Quote:
Originally posted by BigCityStripper
C-5 Galaxies huh? That's a cute theory. Just to ask, how many of those do the Army, AF, Navy or USMC have just sitting around on runways, perfectly adapted to such needs? Oh, I'm sure there's hundreds and hundreds of these aircraft just sittin around, perfectly configured for just such an extraction and evacuation situation as this. Oh well, yes, and besides how MANY of these planes there are, I'm sure the LA Gov. and NO mayor have the authority to press these into service. The plain fact is, that if the NO mayor was serious about evac, him and the Gov. wouldn't have blown off Pres. Bush when he CALLED for evac, would have comandeered NO city buses and school buses, and rolled them through the poor neighborhoods and evacuated all they could. Instead they let their political differences blind them to the fact that, holy crap, W might actually have a clue what's good for them, and sentenced a large part of their constitunecy to death by their inaction.
People can smoke screen the blame all they want. They can try to shift the blame to Bush, or Republicans, or Whitey, or white devils all they want, but the true fumble here was by the elected mayor of NO and the Gov. of LA. I would venture to say that the enviornmental movement, who places a value on saving 'endangered' plants and animals in front of flood control and development measures is also partly to blame.
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Thanks. I pride myself on my cute theories. It's what got me through college. Its a skill I use daily in running my own business.
Thanks Coop for the C-5 Specs. I didn't know how many were specifically available. I did know that a shitload are at Tinker AFB (in OKlahoma). In an ironic twist, they used to be serviced (Maintenance Depot) at the former Kelly AFB, the location now called Kelly USA, and home to several thousand Katrina refugees.
At any rate, Rob, I agree I didn't answer your requirements for evacuation BEFORE the storm. I went with the actual instead of the hypothetical, because 1) thats where the most immefiate need was (everyone agrees that the superdome was an acceptable shelter during the storm and for a few hours after the storm {improvments could have been made, the anticipated need for stockpiles of food, water and portable toilets after the water / power went out}) and 2) I really dont know that it actually is cost efficient to remove 100,000 people everytime there is a strong storm in the gulf - even if it is headded to an area like NOLA. I think the costs and time requirements are too high. But an Emergency Action Plan could be put into place during the storm or as soon as the scope of the emergency becomes fully known (Monday afternoon in the case of the levee breaks).
I also acknowlege the constitutional issues so eloquently pointed out by BCS. There's no one person that can authorize the moblization of the millitary and there has to be cooperation between local, state and federal agencies. I think the process needs to be streamlined for worst case scenarios.
Hybrid Mode
