Immediately after 9/11 people got up off their asses, did not wait for Federal help and got out of town. The subways, and other public transportation were not working and we were in a lockdown. People WALKED and hitched a ride anyway possible to get out of Manhattan. People were on the back of flatbed trailers, ferries, and walked over every bridge to get the hell out of there and it was a TOTAL SUPRISE!
This did not happen in NO. Everyone waited for the government to help them after they had 2 DAYS OF WARNING! When you wait for the government to help you, you get what you ask for.
Well. You must be a pretty fast walker. If you live in a wheelchair and have no car this is tough to do. If you have no car and cannot walk damn fast it is hard to out walk a hurricane moving at 13 miles and hour. The problem was the folks who could not evacuate themselves were indeed part of the NO evacuation plan. They were supposed to be bussed out. The incompetent mayor (Nagin)ignored the plan. The poor always will suffer disproportionately in these situations and the Liberal Wingnuts that insist on welfare programs that train people to exist in squaller and at the lowest level of society because they can do so with little or no effort are largely responsible for setting the stage for something like this to happen. BUT. That is a known element of the equation. Has been since FDR. Nothing new here. It's a problem that cannot be fixed once you see the hurricane cross the horizon. The likely result is predetermined .... unless someone understands and acts forcefully and quickly with precision. It is not a humane or rational reaction to say, well it's their own fault..After all it really isn't...It's is our collective fault for allowing this system to grow and enslave more and more. The walk out of New York on 9/11 was a damn sight shorter walk to safety than walking away from a 250 mile wide hurricane wind of 100 miles and hour. To suggest that was an alternative for anyone is preposterous. The situations are not comparable in any way. In this situation rant at the idiot mayor not the folks in trouble.