Hyatt Guests Moved to the Front of the Superdome Bus line

[MoniqueU]

http://www.katc.com/Global/story.asp?S=3800640They were move to the head of the line to be evacuated -- much to the amazement of those who had been crammed in the stinking Superdome for days. :confused3
I heard on fox this was due to the Mayors orders.

Nice going Mayor.

[Serena]

I heard about that just now. What a stupid decision.

[Geoff_M]

Was this the group of people that had the buses that were chartered for them by the hotel commendered by the military a couple of days ago? If so, that would make a little more sense.

[Shenzi]

And after just posting in the race thread that I didn't think race had anything to do with it - this almost makes you wonder. Although, I still don't think that race is playing a role in the catastrophe in New Orleans, things like this poiint out just why people are starting to ask that question! :confused3

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

Maybe I'm weird, but in a way it makes sense to me.

The tourists have homes elsewhere. The sooner they can be evacuated and return home, that just frees up some of the resources, space in shelters, food and water for those who really need it. Yeah, maybe 1000 people out of 100,000 still in New Orleans, but it's still something.

[peachgirl]

Since they were forced out of the hotel to make way for official personnel and it was a relatively small number, I don't see a problem with it.

Now, taking 5 days to get water to tens of thousands....that's something to complain about.

Btw, when you listen to tapes of the Mayor, it was clear he was one that was fighting his butt off for the victims in New Orleans.

[MoniqueU]

Since they were forced out of the hotel to make way for official personnel and it was a relatively small number, I don't see a problem with it.


I am sure that makes the people that have sweated it out in the squalor of the superdome the last 5 days feel a lot better, Not. They have every right to hold their space in line to the next bus ahead of anyone else coming in ahead of them that is not a medical needs patient.

[DawnCt1]

Was this the group of people that had the buses that were chartered for them by the hotel commendered by the military a couple of days ago? If so, that would make a little more sense.

I believe it was and they probably aren't being transported to another shelter but to the airport so they can get out of Dodge. It will make the relief effort that much easier.

[peachgirl]

I am sure that makes the people that have sweated it out in the squalor of the superdome the last 5 days feel a lot better, Not. They have every right to hold their space in line to the next bus ahead of anyone else coming in ahead of them that is not a medical needs patient.

I don't think you quite understand the situation.


As has been stated, they aren't being bussed to a shelter, they had homes to go to.

These were people who had rooms in the hotel...rooms they were paying for and were forced out of by the city officials. They have every right to expect to be given transportation to the airport. We're talking one bus involving a trip to the airport, not a day long trip and back to Texas or wherever the shelters are.

[BuckNaked]

Btw, when you listen to tapes of the Mayor, it was clear he was one that was fighting his butt off for the victims in New Orleans.

I agree he's fighting for them now, but it's a shame he (and his predecessors) didn't fight for them before the storm hit.

[M:SteveO]

And after just posting in the race thread that I didn't think race had anything to do with it - this almost makes you wonder. Although, I still don't think that race is playing a role in the catastrophe in New Orleans, things like this poiint out just why people are starting to ask that question! :confused3

Just a little FYI, the mayor of NO is Ray Nagin is black, who, along with the governor, happens to have done a terrible job mananging the entire situation (but that's another story).

[Pete's Mom]

And after just posting in the race thread that I didn't think race had anything to do with it - this almost makes you wonder. Although, I still don't think that race is playing a role in the catastrophe in New Orleans, things like this poiint out just why people are starting to ask that question! :confused3 They could all be African American for all we know... :confused3

[NeverEnufWDW]

This would be the same young, stupid mayor who has spent more time throwing around foul language on radio shows than actually helping the people.

How did a dope like this get elected ?

Its so easy to blame Bush and the Federal Government when the people with the power to prepare BEFORE the worst happened (LA Governor, the Mayor, etc.) sat on their collactive butts and did NOTHING.

It is no coincidence that the politicians and "leaders" in Louisiana have been corrupt for years.

[lbgraves]

This would be the same young, stupid mayor who has spent more time throwing around foul language on radio shows than actually helping the people.

How did a dope like this get elected ?

Its so easy to blame Bush and the Federal Government when the people with the power to prepare BEFORE the worst happened (LA Governor, the Mayor, etc.) sat on their collactive butts and did NOTHING.

It is no coincidence that the politicians and "leaders" in Louisiana have been corrupt for years.

That is SO true! I remember the election the year that I lived in NO. The governor's race was between Duke (former leader of the KKK) & a person who had been convicted of gambling with the state's insurance money (or something along that line.) What kind of a choice have they been given? :rolleyes1

[aengus]

the mayor is at fault here not the feds. Everyone keeps saying 5 days well it wasnt it was 2 and some change. You forget the real disaster started after katrina the flooding wasn't until after the hurricane. So the mayor didnt have a plan that allowed for 2 1/2 days of survival without government assistance. People were being killed and raped INSIDE the protected buildings and this guy keeps using profanity on tv like he is not the problem.

[damo]

the mayor is at fault here not the feds. Everyone keeps saying 5 days well it wasnt it was 2 and some change. You forget the real disaster started after katrina the flooding wasn't until after the hurricane. So the mayor didnt have a plan that allowed for 2 1/2 days of survival without government assistance...

People were in the shelters before the hurricane hit.

[WaltD4Me]

At first I was completely appalled by the Hyatt guests being moved to the head of the bus line, but in reading this thread, I think it does make a little sense.

1. The people in the Hyatt have homes to go to, it wouldn't make much
sense to mix them up with the people who need shelter

2. They are reasonably we6ll and healthy I assume, why put them where their health could be at risk, making for more people in need of medical attention? -- In saying this, I realize thousands at the Superdome are at a health risk, but if KNOW these people are basically ok, get 'em out, so you can concentrate on others who have no other means of medical attention.

3. The less people needing food and water anywhere in the area the better.

4. I hate to say it, but I imagine there were probably some concern for their physical safety.

[Southern4sure]

Like I tell my kids...You can point your finger all you want but you have three pointing right back at ya!

[FoodLover]

This would be the same young, stupid mayor who has spent more time throwing around foul language on radio shows than actually helping the people. How did a dope like this get elected ?

Well, I guess you think 49 is young! Mayor Nagin was a very successful executive at Cox Communications and had no previous political experience before he was elected. He ran on an anti-corruption platform and has been widely praised for working to end corruption in the city since he was elected in 2002. (And that's one tall order.)

I don't think he's handled things perfectly -- in particular by not clamping down on looting right away -- but I do think he is honest, well-intentioned and (currently) righteously angry. By all accounts he is normally cool as the proverbial cucumber. Clearly he is shocked at what he is seeing on the streets (I mean, who isn't?) and furious at the slow response from state and federal agencies. I suspect I would blow my stack in the same situation.

By the way, from all I've read, he has been working his butt off through this crisis. Part of his job is to marshal resources, which he has quietly tried to do by contacting those with the power to make things happen on a massive scale (i.e. the Governor and the President). He wasn't getting the necessary cooperation, so he went to the press.

[MAH4546]

And after just posting in the race thread that I didn't think race had anything to do with it - this almost makes you wonder. Although, I still don't think that race is playing a role in the catastrophe in New Orleans, things like this poiint out just why people are starting to ask that question! :confused3

What does race have to do with this? Is there some sort of rule that blacks are not allowed to stay at the Hyatt? Who ever said that they were all white?

[bicker]

In governance, "working his butt off" isn't necessarily the relevant metric people use to evaluate a mayor's performance. Vulgarity doesn't add to his credibility either.

It is critical to remember that all the relevant officials, including the mayor, knew that this would happen if the city was hit directly, and that that was a possibility. People are perhaps frustrated that this situation was not explicitly planned for. I don't blame the mayor -- if he had conscientiously pushed this issue before the catastophe, he probably wouldn't still be mayor.

I don't think we can know that the mayor wasn't "getting the necessary cooperation" from the Governor and the President. The mayor may be saying that, but as you pointed out, he's frustrated, and wasn't even in a position to know what the state and federal governments were already doing, and therefore not a reliable source of information about how much cooperation he was getting.

[ducklite]

What does race have to do with this? Is there some sort of rule that blacks are not allowed to stay at the Hyatt? Who ever said that they were all white?

Very good point!

Anne