Katrina Coverage: Weekend Update, Part II

Blogging will be light today, so here are some links that I find extremely useful to get the latest news.

Google News for Slidell. News for Biloxi.

The Volokh Conspiracy weighs in on the funding of levee protection systems around New Orleans. They wonder what was more important than upgrading the levees around New Orleans over the past four decades that the billions necessary to conduct the upgrade were not set aside.

A story of flight from Slidell. 25 hour drive from Slidell to Lake City, Florida.

Meanwhile, the effects of the storm on the national economy and local economies far from the epicenter of this disaster are minimal. I can personally attest to that fact. Yesterday, I had to drive to Woodbury Commons Outlet Center in New York. This is an outlet with more than 250 stores. The place was absolutely packed and people were busy shopping away without a care in the world. No where did I see a Red Cross booth set up to take donations of food, clothing, or money, despite the fact that all of the stores were holding their annual Labor Day sales - most had anywhere from 30-70% off their regular outlet prices. It's not as though the Red Cross couldn't work with the Chelsea Premium Outlets Group (who manage Woodbury Commons) to set up a donation booth somewhere on the grounds.

I would estimate that they could have filled up multiple tractor trailers with food and clothing for distribution to families affected by Katrina.

Bill Hobbs looks at the issue of bussing those who couldn't make the New Orleans mandatory evacuation on their own and wonders why Mayor Nagin didn't use the buses at his disposal to do so. Will he be held accountable for that? I certainly hope so. This huge crisis might have been a little less dire in New Orleans had someone thought to use those buses to evacuate those who could not get out on their own and thought they could ride out the storm. There's also a juicy tidbit that states that the emergency plan specifically calls for the use of buses to get people out of town. The fact that there are hundreds of buses in that depot underwater shows that the New Orleans government failed to abide by its emergency plans. Someone was derelict in their duty to protect and defend the people of New Orleans.

Wizbang asks you to spot the crime. Personally, I think that kid should get a medal. He saved the lives of a school bus full of survivors from New Orleans. He did what the City of New Orleans should have done, but didn't.