Buses and boats.

We've all had the chance to talk about FEMA's disastrously slow response to Katrina, including the days of delay, the inexcuseable bickering over authority to act and the monstrous ignorance betrayed by the head of FEMA about the refugees in the Convention Center.

I just wanted to talk a bit about buses and boats. Helicopters, of course, look cool. They can pull people off of rooftops, but only one at a time, and in a city with thousands stranded on rooftops or in rafters, this is an agonizingly slow process.

I've read a lot about buses and boats during this crisis: The Mayor of New Orleans asking for 'about five hundred buses' stands out in my mind. The story of a brave civilian with no bus driving experience at all 'looting' a yellow school bus, picking up evacuees and driving them to Houston without asking permission from anyone also stands out.

The two most horrifying stories to me, if true, also have to do with buses and boats. I read that buses came down the highway to pick up evacuees from the Superdome, and were not permitted to pass. Specifically, two families in the Superdome pooled their money (some $25,000.00) to charter a bus to come and get them out of there. The bus was halted by someone (La Natl. Guard, FEMA thugs, Federales...unclear), and forced to turn around. How many buses with volunteer drivers they turned around while people died waiting for the buses is unclear to me, but I'm assured this was not isolated. How many buses set off for New Orleans, only to hear that they couldn't get "clearance"... how many buses were never chartered for the same reason? How many people perished as a result?

The second story is about boats. Like I said, helicopters are all well and good, but a good, shallow draft boat is unbeatable for getting a lot of people out of the water. Even a bass boat, available for under a grand from Gander Mountain or Bass Pro Shops, would be great for navigating the shallow floodwaters in New Orleans. A fleet of such boats, manned entirely by volunteers, showed up in New Orleans during the height of the disaster, either Wednesday or Thursday, and was turned away.

They were ordered to leave the city while people died in attics and died on rooftops and in upper floors. How many people perished as a result?

The Administration has said it will rely for a great deal of help from private actors and agencies. Yet, when a person tries to help or wants to know how to help, they are told to write a check to the Red Cross. I'm not knocking the Red Cross, but when people need help, my grandmother said there's never too many hands.

People wanted to lend a hand and were told they couldn't. And people died as a result. This one is FEMA's fault, from what I understand, they are the people who issued the orders. FEMA's head is a crony who was given his job as a reward for his campaign assistance to our Mad Monkey King.

FIRE ALL THE FUCKERS.

to protect THEIR interests, so they turned volunteers back.

Instead of them being able to demonstrate that private industry could do it better, we need to demonstrate how pigs feeding at the trof during a time of national emergency is UNAMERICAN.

...it seemed to be just an example of the complete infuckingcompetence at FEMA. They hear about shooting, so they don't let anyone into the city, but they don't hear there's people in the Convention Center???


WTF?

Was it just by 'presidential fiat'? (or shareholder fiat, if you like)

I mean, WTF?

Is Halliburton our new Government Get Things Done Department?