Context of 'Afternoon August 29, 2005: Louisiana Deploys 68 School Buses to Evacuate Stranded Residents in New Orleans'

The population of Louisiana’s coastal parishes reaches 2 million, or 46 percent of the state’s entire population. [US Army Corp of Engineers, 11/8/2004, pp. ii] The population of the New Orleans metro area is 1,337,726. [CensusScope (.org), 9/15/2005]

Governor Mike Foster (R-LA) endorses the Coast 2050 plan (see December 1998) to spend $14 billion over a 20 to 30-year period to rebuild Louisiana’s coastal wetlands as a means of protecting the mainland from the full destructive force of a major hurricane. [Chronicle of Higher Education, 4/26/2002]

Because all Baton Rouge and nearby hotels are full, the state is housing about 20 state employees from New Orleans at the Louisiana State Museum. [Times-Picayune Blog, 8/29/2005]

The State of Louisiana sends 68 school buses into New Orleans today to rescue people stranded in the city. [Advocate (Baton Rouge), 9/18/2005] (The number of people successfully evacuated on these buses is not clear.)