You Think He'll Ignore This One Like He Did The Last?

New Orleans Gets a New Hurricane Plan
Mayor Emphasizes Evacuation, Not Shelters; Buses and Trains to Run

By Peter Whoriskey and Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, May 3, 2006; Page A03

New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin unveiled a hurricane evacuation plan yesterday that embodies some of Katrina's fatal lessons, ruling out city shelters such as the Superdome and making it easier for residents to heed his orders to flee.

The thrust of the plan is to encourage people to leave the flood-prone metropolis before a storm and avoid a repeat of the Katrina aftermath, when as many as 100,000 residents resisted Nagin's call for mandatory evacuation.

"Read my lips: This is a plan for getting people out of the city," Nagin said at a news conference in New Orleans. "There will be no shelters of last resort."

The plan calls for buses, as well as Amtrak trains, to take frail or incapacitated residents to shelters upstate. People with pets would be allowed to board evacuation buses, and police would take extra precautions against looting to alleviate any fears that evacuating could mean exposing homes to thievery.

Authorities will not force anyone out of their homes, however, though anyone who ventures out after curfew could be arrested, Nagin warned.

What a joke. Nagin had a plan in place which would have avoided all of the problems which occurred during and after Katrina if only Nagin had followed it.

So now, having failed in his responsibilities last time, he has a new plan to ignore, and no doubt he will be re-elected. Such is the average intelligence of New Orleans residents. No doubt Nagin will promise more welfare to ensure his re-election.

The fact that such an incompetent politician would be re-elected should surprise no one. We are talking about Louisiana! Louisiana, home of former governor and convicted felon Edwin Edwards. Louisiana, home of Huey P., Earle, and Russell Long; home of Placquemins Parish which was run for decades by Judge Perez (once while being investigated by the state DA for prison abuses, Perez had the parish police meet state investigators at the parish border with a .50 cal machine gun, turning them back and stopping the investigation).

Nothing that happens in Louisiana politics should surprise anyone.

Full Story: Louisiana: Politics as usual

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