New Orleans violence and deaths greatly exaggerated

[Parrot]

http://www.nola.com/newslogs/tporleans/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_tporleans/archives/2005_09_26.html#082732

I don't recall ever seeing newscasters as hysterical as they were when covering the flood after the levee broke.

[DrWho]

lol - what did you expect? They gotta have crazy stories to make it interesting

[jacksonbart]

What ever it takes to sell papers/tv ad time during the prime time news. I feel bad for the press, they are just hanging on financially and you know they are honest as the day is long and completely with out an agenda.

PS. This thread won't last long

[neo33]

"This thread won't last long"

Think so?

[lynnm]

I suspect the death toll in New Orleans will be a damned sight higher

than what is suggested by that article and also, ( thankfully ) , much

lower than had been predicted in earlier reports.

The main point however is that no disaster should be assessed purely or

mainly on the basis of the body count.Whether the ultimate death toll

be 50 or 50 times that,there has and will continue to be human

suffering on a massive scale.

Sadly,we cannot help the dead but we can help the survivors - Firstly

by providing immediate aid and - Secondly and as importantly by taking

heed of the conditions, ( controllable or not ) which led to the

outcome. Government and private relief agencies need to examine ways

to mitigate the consequences of such events in the future and

wherever possible improve the infrastructure to be able to react more

rapidly and effectively to aid the survivors.

Many reports suggest that the Army Corps of Engineers failed the

people of New Orleans by not reinforcing the levees in the past but

there is ample evidence to suggest that the Corps was effectively

prevented from doing so by budget restraints. Other reports suggest

that FEMA failed to act effectively to assist survivors once the

disaster had ocurred.

There is likely a lot of truth to those complaints but ultimately I

place greater importance upon learning from this disaster and how to

better deal with similar episodes to come. Certainly if there was

incompetent leadership and poor planning and faulty implementation of

relief efforts those whose responsiblity it was to do the planning and

implementation need to be called to account but that is less important

than using the lessons of Katherine and Rita to improve our response in

future.

[theryugobuddy]

I live in Tampa Bay a mile from the water. In 1848, two hurricanes that summer plugged up the entrance to Tampa Bay and there was 17 feet of water where downtown Tampa sits--twice. Charlie last year could have been "the Big One" for us but it veered inland south of us. When that next big one eventually comes, our area could also be devastated.

Thing is, we are above sea level. Our recovery won't be hampered by 2 to 10 feet of water in 90% of the area like NOLA. New Orleans has always been a disaster waiting to happen. I've heard alot of corruption has led to those dikes/levees not being strengthened to withstand big storms. Mother Nature is a b**tch, and no matter what they do that city will be under water again. The best preparation is to keep helpless people from living there! Or build every home on 10 foot stilts--who is going to pay for that?

The fact that less than 1000 people died there is a miracle to me. The press seems disappointed that there aren't more (like their 10,000 prediction)--The TV press brings me down, so I read my newspaper more and more, and even there you find agendas. So little is said of the good that is done there, and that's sad--

[kev313]

Interesting report, but why don't you take a critical eye to all media instead of simply trusting those media reports which make you feel comfortable or line up with your vision of a grand ole America?

[theryugobuddy]

Interesting report, but why don't you take a critical eye to all media instead of simply trusting those media reports which make you feel comfortable or line up with your vision of a grand ole America?

You didn't read my whole post--nor understand it--

Newspapers have agendas, but at least you can scan around for what you want to read instead of being force fed some programmers vision.

What's so annoying in all our media is the spread of fear. Fear of horrible death, fear of manipulation by powerful people, fear of the black man, fear of economic catastrophe, etc, etc.

There are alot of stories out there of great love, great hope, mediocre love, mediocre hope, pathetic love, pathetic hope in this society. But that stuff doesn't sell ad time. So the media shows crime and tragedy and says,"this is our country- it sucks doesn't it?". I take a more critical eye of these hucksters than you do!

If you are only comfortable believing reports that our world sucks then you need to look at the great parts of our grand ole America along with the dark undercurrent that I see also. Being negative and suspicious makes for a small life.

Watch "Bowling for Columbine"--I don't like Michael Moore's agendas (I'm a "Red-Stater"), and I'm suspicious of his facts in the movie, but the premise that our society has more crime per person than any other country in the free world is right on. Its because our country's media spreads fear--

The coverage of the NOLA disaster fits right in. They mention all the good happening down there, then say "but its not enough...", and go back to close-ups of drowning dogs and starving children. Yes, FEMA didn't do the best job that could possibly be done. Yes, alot of mothers, sisters, babies, fathers, brothers, relatives, and loved ones died or were lost. But when a city of almost a million people under sea level gets a 29 foot storm surge thrown at it, there's going to be tragedies--a heck of alot of them. I don't like to see the media selling their ads because of it.

[JulieHeartKlipsch]

I wonder if any of these people in New Orleans have now developed a

fear of God. God is not just responsible for creating daisies and

sunsets . . . . . He also smited Sodam and Gomorrah.

[Amy]

Please keep religion and politics off this forum. It only causes problems.