lack of acknowledgment of state weather disasters by federal officials

[anvi]

I realize that this is coming a week late, but I am only posting it
now because I have only regained power after a week.

On Friday. May 8th, a massive line of storms now referred to by
meterologists as an "inland hurricane" slammed into severl counties
in southeast Missouri and southwest Illinois, producing winds recorded
at up to 106 mph (eqiuvelent of a category 2 hurricane) and sustained
wind speeds in the 80's (category 1).  The storm killed several people
in both states, spawned a number of tornados, toppled trees across
a huge swath of territory, causing very widespread property damage,
left power lines and transformers mangled and deprived tens of thousands
(at least 30,000 customers in the region) of power, some of them
for a week and counting now).  The storm literally made a hash of several
counties in southeastern Missouri and four counties in southwestern
Illinois.

Radar images and meterological analysis of the storm can be found here:

http://www.weather.com/blog/weather/8_19404.html?cm_cat=rss&cm_pla=blog&cm_ite=8_19404&par=BLOG_rss&site=blog

http://www.accuweather.com/mt-news-blogs.asp?partner=netweather&blog=Weathermatrix&pgurl=/mtweb/content/Weathermatrix/archives/2009/05/radar_shots_of_inland_hurricane.asp

Here are some YouTube links to footage of the storm and the damage that
it caused.  Please excuse the profanity in most of them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGJmOeDEBtw&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNJnLsrzRGw&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Klzb5U0n5Ik&feature=related

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jath_q6gLhY

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nstY4mkTJQM&feature=related

Governor Pat Quinn of Illinois declared three counties in downstate Illinois
state disaster areas, and workers from energy and forestry companes were
brought en masse to the area and must be greatly and thankfully commended
for doing an oustanding job of clearing debris and restoring power and their
work has been non-stop pover the past week.

I am however apalled and profoundly disappointed that the events appear to
have almost entirely escaped the notice of national officials and national media.
Senator Richard Durbin had a brief press release on his website on May 9th
recording cooperation with the Governor of the state, but not indicated anything
more than "severe thunderstorms" and having no follow-up. No mention is made
of it on the websites of Senator Burris or even Governor Quinn, who declared the
emergency, and no effort was made by the Governor, apparently, to solicit the
help of FEMA.  The White House website and press office made no mention
whatsoever of the incident, which is rather dismaying given the fact that the
President boasts of his campaign experiences in this region in his most recent
book and despite the facts that he got surprising support in several downstate
counties and that both he and his family as well as the White House cheif of
staff hail from this state.

Please understand, I am not posting this with the intent of lodging a complaint
about the extent of the recovery efforts.  These efforts have been impressive
and entirely laudibe, and we residents of Southern Illinois are most grateful to
the many company workers from Egyptian Energy and Ameren workers brought
in from Ohio and Virginia to help. My complaint is about the lack of acknowledgment
of this storm, which was much greater in magnatude than merely a thunderstorm
or typical tornadic activity, by our representatives and the national news media,
and the lack of concern expressed for the tens of thousands in the region who
have suffered very tangibly and greatly.  Had other areas of the country been hit
be category 2 strength winds, cameras would have been there and concern would
have been expressed.

I am sorry that adequate coverage and concern for the citizens of this region
is beyond the capacity of officals responsible for representing us, but present
elected officials will certainly not receive my vote in any bid for reelection that
they may undertake.

Thanks for checking out this post.

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

Wow, that's almost exactly the same thing that happened to Memphis in 2003.  My sympathies to everything that your area has had to deal with - I know the feeling all too well.

Our storm, which we called "Hurricane Elvis" killed 7 and left 300,000 without power for weeks.   Once our power came back on we got to watch NYC go into chaos after being without power for a few minutes.  I started the Wikipedia article about it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memphis_Summer_Storm_of_2003

Thank you for letting us know.  God forbid the media cover anything besides Obama's dog and Michelle's attire.  Was Obama playing golf while people in Illinois and Missouri died?

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Not that I'm wanting to seem unconcerned, but not every weather disaster rises to the level of a federal crisis.  (Though the criteria used to determine whether it does are disadvantageous to non-coastal areas.)  As for the lack of media coverage, unlike a hurricane where national news bureaus can plan days in advance for the possibility, a derecho doesn't admit of such pre-planning, and you can't get video of idiotic reporters braving the elements.  I'd argue that the national media spends too much time covering minor hurricanes and tropical storms rather than it spends too little time covering stirms such as have been mentioned in this thread.

[anvi]

I'm not making the argument that FEMA should necessarily have been brought in.  I don't know precisely what level of damage triggers the declaration of a national disaster area.  And, as I mentioned, the energy companies, forestry companies, volunteers and insurance adjusters here have been doing a spectacular job and I commend all of them.  In addition, of course coastal areas have warnings about hurricanes and this "inland" variety formed in a matter of hours, so I didn't expect "advanced" coverage. 

What would have been minimally appropriate, in my opinion, is for our states political representatives to have appreciated the enormity of the damage here, expressed concern for the people they represent, and moniter the situation at least long enough to ensure that people here have what they need.  One of the difficulties with getting power restored to so many areas here for so long (including local hospitals which were running at diminished capacity on generators for two days, which isn't exactly a good thing when people have been injured) is that not enough trucks were available to clear trees which were literally everywhere, and in many areas still are.  A place like this is not prepared for hurricanes!  Had such statements been made, the area may have gotten enough after-event media coverage to get at least a few more hands and a little more equipment here a bit faster.  And yes, the President of the United States was a state legislator and U.S. Senator representing Illinoians, and it would be nice to think he could at least be briefed well enough about the situation to have his press office say a few reassuring words about the incident.  I don't think that's asking too much.  But...apparently, it is.

It just goes to show you what happens to poor, politically unifluential areas when they get hit by disasters. 

[dead0man]

If it doesn't concern the Northeast or Cali and nobody is getting raped in a sports complex then nobody cares.

Are there any pretty white women missing?  That always helps get the attention of the nation.  Bonus points if she is preggers.