Iowa vs Louisiana

[camper joe]

With the news coverage of the massive flooding in the Midwest with over 100 blocks of the city of Cedar Rapids, Iowa under water, levees breaking, and the attention now turned downstream for when this massive amount of water hits the Mississippi, what is amazing is not what we saw, but what we didn't see...
1. We don't see looting.
2. We don't see street violence.
3. We don't see people sitting on their rooftops waiting for the government to come and save them.
4. We don't see people waiting on the government to do anything.
5. We don't see Hollywood organizing benefits to raise money for people to rebuild.
6. We don't see people blaming President Bush.
7. We don't see people ignoring evacuation orders.
8. We don't see people blaming a government conspiracy to blow up the levees as the reason some have not held.
9. We don't see the US Senators or the Governor of Iowa crying on TV.
10. We don't see the Mayors of any of these cities complaining about the lack of state or federal response.
11. We don't see or hear reports of the police going around confiscating personal firearms so only the criminal will be armed.
12. We don't see gangs of people going around and randomly shooting at the rescue workers.
13. You don't see some leaders in this country blaming the bad behavior of the Iowa flood victims on "society" (of course there is no wide spread reports of lawlessness to require excuses).

Iowa vs. Louisiana:
Where are all of the Hollywood celebrities holding telethons asking for help in restoring Iowa and helping the folks affected by the floods?
Where is all the media asking the tough questions about why the federal government hasn't solved the problem? Asking where the FEMA trucks (and trailers) are?
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 are Sean Penn and the Dixie Chicks?
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 is the hysterical 24/7 media coverage complete with reports of cannibalism?
Where are the people declaring that George Bush hates white, rural people?
How come in 2 weeks, you will never hear about the Iowa flooding ever again?
Any thoughts on this?

 

[islandman]

Um, Er, - <scratches head>


ummmm-



<shrugs>

 

[transformer_99]

Flooding in the Midwest, even other parts of the Southeast (Tennessse from recollection) experiences flooding quite frequently every year. Perhaps it's because the area is presumed to be predominantly "white rednecks" ? They aren't on the radar as being a protected species/on the endangered species list ? There are probably plenty of any race as victims.

For a moment there though, I thought you were having a/your "Don Imus moment" ?

 

[CuriousGuy]

Gee, I just don't know.......you're right, the Bush administration did a fantastic job with the Katrina catastrophe. I just wish we could have 4 more years.

 

[b.c.]

While the o.p.'s post is undoubtedly designed to incite, inflame, and provoke a response, I'll "bite" and offer some observations regarding certain assumptions made.

Yes, the things that happened here after Katrina were clearly too many people acting too badly, some taking advantage, and others making poor choices. However there are differences between the two situations (besides those that are obviously being implied by tone of the o.p's rant).

For one, the citizens of Iowa (and I feel very badly for their losses, having gone through the same) were not in a situation where they were trapped by the flood. They knew what was coming, the National Guard and other levels of assistance were there up front and they had ample time to get out.

In the case of Katrina there were large groups of people who either a) didn't fully realize the extent of what their situation would be if the levees broke, b) chose not to heed the mandatory evacuation (which came about 12 hours before the window of opportunity for leaving expired), c) didn't have the means by which to leave. My own family had about a 12 hour window of opportunity during which we boarding up our home and left. It took us 20 hours to reach Houston (normally a 6 hour trip).

When the levees breached there were large numbers of people trapped in homes and in certain areas of the city with no means of escape... in record temperatures, without food or water. They could not leave. And it took days for any kind of relief to show (although oddly, the media found a way in quite quickly).

The blaming of conspiracies to blow up the levee arise out of a historical basis in fact, because it had been done before. Check it out:

Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If mayors and governors complained about a lack of response it was because there was.

The reports of people shooting at rescue workers turned out (like rumors of people being savaged at the Superdome) to be false reports. In fact the one verifiable shooting that occurred (at the Danzinger Bridge) resulted in the indictment of 8 police officers who, as it turned out, were charged with shooting unarmed citizens trying to cross the bridge.

You might also recollect that people attempting to seek safe haven by crossing the Greater N.O. bridge were stopped by armed Jefferson Parish officers with shotguns and dogs, and told to turn back. (Portions of that bridge, by the way come, down in Orleans Parish, not Jefferson, so they were out of their jurisdiction, to say the least.)

Your "vanilla city" comments are in reference to N.O. Mayor Ray Nagin's ridiculous reference to "Chocolate City". I call it ridiculous because most of us here know it was a crass attempt at playing to the audience he was speaking to during his last campaign for mayor, and many of us (black and white) were offended by it.

However, for the record, Nagin enjoyed the support of many white and financially well healed supporters in his first election, and even after his racially charged reference in the second, including the support of conservative Republican party factions.

Why?? Because they feared the political clout a Mitch Landrieu mayorialship in N.O. combined with Mary Landrieu as senator might have. (btw. I voted for Mitch).

Moral: Things aren't always what they seem.

 

[matt19]

I live in cedar rapids and work for a lumberyard.

the people here are a little different. we gutted our own homes, rebuilt them ourselves and helped each other out because that is how we roll. simple as that. sucks when shit happens and you don't have insurance. you take responsibility for your own life and problems. don't take advantage of others. just a different culture here.

 

[b.c.]

I live in cedar rapids and work for a lumberyard.

the people here are a little different. we gutted our own homes, rebuilt them ourselves and helped each other out because that is how we roll. simple as that. sucks when shit happens and you don't have insurance. you take responsibility for your own life and problems. don't take advantage of others. just a different culture here.

Congrats.

But you might want to refrain from generalizations and mischaracterizations of hundreds of thousands of people in Louisiana (and surrounding areas) who did likewise... mischaracterization based on the actions of some.

I don't recall taking advantage of anyone. I do recall having done my own work, that which I could, and paid for that which I couldn't. I also had the foresight to have been covered by hazard AND flood insurance.