I saw this a short time ago during Chris Christie’s latest briefing. Basically there were urgent warnings to get out Saturday, and it appears many of the residents of Atlantic City, at the urging of the mayor, ignored them. Buses were available but nobody got on them.
Now Atlantic City is under water.
Gov. Chris Christie this evening issued an angry rebuke to Atlantic City Mayor Lorenzo Langford for allowing people to shelter at schools in that community rather than evacuate. Christie said one school is now flooded.
“For those elected officials who decided to ignore my admonition, this is now your responsibility,” Christie said at a news conference at the State Police Regional Operations Intelligence Center, the location of the emergency operations command center.
The governor said he cannot quantify how many people decided to shelter at the schools within the city, but he said no rescues will occur from this evening until the morning. He said a 21-member strike team is in place with boats to assist come dawn.
Christie said he also does not know if people are still stuck in one school near the bay that has flooded.
“We’re at a moment now where evacuation is no longer possible and we’re no longer able to come and rescue people,” Christie said.
At a news conference Saturday, Langford and his administration acknowledged their poor exit strategy during Tropical Storm Irene last year would likely cause many of the city’s nearly 40,000 residents to stay put during Sandy to protect their homes and stores.
“Last year we had many residents on school buses, especially elderly residents, for hours at a time,” said Tom Foley, the city’s director of emergency management. “It was totally unacceptable. We think we have a better plan this time.”
How’s that working out now, Mr. Foley? Here’s what he actually had to say tonight.
“We’re trying to deal with a hurricane, we’re not worried about that b.s.,” city Office of Emergency Management Director Tom Foley said via cell phone. “We’re trying to move people right now.”
Unimaginable incompetence at work here. Now they’re trying to move people as the storm makes landfall?
View more videos at: http://nbcphiladelphia.com.
It’s Katrina all over again…I’m with you Gov. These will be the people crying that they President caused the storm and nobody came to help them…not buying it this time!
Nagin… now Langford.
Christie will still be blamed.
After Bush.
AC is a freaking shithole. It really is a frightening place, once you set foot outside the sanitary confines of the casinos, you’ve got downtown Mogadishu.
Good for the Gov. Get out in front and lay blame where it belongs. Pres Bush didnt do that and he was blamed for the gross incompetence of the mayor and the Gov of LA.
Or.. here is a novel idea.. people could take personal responsibility and actually take care of themselves instead of acting like a bunch of sheep.
The wimping of America continues. Baa Baa
Oh I don’t know. I risk my life to keep my home from being looted and burned from teh maruading thugs.
We’ve known this storm would directly strike the Jersey shore for more than two days now. Langford had plenty of time to do an organized and orderly evacuation. He waited until the last minute and now wants everyone to believe that everything is just fine….
The governor can do only so much. It’s up to people to look up in the sky and see all the rain and think “Maybe I should leave.”
This is SNL right? Cuz I’m sure that’s Fred Armisen over the Gov’s left (ha!) shoulder. Oh wait…it’s Monday. Nevermind.
Sheeple. Nothing but sheeple.
Save yourselves people. Did you learn nothing from Katrina and Nagin? Nothing?
And, if my heart doesn’t bleed, I’m the monster?
If you don’t want to get hit by a train, you get out of the way. Don’t wait for the mayor.
I like Christie,
But just this once he is wrong.
HERE is what the Mayor said:
“It’s very prudent for (residents) to heed this advice and get out of the city if you can,” Mayor Lorenzo Langford said. “Three feet, four feet of water in the city will disable a lot of our vehicles.
, and we won’t be able to respond, even if we want to. In some cases, it could prove to be physically impossible to get to you, depending on what happens. So we want our residents to take every precaution to get out of town and, if they can’t or, for whatever reason, they won’t, at least go to a shelter located in the city.”.
So Chris, baby….STFU and have those responders ready in the AM.
Christie tryingt to take down a foe? According to an article in Press of Atlantic City, Langford did call for citizens to evacuate
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/top_three/atlantic-city-to-begin-evacuating-at-noon-today-casinos-to/article_7c3396b2-205d-11e2-bf9d-0019bb2963f4.html
“It’s very prudent for (residents) to heed this advice and get out of the city if you can,” Mayor Lorenzo Langford said. “Three feet, four feet of water in the city will disable a lot of our vehicles, and we won’t be able to respond, even if we want to. In some cases, it could prove to be physically impossible to get to you, depending on what happens. So we want our residents to take every precaution to get out of town and, if they can’t or, for whatever reason, they won’t, at least go to a shelter located in the city.”
Will Kayne West say that Obama doesn’t care about black people?
@Southern on 29/29/12 at 7:52 pm
No you are wrong…
Christie said he wanted Langford not open any shelters to give people the false hope that they would be safe there and instead use the buses (which they had plenty of) that were provided to get the people out who could not get out. Langford decided not follow that advice and just offered his statement that people should leave, but guess what we have these shelters you know where you will be safe…. He made no organized efforts to promote the buses. Once again ineptitude, similar to NO.
Another chocolate mayor, another hurricane disaster, and America will be forced to foot the bill while being viciously assaulted for being “raaacist.”
Yay.
Obama hates orange people.
” or, for whatever reason, they won’t,”
The mayor gave them psychological cover to be retards here and believe that local shelters would be sufficient. He was wrong.
Typical. Look for every Democrat to spin Democrat ineptitude as Republican failure. Lie. It’s what they do best.
OMG = I didn’t know so many people think like I do. Politically incorrectness is alive and well. Everybody needs to take responsibility for themselves. I wonder how many fools will leave there animals to fend for themselves? And then the rest of us have to rescue the poor pets.
oops ! ” Their pets”not “there pets”
“Oh I don’t know. I risk my life to keep my home from being looted and burned from teh maruading thugs.”
I can be sympathetic to that point of view. As long as you don’t blame anybody else if you get hit by something you can’t handle, and don’t accuse anybody of racism, and don’t ask for handouts afterward, and don’t do any looting yourself. There were people like this in New Orleans and surrounding areas, too. The media derides them as “survivalists”. Actually what they are is “prepared”…you maybe saw them helping others out along with the first rescuers in. Anybody not prepared who stays deserves what they get and does NOT deserve any tax dollars to help them afterward. And if they stayed on the word of a politician, they should be penalized for abject stupidity.
I’d stay put too. I’ve already gone through 2 cat 3′s and other smaller ones in my lifetime. Not bragging just being honest. The worst is yet to come. It happens in the days and weeks after when there is no law. I understand people who say just leave nothing’s worth losing your life over. However I’m too old to start over and I’ve got to stand or fall with what little I’ve got.
All the same I’m glad I’m not anywhere near the area Sandy will affect and want to wish all the non-colored people up there good luck.
uh oh…
the media in nj will try to play this off as the worst act of abandonment possible, exceeding even benghazi.
that is, once they start reporting about benghazi. maybe after the election.
I notice the Mayor’s party affiliation isn’t mentioned at all. It would have been in the headline had he been a Republican rather than a Sociali… er, Democrat.
Comrade Chicago Jesus should have stopped the storm by parting the waters.
thank you gov christie for speaking the truth. you exposed that mayor’s foolishness. how could he?!
Who decided that a shelter one block from the beach was a good idea? Is it on much higher ground? If not, then even considering it was stupid. They probably selected it simply because it was a public building.
We want our residents to take every precaution to get out to town if they can,” Atlantic City Mayor Lorenzo Langford said. “If they can’t or won’t, then at least go to a shelter.”
And guess what? Mr. Foley will get re-elected again, just like Nagin.