive until after the mass evacuations from the Dome and the Convention Center had occurred.
Not enough buses? Gimme a break.
Oh, and Roy, it’s not about what happened after. It’s what didn’t happened BEFORE the hurricane!
Why didn’t he organize bus transportation out of New Orleans on Sunday, the day before Katrina hit? BEFORE THE FLOOD? He could have ordered the buses to be lined up at the Superdome. When he made the mandatory evacuation announcement he could have also said that buses were ready to take people who did not have their own transportation out of the city.
But, he didn’t. And we know what happened.
Related: Delusional, Dysfunctional, Divisive, and Defiant
Well, this day just got away from me. We’ve got a couple of sick kids, so nursing them takes extra attention. Oh, and there was the grocery shopping (we all went to the store; that’s Mom, Dad, and four kids!). Obviously, I survived.
But, enough of that. Here’s some stuff I found tonight.
— Michele Catalano spent a pretty nice amount of money today on supplies for Hurricane Katrina survivors. Unfortunately, it wasn’t easy.
— If you’re a fellow blogger and you need to ban a reader from commenting (it happens), you’ll want to learn from Ace. Apparently, it’s difficult to kick AOL users.
— Tomorrow is September 11th, and I’ll have my own post about that later, but for now, Mister Snitch has put together a website dedicated to that day.
— Meanwhile, over 500 9-11 family members rallied in New York City today to protest the Freedom Center.
— Ann Althouse is podcasting. Yes, it’s her first one, so I can’t be too critical. But coming from a guy who used to work in radio, Ann needs to speak up a little bit. Don’t be so timid!
— Betsy Newmark has a lot of good stuff today.
— Blogs for Bush is discussing the latest (unflattering) poll on the president.
— Jeff Jarvis is pushing Recovery 2.0.
— The criticism of Gov. Kathleen Blanco continues. This time, Andrew Sullivan links to a proclamation that Blanco sat on too long.
— Wolcott: From Blame Game to Numbers Game
— Last weekend I heard about a crazy Celine Dion on Larry King. Bryan Preston found the video. Yikes, talk about over the top!
— LGF: CNN Sues to Show Bodies.
— Have you read about the controversy over the Flight 93 Memorial? It’s unbelievable.
— Jeff Goldstein fisks Huffington Post blogger Stephen Elliot.
— Jay @ Wizbang compares 9/11 and Katrina.
And finally…
— Happy Blogoversary to ProfessorBainbridge.
Blogging shall be light on this Saturday. Thou shalt return later unto this evening. It is then whenst blogging shall commence.
Later.