They had resources on New Orleans within 18hrs of the strongest part of the hurricane. I saw it with my own eyes. But nobody, not even the media, realized that the water was rising until after that. It took even longer for them to realize that it wasnt just a few thousand who hadn't evacuated, but rather it was tens of thousands, and not even the media was aware of the people at the convention center until wednesday night late, about 12:45am (technically Thursday morning) Within 3 hrs of the realization that the water was indeed going to cover most of the city, the call was made for reinforcements, and those were not simply positioned within a couple hundred miles. These came from all over the country. Think about it. How quickly could you buy millions of bottles of water and mre packets, package them up based upon the information you recieved about just how many you needed. Load them on convoys at least 3 states away. Get all of your people away from their homes, into the starting center, briefed, loaded, and underway. CNN themselves reported Tuesday night that the closest help was coming from over 650 miles away, excluding those who were already in the city helping. This thing is a lot bigger than everybody realizes even now. I'm not trying to stand on a podium and preach, but nothing like this has ever been attempted, not on this level. This is twice the size of the tsunami disaster. As for I-10, much of it is destroyed for up to 75 miles from New Orleans, I have seen firsthand reports from the troops themselves that they tried multiple roads to get there, and had to turn around because there would be houses in the road, or trees, or water. Let's not forget that this is not isolated to New Orleans, but the whole southern half of Louisiana, Mississippi, and a good bit of Alabama. I just think that people need to focus on what they can do to be a part of the solution rather than complaining about what those who are doing something should or should not have done. That is all. I realize that everyone here has made a good point and by looking at just a few reports here and there, it certainly seems like nothing was done until a few days later, but I have seen exactly what has happened every day all day and most of each night since the day before the hurricane hit land and I can tell you, they arent perfect, but they are certainly trying very hard.
I apologize if my this response was overly emotional, but I have friends and family who are both victims and rescuers, and they have been telling me what has been happening to them both in New Orleans and on the way there. If I offended anyone here, I am deeply sorry. I like this forum and think that you are all good people who do care. I guess this just hit kinda close to home
