While Officials Jabber, Jabbar Acts

While Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and Terry Ebbert (head of New Orleans' emergency operations) whined, complained and blamed, a young man named Jabbar Gibson did what local officials were too incapable and too incompetent to do -- he took matters into his own hands.

Eighteen-year-old Jabbor Gibson jumped aboard the bus as it sat abandoned on a street in New Orleans and took control.

"I just took the bus and drove all the way here...seven hours straight,' Gibson admitted. "I hadn't ever drove a bus."

The teen packed it full of complete strangers and drove to Houston. He beat thousands of evacuees slated to arrive there.

You can read about Jabbar Gibson and what he did here, here, here and here.

Jabbar Gibson (also spelled as Jabbor and said to be twenty in some articles) "stole" a school bus and carried between 60 and 100 people to safety by driving them from the streets of New Orleans to the Astrodome in Houston, Texas. In fact, he and his passengers were the first group of refugees to arrive there, beating out the thousands of evacuees from the Superdome. Young Mr. Gibson may also be in a bit of trouble since technically he did steal the bus. If he had been stopped in New Orleans, he probably would have been arrested! But one thing is clear -- Jabbar Gibson is a man of action. He may have saved some lives, but he definitely prevented days of suffering for the passengers on the commandeered bus. In my book, Jabbar Gibson is a hero!