And why do so many in the MSM, who often have a better view of the overall situation, take a hysterical tone? Now is not the time for hysterics. Now is the time to be calm and reasurring. Even if fake. Those people along the Gulf Coast have been through quite a bit. And it will not end any time even relatively soon.
So many people who have gotten hysterical and shrill have failed to realize that this was a major hurricane. Helicopters couldn’t start flying till midday tuesday. And the relief and rescue aid had to come from far away. Plans that were initially made when it was thought Katrina would hit the eastern side of Florida’s panhandle had to be changed. Quickly. Airports are trashed. Roads are impassible. Flooding is, well, you know. You have the looting, distracting the response effort. And this occured over a very large area. Even if so many National Guardsmen weren’t in Iraq, how would you get them in to the effected areas? And how many of them would have been effected themselves.
Back in September, 1999, Hurricane Floyd hit NC. Everything seemed mostly ok, the wind damage really didn’t approach the magnitude of the storm, but lots of rain was dropped, and it all runs down hill. If you would like to read an interesting essay on the relief effort, go here. 37 NC counties were effected, over 18,000 square miles.
Hysterical talk will not help. For those in the media, why not try and find out what is going on, rather then going wonky? You aren’t helping.
Nothing could really start happening till Tuesday. And any efforts still had to contend with the backside of Katrina. There had to be an assesment of where the worst problem areas were. And they were everywhere. If anyone in the media can offer a better logistics plan, I would like to hear it. The relief is having to be done piecemeal. If they focus on New Orleans, what about, say, Biloxi?
The saying needs to be amended “Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach or report.” Criticism is easy when you haven’t lived through something like this (like there’s anything else like this!)
I live in Central Florida where we had three hurricanes last year. I know for a fact that when the winds stop blowing rescue workers don’t just magically appear out of the bushes. No matter what the plan, no matter how good it is, it takes time to mobilize people and resources. That’s why people are told to evacuate and if you don’t evacuate be prepared to be on your own with no help for at least three days.
The hysterical coverage by the media has been focused on laying blame solely at the feet of “The Government”.
Once again, I’m hoping, that all of this rhetoric the MSM is spewing is their own nooses (is that the plural?) tightening around their necks. I have heard several self-proclaimed liberals call into conservative talk shows and say that even they understand the efforts it takes to mobilize and the MSM and DNC are way off. One can only hope.
Our local paper has had some great articles on what our Red Cross is doing to help, local firefighters that are part of a national search and rescue organization headed down to Biloxi, etc. They’ve also listed places to donate money that will be used directly to help people. There are also connections for people offering places to live – bus money and a new life in N. Calif. A good thing to write about eh?
Oh, and yes, our local Press Democrat is owned by NYTimes.
The hysterical rants are coming from all sides of the political coin. I forgot to mention that it was Joe Scarborough that went off the reservation thursday night. Neal Boortz went a bit wonky today.
Some folks, like the paper you mentioned, Julie, are doing good. The local Raleigh paper, the N&O, is trying to stay on the reservation, cause poeple will kill them. We remember Fran and Floyd, among others.
Essentially, New Orleans is worse then a third world city. Their infrustrature is in place, but destroyed, and massive rubble and flooding hurts the efforts to restore it, among others.