Looks like the House investigation came to the same conclusion I did: "House investigators acknowledge...they 'will never know' what would have happened had federal, Louisiana and New Orleans officials activated plans and called on the military before the storm and evacuated the city sooner than Aug 28...The summary...also criticizes preparations and decisions by...Nagin...who knew that 100,000 city residents had no cars and relied on public transit. The city's failure to complete its mandatory evacuation, ordered Aug 28, led to hundreds of deaths, the report said."
The timing of the evac order...I had stayed up all night (again) into Sunday morning, and was watching WWL streaming video and it was around 7:30am Sunday that Nagin announced on the air he was "still thinking" about whether to issue a mandatory evac. I think I caught a couple hours of sleep then because I was up again when my brother called just before deployment around noon on Sunday.
I heard thirdhand through the grapevine late Sat evng that Nagin had been unreachable on Sat...I understand NHC had been getting more upset as Sat wore on and no sign of action in NOLA. What I heard was that they could not reach him by phone and had to track down Nagin on Sat night by getting hold of Blanco, she managed to reach him at home, where he said that she was interrupting his dinner (so much for priorities). She then told him to call NHC right away. Supposedly Max Mayfield practically begged him to issue a mandatory evac, but he would not. So you can take that information with whatever level of validity that you like. It is clear Nagin never did make an attempt or even start to plan to evacuate those people without their own transportation, even though the recent Hurricane Pam exercise spelled out the need to do so; many of those people were poor, waiting on their Sep 1st paycheck, and so didn't have the money or means to evacuate on their own.
First of all know one knows that 100,000 people in New Orleans don't have transportation. Several thousand did and chose not to leave.
Second, not taking up for Nagin, he was not at home having dinner, he was out having dinner. Not that it makes any difference.
Third, he had to check with the city attorney's office to see what legal affect issuing a mandatory evacuation would have on the hospitals around town.
Fourth, the Governor has the authority to override the Mayor and she could have issued the order herself.
Fifth, volunatry evacuations were in effect starting on Saturday.
In reference to the levees, the local levee boards use money to appropriate property for the Corps of Engineers. They do not repair levees, it's up to the USACOE to do the repairs.
Derek in reference to what you stated:
Use of Federal Troops for Law Enforcement Purposes: The Posse Comitatus Act (18 U.S.C. § 1385)
Army and Air Force may not be used for law enforcement. DoD policy extends the prohibition to Navy and Marines.
National Guard in State-status are not covered by the Posse Comitatus Act.
Federal troops (incl. Federalized National Guard) may be used for law enforcement if the President invokes the Insurrection Act to quell civil disturbances.
Other exception includes preventing the loss of life or property during serious disturbances or calamities, and protecting Federal property and governmental functions.
Quelling Civil Disturbances: The Insurrection Act (10 U.S.C. § 331 et seq.)
State and local governments have primary responsibility for quelling rebellions (32 C.F.R. § 215.4(a).
The President may use the military (including the Federalized National Guard) to quell (1) civil disturbances in a State (upon the Governor's request), (2) rebellions that make it difficult to enforce Federal law, or (3) any insurrection that impedes a State's ability to protect citizens' constitutional rights and that State is unable to unwilling to protect these rights.
Before committing U.S. troops, the President must issue a proclamation for rebellious citizens to disperse, cease, and desist.
Some government attorneys believe that the Insurrection Act is subject to a very liberal interpretation.
