Hurricane Katrina vs. Devastating Iowa 500 Year Flood

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

From an e-mail I received... I don't like e-mail forwards but I hadn't thought about it this way:

    * Why aren't all of the Hollywood celebrities holding telethons and asking for help in restoring Iowa and helping the folks affected by the floods?
    * Why isn't the media asking the tough questions about why the federal government hasn't solved the problem?
    * Where are all the FEMA trucks and trailers?
    * Why isn't the Federal Government relocating Iowa people to free hotels in Chicago?
    * When will Spike Lee say that the Federal Government blew up the levees that failed in Des Moines?
    * Where is Sean Penn in his rescue boat and the Dixie Chicks?
    * Where are all the 24/7 lurid news tales of cannibalism and unnecessary drownings?
    * Why did Iowans evacuate so prematurely; why are they not holed up in deathtrap sports centers?
    * Where are all the looters stealing high-end tennis shoes and big screen television sets?
    * When will we hear Governor Chet Culver say that he wants to rebuild a 'vanilla' Iowa, because that's the way God wants it?
    * Where are the people declaring that George Bush hates white, rural people?
    * Why are the Iowans not complaining more and demanding to be saved?
    * How come in about 2 weeks, you will never hear about the Iowa flooding ever again?

[Conan]

Anybody know if many people died in Iowa?

[Albus Dumbledore]

When will htmldon refrain from being partisan?

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

It's simple: George Bush hates Iowa.

[Verily]

Anybody know if many people died in Iowa?

14 total people have died in the various floods in the Midwest over the course of June: 8 in Michigan, 3 in Indiana and one each in Iowa, Minnesota and Illinois.

[J. J.]

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

[Meeker]

There actually was a lot during Katrina that wasn't covered. The outlying areas in St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, Saint Charles and Saint Tammany parishes were ravished just as hard if not harder than New Orleans but hardly got any media attention (and thus FEMA help...) The same sort of areas in Iowa also aren't being covered heavily... hmmm...

In general I would say the media is fickle and arbitrarily chooses what to make a big story. Also, Tim Russert died right in the middle of the floods and knocked the floods out of the cycle for several days.

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

That's very true as well. There was no massive amount of unevacuated people still around suffering during the Iowa floods

[Ban my account ffs!]

When things get bad in the upper midwest, we pretty much have to clean it up ourselves.

It's just a completely different (and better) work ethic here.  You don't ask questions, you just pitch in.  I'd say a lot of it comes down to community where "we" and "our" is more important than "me" and "my"

[MODU]

They really are two different events, though I feel that the 2008 flood will be more costly in the long run.  Not only do you have the immediate costs of lost infrastructure and homes, but long-term costs related to a lost crops, contaminated lands which will take a year to clean up, and probably a few farms that go belly up due to lost revenue.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

They really are two different events

Except for the fact, Bush will be blamed for the floods too (he has already been blamed for Katrina).

[Хahar 🤔]

As Wyatt Cenac said on The Daily Show, "George Bush doesn't care about white people."

[Brandon H]

If Kanye West keeps his mouth shut then the people in Iowa, then that's at least one thing the people in Iowa have going for them that Louisiana didn't. (Has his 15 minutes of fame ended yet?) Will we get nut cases like State Senator Hank Erwin from Alabama, Michael Marcavage from Repent America, or any these nutcases say it was God punishing Iowa?

Looks like all government made levees are crappy, not just the ones down here.

Good luck to anyone up north.

There actually was a lot during Katrina that wasn't covered. The outlying areas in St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, Saint Charles and Saint Tammany parishes were ravished just as hard if not harder than New Orleans but hardly got any media attention (and thus FEMA help...) The same sort of areas in Iowa also aren't being covered heavily... hmmm...

Don't forget when politicians like Bush, John Edwards, and if they haven't already, McCain and Obama, come to the 9th Ward and act like there was no damage past that and everything is back to normal.

By the way, does anyone know if any prominent politicians had their birthday last week? Did they happen to be taking a picture of the president with a cake while the flooding was going on?

[DownWithTheLeft]

From an e-mail I received... I don't like e-mail forwards but I hadn't thought about it this way:
 * Why aren't all of the Hollywood celebrities holding telethons and asking for help in restoring Iowa and helping the folks affected by the floods?

Easy, there is no extensive media coverage

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

Easy, there aren't angry Iowans screaming about their problems

    * Where are all the FEMA trucks and trailers?

New Orleans

    * Why isn't the Federal Government relocating Iowa people to free hotels in Chicago?

People are screaming loud enough

    * When will Spike Lee say that the Federal Government blew up the levees that failed in Des Moines?

When Iowa gets some black people

    * Where is Sean Penn in his rescue boat and the Dixie Chicks?

New Orleans

    * Where are all the 24/7 lurid news tales of cannibalism and unnecessary drownings?

New Orleans

    * Why did Iowans evacuate so prematurely; why are they not holed up in deathtrap sports centers?

There's no exciting sports teams in Iowa

    * Where are all the looters stealing high-end tennis shoes and big screen television sets?

New Orleans

    * When will we hear Governor Chet Culver say that he wants to rebuild a 'vanilla' Iowa, because that's the way God wants it?

Two days before Chet Culver is kicked out of office

    * Where are the people declaring that George Bush hates white, rural people?

It doesn't fly as fly as him hating blacks

    * Why are the Iowans not complaining more and demanding to be saved?

No one seems to care

    * How come in about 2 weeks, you will never hear about the Iowa flooding ever again?

Because they took action instead of bitching

[Bacon King]

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

^^ This. Also, because the mainstream media isn't really paying all that much attention to it.

[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.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

A large portion of that is beyond f**king retarded. For example:

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Did the floods force a large chunk of Iowa's white population to flee and be unable to return unlike the minority population who could? If so, this might be a relevant analogy. As the floods will have zero effect on Iowa's demographics, it's absolutely f**king stupid.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

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

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

[Sbane]

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

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

People in Iowa are much more likely to own a form of transportation( even if it is old) than AA's in inner city New Orleans. Plus these floods were much more easier to predict since they occurred due to rains over a period of time, not with one hurricane which led to a levee failure. But the real toll of these floods will be due to higher food prices and of course the huge amount of property damages in the flood zone. In New Orleans there was a greater human factor( dying humans) and thus got greater coverage.

[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.

[12th Doctor]

Anybody know if many people died in Iowa?

It obviously didn't number in the 10,000's like in New Orleans right?  I mean, that was the figure people were using for weeks after Katrina, remember?

[12th Doctor]

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.

[Sbane]

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.

I think it has been well proven that the handling of Katrina was a failure at the local,state and federal levels. I dont think reasonable people think Nagin did the right thing before the storm and neither did Blanco. Federal government usually does not have much of a preventative role but they are charged with the clean up of large natural disasters. As we can see everything was botched with Katrina.

[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.

[dead0man]

There could have only been 150 deaths if Nagin was competent and tens of thousands of idiots chose to leave instead of stay.

[12th Doctor]

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.

It was the choice of the mayor whether or not to call for a mandatory evacuation, which Nagin refused to so until less than half the time it would take to evacuate the city had arrived.  Other mayors have dealt with natural disasters in the past far more effectively that Nagin did.