(10) Washington bus convoy returns with only one evacuee

[sabra]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N07165370.htm

Washington bus convoy returns with only one evacuee


WASHINGTON, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Ten buses sent from Washington to help evacuate victims of Hurricane Katrina returned nearly empty on Wednesday after volunteers could find only one person willing to come to the U.S. capital, a city official said.

The convoy drove around several days looking for people displaced by the disaster but poor federal planning hampered their efforts, city spokeswoman Sharon Gang said.

"As we were in touch with federal officials we were told different things along the way," Gang said. "There was a lack of coordination."

...

"We are still ready to fill those 10 buses with people in need. Unfortunately, the chaotic situation on the ground down there has hampered efforts to create an organized evacuation plan," Mayor Anthony Williams said in a statement on Monday.

[liberal N proud]

1. poor federal planning hampered their efforts

poor federal planning hampered their efforts
poor federal planning hampered their efforts
poor federal planning hampered their efforts
poor federal planning hampered their efforts
poor federal planning hampered their efforts
poor federal planning hampered their efforts


How many times does it have to be repeated?


poor federal planning
poor federal planning
poor federal planning
poor federal planning
poor federal planning
poor federal planning

[sabra]

3. I think I am seeing a pattern here?

...

[Frustratedlady]

2. People are Refusing

to go many places. It is my understanding that the older people who were given an opportunity to board the Carnival ships, refused. They also refused to come to Iowa. There were cots set up and arrangements made. They want to stay in Texas, at least for now.

[Megahurtz]

4. I wouldn't want to go to D.C. either.

Not now. Not after this.

[H5N1]

8. N.O.is their home:I would want to stay as close to NO as is safe

D.C. no way! The weather will be cold, they won't have friends or
family, no work, high crime, plus - that's where bush the fuckhead
is! And it's way too far from home.

[northzax]

18. who thought ships were a good plan?

these people just had everything they owned destroyed by FLOODING. so let's make them live on the water? I mean nice initial thought, but really, someone should have thought that one through.

It's the rough equivalent of United Airlines offering September 11 widows free first class airfare: generous, but not really thoughtful.

[2Design]

28. they would have been on day 1, 2, and 3 compared to

dome and convention center - but most of this is too late
even all these truck loads of stuff - the people are spread all over the country

red cross is only good for a night or two and they they want them in housing somewhere and 'out of their hair'

[H5N1]

5. Why didn't the ten buses take victims somewhere else?

Ten buses returned empty: that doesn't make any fucking sense.

[sabra]

6. "the chaotic situation on the ground down there has hampered efforts"

nothing seems to make sense.

[UpInArms]

16. looks like they were flown in - not bused (????)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/06/AR2005090600919.html

Hundreds of Storm Survivors Arrive in Capital

He was the first person to step inside the D.C. Armory yesterday, the tall elderly man who carried all his belongings in a plastic grocery bag and walked with a slight limp. Behind him was a woman in a plaid dress who pushed a walker, a girl with a pink barrette in her hair and a small boy in a lime-green T-shirt who was scooped up into a hug by a D.C. official.

One by one, the New Orleans survivors of Hurricane Katrina arrived in Washington yesterday, welcomed with smiles and applause from emergency workers and District leaders. Some came on stretchers or makeshift wheelchairs. Others could move on their own but looked tired and dazed.

<snip>

A total of 295 evacuees were flown from New Orleans to Dulles International Airport on two commercial aircraft, and more may arrive here over the next several days. They were taken to the armory on Metrobuses and fed a hearty lunch of meatballs, egg noodles and mixed vegetables with a garden salad.

<snip>

Although District officials initially had planned to receive a group of hurricane survivors being housed in Arkansas, the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Monday night instead arranged the airlift from the New Orleans airport.

...more...

more screwups :shakeshead:

[Shakespeare]

23. Yup-story wrongly shifts blame to evacuees instead of FEMA.

FEMA has continually screwed up, on every level. Yesterday, they sent a planeload of people to Charleston, WV, instead of Charleston, SC, where they were supposed to go, and where they were actually prepared for the evacuees.

The incompetence of this once-great department under Bush is mind-blowing.

[tblue37]

25. I love seeing the survivors welcomed with applause.

They need to feel that people are welcoming them, that they are glad to have them there and to help them.

So many of the survivors feel embarrassed to be in the position of having to accept charity, even though it is through no fault of their own. The applause tells them that they are important, that their well-being matters to people, and that the people who are there are thrilled at the opportunity to be of service to them.

I honestly get choked up every time I see a planeload or busload of survivors greeted this way, and when I see the volunteers hurry to greet the newcomers with smiles, hugs, handshakes, and pats on the back.

[sniffa]

7. i heard the same story about wisconsin

buses came back empty, with officiaLs saying, "i don't why they aren't jumping at this opurtunity"

i'm waiting to hear stories from every state now, saying this. something smeLLs fishy about these reports.

[H5N1]

10. that does sound fishy, doesn't it?

[sniffa]

12. yeah, 2 different states with the exact same story

onLy the numbers are different (wisconsin buses brought back 3 peopLe).

[Name removed]

11. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[gitchel]

13. Yeah. Here's Iowa's story....

"Iowa is ready to welcome thousands of Hurricane Katrina evacuees — but it was unclear Tuesday whether any of the people fleeing the Gulf Coast want to come.

Iowans raced to be ready for hundreds of homeless people who had been expected to arrive as soon as Tuesday afternoon.

The Iowa National Guard and American Red Cross prepared the Iowa State Fairgrounds for up to 1,000 people who were expected to come from evacuation points in Houston. The state has offered to assist up to 5,000 evacuees.

But they didn't come.

Late Tuesday afternoon, Iowa officials spoke with Federal Emergency Management Agency officials who said they were having a hard time getting people to leave the evacuation zones in Houston."


http://dmregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050907/NEWS08/509070365/1001&lead=1

[sniffa]

14. so are these 'empty bus' stories coming from FEMA?

the iowa story is at Least different. the WI/DC stories just reek of urban Legend, since they're aLmost word for word.

[gratuitous]

9. Hmm, we're waiting for 1,000 folks in Oregon

They've got shelters all set up, volunteers ready to assist, and they're putting together an apparatus to help folks find suitable housing and employment. Nobody's come yet, and it would be a real blow to people's willingness to help out next time if help is spurned this time.

However, I think there's also an element of denial in play here as well. Coming to terms with the fact that your home, your city, your life as you knew it two weeks ago are just flat gone probably never to return takes a period of psychological adjustment, and a lot of former New Orleans residents may not have made that psychic leap just yet.

[LostinVA]

15. Personally, I would love to move to Oregon... however

Let's say something similar happened here in VA, and they wanted to send me to South Dakota or Arizona. No way! Why would I move 2,000+ from my home and way of life? Sending me to NC or MD would be better, if I HAD to leave the area. I understand. It's not necessarily a psychological adjustment, but rather these people wanting to stay near home, family, weather. and their culture. I think culture shock would be just one more stressor they don't need, you know?

[sandnsea]

17. It's way too soon

Another week, they'll be ready to think and some might decide to go somewhere else. I don't know why they think they can shove these people into normalcy.

But with extended families that have been together for generations, they aren't going to go anywhere. I have family in St. Louis that would never leave that area under any circumstances. It's what they know, what they're comfortable with. It's a big deal for them to travel across the state, let alone move a thousand miles away.

[gratuitous]

27. I think it IS too soon

And we can probably use a little more time to get things up and running smoothly anyway.

I don't know how you would allot folks to go around the country. I suppose the first step would be to say, "We have places for you to go in the following areas around the country, with numbers indicating how many people they're equipped to handle." Then follow with the places. "Please indicate your top four choices with a 1, 2, 3 and 4 for where you'd like to be relocated. Counselors will circulate through the arena to answer questions if they can, and to help you with considerations for your specific circumstances. Please understand that not everyone can be sent to their preferred location, but we will try to accommodate as many people as we can."

This would turn some of the choice back over to people who have probably felt totally helpless over their lives for the last couple of weeks, give them back a sense of control, and help the rescue workers sort out this incredible task of an orderly diaspora of the residents of a major city.

[superconnected]

19. Did they offer rides to anyone at the astrodome

or are they going for looters and shooters.

I don't get it. I think these are fake reports to further place the blame on the victims.

[Stinky The Clown]

20. We tend to see the worst in things sometimes, but this wasn't a bad thing

DC and some other jurisdictions sent the busses to allow people to make a choice - go to DC .... or not.

The story is that people chose 'not'. That doesn't say anything about DC or any other jurisdiction to which the answer was 'not' It says volumes about their choice of 'not'.

NO ONE wants to leave their home, let alone their houses. These evacuees need to have some way to stay as close to home as possible. Houston is not that far, but temporary 'cities' of manufactured housing (trailers) in Louisiana would probably suit them better.

When I see stories like this, I try to project myself into it and see how I would react. I can't feel what these people are feeling now, but I can try to imagine it. And when I do, I imagine I'd want to be as close to my home and my house as possible.

I suspect that's why those who had the choice, chose 'not'.

[superconnected]

22. How the public will take these stories

(which the news casters are well aware of),

is that the victims don't want help.

It gets the public off Bush's case for not sending any sooner.

[0007]

21. Jaysus!

[merci_me]

24. There's reason to remain in Texas

Many of the people have lost contact with family and lifelong friends. The evacuees in Houston are very slowly starting to locate people from their lives. They're finding them in one of the Houston shelters, Baton Rouge, Dallas, Corpus, San Antonio, etc.

Houston also has hundreds of people who "know" NOLA, the food, the music, the accent and I-10 runs right through Houston and into NOLA. At this time in their lives, they need to hang on to whatever bits familiarity they can.

I love it here now, but when I first moved down here (with no trauma in my life), I was always listening for Yankee sounds, the smell of Yankee food, the occasional touch of Yankee weather, anything that felt like "home". If they need to hang on to what they can, let's help them hold on.

[RaleighNCDUer]

26. The closer they stay to home, the liklier they are to reconnect with

family members separated by the evacuation.

Would you want to go to a camp in DC and once there find your spouse is in a camp in Des Moines? Or would you rather stay in Houston until you find each other, then go to one place or another together?

[indigo]

29. THIS IS RUBBISH

Unless the evening news last night (CBS affiliate Ch. 9) staged the return of buses to the DC Armory with more than one evacuee.

[Verve]

30. HEY! This happened in Wisconsin as well! Yet they brought back 2 victims

with their convoy of empty buses. Gov. Doyle has not been contacted by FEMA although he has let them know the state of WI can handle 1100.