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New Orleans Gets a New Hurricane Plan
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City officials, who had primary responsibility for removing residents, had a plan for people without vehicles, but no provisions for implementing it, according to the report.
"As Katrina approached, notwithstanding the city's evacuation plans on paper, the best solution New Orleans had for people without transportation was a private-citizen volunteer carpool initiative called Operation Brothers' Keepers and transit buses taking people -- not out of the city, but to the Superdome," the report said.
Before Katrina, some city buses were available to pick up residents, but finding drivers posed a problem, and many residents said they never saw an evacuation bus in their neighborhood.
The report also faulted the city for not allocating enough money and personnel for hurricane preparation, echoing some of Nagin's critics.
"The Office of Emergency Preparedness for New Orleans, long known to be among the nation's cities most vulnerable to a catastrophic hurricane, had a staff of only three," the report said, noting that turnover was a "serious problem" and that the police and fire departments, which are responsible for search and rescue, had a total of five boats.
Sadly, the effects of Katrina make it much easier for the city to prepare for another hurricane.
The population is about 200,000 now, or less than half of what it was before Katrina, and officials estimate that 10,000 would need help evacuating. Many of the city's neediest residents have not returned.
"This is a very mobile community," Nagin said. "It's not what we had pre-Katrina."
