The Mystery of Iowa

[subterFUSE]

Someone e-mailed this to me earlier, and I found it mildly amusing. Thought I would share.

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?

[88Mariner]

Re: The Mystery of Iowa

because the floods happen like...er...every year. that's a pretty rediculous e-mail btw. did sean hannity write it?

[toasty]

Re: The Mystery of Iowa

I've heard people draw comparisons between Katrina and the current flooding, but the fact of the matter is that they're just not comparable.

New Orleans is a bowl. When it floods, you are effectively surrounded by water, with nowhere to go, and no way to get resources.

When the Mississippi River floods, on the other hand, people have options. Want food? Drive to the store and get some. Need a place to stay? Find a friend who doesn't live on the river's edge and stay with them, or go to a hotel. It might suck, but people have options.

You might recall that when Hurricane Katrina hit, there were armed police preventing stranded people from leaving downtown and heading into suburbs (Gretna springs to mind, for sure). That's not happening with this flood.

Might I also add, this is a pretty slow-moving disaster. This flood isn't sneaking up on anyone. If you want to get out of the way, you have ample time. We've been waiting for the river to crest here for like a week or so. Right now, it is supposed to happen on Wednesday. That's a lot of notice, and time to prepare.

It's just apples and oranges, really. It is one thing to watch small river towns slowly swallowed up by a swollen river -- that is unfortunate, but it happens, it just does. It is quite another to watch as a major metropolitan area descends into anarchy while people scramble for survival.

[MJDub]

Re: The Mystery of Iowa

^ This.

The fact that people in New Orleans were trapped and couldn't "get out of the way" of the flood is the key difference between these two situations. Being trapped brings out the animal in anybody, ergo looting, murder, possible cannibalism, etc.

Of course it sucks for the people in Iowa, but there really isn't much of a comparison besides there being broken levees involved in both situations. Iowans are able to flee these floods.

[Garrick]

Re: The Mystery of Iowa

besides the flooding in new orleans being absolutely devastating and one of the worst national disasters in a long time, the after affects of katrina made that story huge. the fact that it was "the city that never sleeps" made that story huge. the fact that everyone kept saying this was eventually going to happen to new orleans made the story huge. and i think mainly the way the "refugees" and the media handled the crisis made that story huge. subterfuse's quote makes a very good point. iowa already isn't a very popular area of residency (can't name a single celeb that live there). in addition, i bet iowa took notes and saw what happened to new orleans .... iowa seems to be a little more self-sufficient so far. again, that does have to do with the fact that they aren't trapped, they can flee and they can gather resources to help limit the damage, but it also has to do with the fact that the people seem more motivated to survive on their own. doesn't make for good media coverage when there isn't turmoil. the media doesn't like to blow up stories that show light at the end of the tunnel. that's not the way they roll.

and note that the looting in new orleans was not because they were trapped around water. i've never seen someone think they need 5 tvs and tons of playstations when they're trapped by water. they were stealing. look at the crime rates in houston and atlanta after hurricane katrina forced people to move. they sharply rose.

/end rant...