Captain's Quarters Blog


« Hollywood's Great Constant | Main | Arnold Announces Permanent Retirement From Hollywood »

September 7, 2005
Katrina: ABC Notices The New Orleans Emergency Plan

At least one major media outlet has finally noticed that New Orleans had an emergency response plan for hurricances and evacuations that somehow never got implemented. ABC News yesterday asked why Mayor Ray Nagin not only did not follow the plan, but actively sent non-evacuees to a site that had no preparations to handle them:

New Orleans' own comprehensive emergency plan raises the specter of "having large numbers of people stranded" and promises "the city will utilize all available resources to quickly and safely evacuate threatened areas."

"Special arrangements will be made to evacuate persons unable to transport themselves," the plan states.

When Hurricane Katrina hit, however, that plan was not followed completely.

Instead of sending city buses to evacuate those who could not make it out on their own, people in New Orleans were told to go to the Superdome and the Convention Center, where no one provided sufficient sustenance or security.

ABC also asked Governor Kathleen Blanco's office about their response to the evacuation. They responded that they never asked for evacuation assistance from the federal government as part of their interaction with FEMA, only for assistance with shelter and provisions. They assumed that the city of New Orleans had followed its own evacuation plan.

That assumption wound up costing lives. Did they ask Nagin if his administration had followed the plan, and if so, what kind of response did they get? If ABC's report is correct, then the feds may not have known of the evacuation breakdown until the flood on Tuesday made it a critical situation -- and then were forced to respond by getting the correct assets in place within 72 hours for evacuation while almost all the roads and bridges were unusable. By that time, FEMA had begun to use what roadways were left open to move in the supplies and temporary shelter they had prestaged in the area. The feds would have had to quickly shift to a massive evacuation effort instead, a difficult and time-consuming transformation.

Kudos to ABC for asking the right questions. The answers will prove very disturbing for those who want to cast blame at the feds for what eventually will prove to be a heroic response, under the circumstances. The answers ABC published already prove most of that conjecture wrong.

UPDATE and BUMP TO TOP: Perhaps the media might notice this November 2004 analysis of the dry run Hurricane Ivan provided city officials in evacuating the city as a hurricane approached. It would address the meme that only the very poor and infirm resisted the mandatory evacuation, and noted that New Orleans did a poor job in communicating the evacuation order then as well (emphases mine):

The fact that 600,000 residents evacuated means an equal number did not. Recent evacuation surveys show that two thirds of nonevacuees with the means to evacuate chose not to leave because they felt safe in their homes. Other nonevacuees with means relied on a cultural tradition of not leaving or were discouraged by negative experiences with past evacuations. ...

Residents who did not have personal transportation were unable to evacuate even if they wanted to. Approximately 120,000 residents (51,000 housing units x 2.4 persons/unit) do not have cars. A proposal made after the evacuation for Hurricane Georges to use public transit buses to assist in their evacuation out of the city was not implemented for Ivan. If Ivan had struck New Orleans directly it is estimated that 40-60,000 residents of the area would have perished.

That may well turn out to be the death toll for Katrina, and for the exact same reason. They had this data well ahead of the storm, and the evacuation called for the buses to roll for this exact reason. Why didn't Mayor Nagin follow the plan? Why didn't Governor Blanco do something to check her assumptions that he had?

Sphere It Digg! View blog reactions
Posted by Ed Morrissey at September 7, 2005 7:15 AM

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry is

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Katrina: ABC Notices The New Orleans Emergency Plan:

» Nagin Orders Forceful Evac; Media Denied Boat Rides in N.O. from In the Bullpen
A wrap-up of New Orleans related news from Nagin finally making the right call to the media being banned from rescue boats. ... [Read More]

Tracked on September 7, 2005 7:10 AM

» Where It Starts from CrosSwords
According to the Captain, ABC is asking the right questions...finally. ABC noticed the hurricane evacuation plan that was also posted on the Captain's website on 9/4 (or did ABC just read the Captain?) The truth of the matter is that any emergency ... [Read More]

Tracked on September 7, 2005 7:15 AM

» When State Governments Fail To Govern from DOUBLE TOOTHPICKS
When a state government is obviously failing its citizens, and people are dying as a result, what power to intervene should the federal government have? UPDATE: Captain Ed has more on ABC News' discovery of the response within Louisiana. [Read More]

Tracked on September 7, 2005 7:51 AM

» Just overheard in passing on Fox News Morning Show from Abracadabrah
Captain Ed has also noticed that ABC news finally asked Governor Blanco's office about their response to the evacuation. [Read More]

Tracked on September 7, 2005 8:00 AM

» Just overheard in passing on Fox News Morning Show... from Kesher Talk
…That, according to one of the reporters walking through the SuperDome yesterday with the mayor, one of the things found was a large quantity of empty liquor bottles. Apparently a lot of people came to the Dome with the idea... [Read More]

Tracked on September 7, 2005 8:02 AM

» A couple of useful tonics for the "Blame Bush" crowd from Strange Women Lying in Ponds
Anybody who seeks to blame President Bush for the seemingly slow response to the disaster in New Orleans needs to consider a few basic civics lessons that the President is apparently too polite to point out. The first, and most [Read More]

Tracked on September 7, 2005 9:03 AM

» Kudos For ABC News from Wade's World
The Captain throws some roses at the feet of ABC News for finally asking the right questions and doing some of that research stuff ... [Read More]

Tracked on September 7, 2005 10:18 AM

» Here's Mayor Nagins' Emergency Evacuation Plan from Tapscott's Copy Desk
And Captain's Quarters directs readers to this prophetic report on the Natural Hazards Center web site on "What if Hurricane Ivan had not missed New Orleans?" [Read More]

Tracked on September 7, 2005 10:36 AM

» First Response Means Exactly That from Independent Sources
From the Independent Sources mail bag: Dear Independent Sources: Read this thoroughly.  The major and the governor have a lot to answer for.  I am astonished at the spin this disaster is getting in the mainstream media.  Do most peo... [Read More]

Tracked on September 7, 2005 11:43 AM

» An MSM Gets It Right On Katrina Relief from SoCalPundit
In a stunning move, on e very uncharacteristic of the overall position of the mainstream media, ABC News has taken the position that State and Local (not Federal) Government was/is to blame for the majority of went wrong in the Katrina disaster relief... [Read More]

Tracked on September 7, 2005 11:48 AM

» What went wrong in New Orleans? from The Buzz Blog
There has been much debate - mostly shouting - about what went wrong in New Orleans in the days leading up to hurricane Katrina and why did so much go wrong after the storm hit? Captian’s Quarters provides some answers: ABC also asked Governor ... [Read More]

Tracked on September 7, 2005 12:15 PM

» Figurative Cesspool Creates Real One from Hard Starboard
There's no clear indication whether that meant that she was offended that the character of her government would dare be questioned or whether she has been asleep at the lecturn as well as the switch. But it is clear that Blanco isn't qualified to run... [Read More]

Tracked on September 7, 2005 12:19 PM

» This is the issue that matters the most from Murdoc Online
Could New Orleans have been cleared in time? Donald Sensing has a long and informative post up about whether or not New Orleans could have been evacuated in time to avert the disaster: Let’s walk the dog a little. Here... [Read More]

Tracked on September 7, 2005 12:25 PM

» Headache from NIF
Today's dose of NIF - News, Interesting & Funny! [Read More]

Tracked on September 7, 2005 4:12 PM

» Media group says “show us the bodies” from Sister Toldjah
I don’t know what it is about coffins and bodies but the some in the media seem to have an unhealthy obsession with them. First, there was the push for showing pictures of our soldiers returning home in flag-drapped coffins, now this: [Read More]

Tracked on September 7, 2005 5:55 PM

» Hurricane Katrina: The Wall Street Journal Blames the Locals from Part-Time Pundit
Today the WSJ laid blame squarely on the mayor and governor where it belongs. They largely agree with my own assessment. UPDATE: Apparently the MSM is starting to pick up on the non-executed plan by the locals that let people die, ABC gets it. (HT: Cap... [Read More]

Tracked on September 7, 2005 6:01 PM

» Hurricane Katrina: After-Action Report - Where were the breakdowns from Part-Time Pundit
Now that it seems everyone who is going to be rescued from New Orleans has been and the clean-up operation has begun, it's time for an after-action report on what is and what is not to blame. This is probably going to be my last and most complete post ... [Read More]

Tracked on September 7, 2005 6:02 PM

» Where's the Plan? from Politickal
Bob Williams asks Mayor Nagin and Governor Blanco the million dollar question: "Where's the plan? Answer: Posted and practiced, but not ever implemented... [Read More]

Tracked on September 7, 2005 7:43 PM

» Misconceptions. from AngryWhitey
I know we're just a startup blog, but we're already getting our fair share of angry readers posting responses, which is beautiful. Being angry and spouting off your opinion is as American as apple... [Read More]

Tracked on September 7, 2005 7:58 PM

» Scapegoats 'R Us from reverse_vampyr
The primary responsibility for the citizens of New Orleans rests squarely on the stooped shoulders of Mayor Nagin. His emergency plan for the city of New Orleans was never implemented. The plan called for the use of busses to evacuate people who had ... [Read More]

Tracked on September 7, 2005 8:36 PM

» It Just Gets Stickier and Stickier from OKIE on the LAM™ -- In LA
According to Ed Morrissey at Captain's Quarters, ABC News is reporting that the city of New Orleans did not follow its own previously drawn-up hurricane disaster plan. They then commented on the reaction of Louisiana Governor Blanco in regards to FEMA'... [Read More]

Tracked on September 7, 2005 9:04 PM

» ABC not so LameStream from The Bad Hedgehog
From Captain's Quarters. The LameStream Media notices the New Orleans evacuation plan. ABC actually asks some questions about the emergency response plan:At least one major media outlet has finally noticed that New Orleans had an emergency response pla... [Read More]

Tracked on September 7, 2005 10:03 PM

» Media Groups Say Show Us The Bodies from Blogs for Bush
I dont know what it is about coffins and bodies but the some in the media seem to have an unhealthy obsession with them. First, there was the push for showing pictures of our soldiers returning home in flag-drapped coffins,... [Read More]

Tracked on September 8, 2005 8:18 AM

» Katrina: ABC Notices The New Orleans Emergency Plan from BlogSpy.NET
We found this blog entry very interesting so we've added a Trackback to it on our site. [Read More]

Tracked on September 8, 2005 10:07 AM

» Maybe ABC’s Getting a Clue? from Electric Desert
Captain’s Quarters Captain’s Quarters Blog - a mandatory daily stop on your Blogosphere romps! - details ABC’s sudden “conscientious” application to actual journalism: At least one major media outlet has finally notice... [Read More]

Tracked on September 8, 2005 10:35 AM

» Tending our own patch of ground from Peace Like A River
We have to be responsible for our own ground. We take care of our own. We don't push off our duties onto far-away people, and we don't blame them when we fall down in our duties. [Read More]

Tracked on September 8, 2005 11:13 AM

» Hurricane Politics: The Chiles' Gambit... from My Sandmen
consider the current contentious political environment. Then take note of an active upcoming legislative season, with open and extreme animosity on the part of Democrats for the current Republican President. One must wonder if Katrina presented a tem... [Read More]

Tracked on September 9, 2005 3:09 PM



Design & Skinning by:
m2 web studios





blog advertising



button1.jpg

Proud Ex-Pat Member of the Bear Flag League!