Hurricane Katrina vs. Devastating Iowa 500 Year Flood

[minionofmidas]

    * Why isn't the media asking the tough questions about why the federal government hasn't solved the problem?

Didn't exactly do that last time around either. Preferred to witchhunt Ray Nagin and call for lynchings of looters.

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All over Iowa and Illinois. Just like during Katrina.

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It's not news that whites don't eat whites.
etc.
Of course, beyond what JJ said, there's also the whole point of this not being even remotely a history-altering event. The amount of Katrina-related dp's is absolutely staggering still. And btw, it's gotten a surprising lot of coverage over here. Although just as stupid and sensational as coverage of our own floods tends to be.

[minionofmidas]

I think the difference is the human element.  People in Iowa can evacuate.

And nobody could drive the hundreds of busses in New Orleans?

Of course not. They were wholly surrounded by flooded areas.

[minionofmidas]

I think the difference is the human element.  People in Iowa can evacuate.

And nobody could drive the hundreds of busses in New Orleans?

Of course not. They were wholly surrounded by flooded areas.

Not prior to the flooding they weren't.  The buses could have been used to evacuate people before the flooding.  There's a novel idea.  You act as though Nagin was victimized... like Hell.  Nagin sat on his ass, did nothing, and blamed the federal government for his failures.  Why didn't he take charge of the situation?  Mayors are supposed to do that kind of thing.  This is what happens when people sit aroudn and expect the federal government to do everything for them.

The notion that a mayor's office might be equipped to handle Katrina is right up there with the notion that the Earth was created 5000 years ago.

That doesn't of course mean Nagin did well. It's just that, unlike with Blanco or the feds, it's not as if random Joe Bloke off the street would have done a better job.
He tried to take charge of the situation after it became apparent that the feds weren't (for days. Not for ever) ready to do their duties. He didn't look too good at this, as was inevitable.

It should be pointed out that the evacuation operation can't have been quite as bad as everybody claims. There could have been 10,000 deaths otherwise.

[minionofmidas]

Other mayors have dealt with natural disasters in the past far more effectively that Nagin did.

True in principle, but I can`t really think of a strictly comparable natural disaster anywhere in recent history... SF earthquake 190odd?

[minionofmidas]

Other mayors have dealt with natural disasters in the past far more effectively that Nagin did.

True in principle, but I can`t really think of a strictly comparable natural disaster anywhere in recent history... SF earthquake 190odd?

That part is definitely true ... maybe short of 9/11 being the most recent before Katrina, and probably the great floods of the 90s.  However, Nagin failed to use the resources at hand when there was a good 4 day heads-up notice before the storm hit.  I would be much more forgiving of him if it was a surprise, but 4 days is a looooong time in modern terms.

9/11 is nowhere near on the same scale as far as no.s of people, area affected, etc is concerned. It killed more people, of course, but cruel as that may sound that's neither here nor there.