Realizing that there were no good plans in place for evacuating the 100,000+ sick or impoverished residents of New Orleans in the event of a hurricane, the Red Cross and a local poverty-action group had been developing a plan to “enlist churches in a vast, decentralized effort to make space for the poor and the infirm in church members’ cars when they evacuate,” according to Bruce Nolan in the July 24 Times-Picayune (reprinted by Brad DeLong). However, Operation Brother’s Keeper had only managed to enlist four churches as participants as of this July. Logistical difficulties posed by the idea were one challenge, but according to Nolan’s reporting another factor was also at work:
although the Archdiocese of New Orleans has endorsed the project in principle, it doesn’t want its 142 parishes to participate until insurance problems have been solved with new legislation that reduces liability risks, Wilkins said.
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