The actions and inactions of Gov. Blanco and Mayor Nagin are a national disgrace due to their failure to implement the previously established evacuation plans of the state and city. Gov. Blanco and Mayor Nagin cannot claim that they were surprised by the extent of the damage and the need to evacuate so many people. Detailed written plans were already in place to evacuate more than a million people. The plans projected that 300,000 people would need transportation in the event of a hurricane like Katrina. If the plans had been implemented, thousands of lives would likely have been saved.

[Via WSJ.com: Opinion]

This article is probably too early in the process of fixing the system. The reduction in the verbiage about blame has been a welcome relief. It allows the rest of us to focus our efforts on relief rather than getting caught up in the partisan blame game. However, his point is well taken and ultimately will become priority number one after the national media goes home. Fewer people to take care of makes the job manageable. I heard on national television that Mayor Nagin says he thought that he believed 80% of the city had been evacuated. For a mandatory evacuation that is a failure grade. We will have to leave it to our imagination what a 90% or 95% evacuation would have looked like.