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Right There With You and Katrina and the War of the Non- Networks(more blogging) We all were in New Orleans over the weekend. We were all right there with you awaiting the wrath of Hurricane Katrina. We watched non-stop coverage predicting impending doom. Phone calls were made all over the country predicting and praying for the best. However, we were all preparing for the worst.
I grew anxious as my illuminated clock numbers changed effortlessly. At about three in the morning I finally dozed off with the television on. When I awoke at about nine, I saw that the storm had shifted and thought that perhaps that the worst was over. All that hype about New Orleans being under water was at that point just hype. I turned off the television, as I became annoyed at the newscasters being blown around by the storm, as other people were bunkered down at the Superdome in New Orleans.
But only on Tuesday, after returning to my news channels, did I begin to ascertain the actual catastrophe that had occurred. It was not just New Orleans, either. It was far reaching and completely devastating. Still, it is not over. New Orleans will be in actuality completely evacuated since the worst fear of levies failing materialized. And that is fortunate as people there are growing restless and chaotic. Shootings, fires, looting and even an apparent suicide at the Superdome. Watching people wade through water that is infested with bacteria and gasoline and fecal matter. By Wednesday, the city of New Orleans was further under water. There was a mandatory evacuation of all people in the city; the only full-city evacuation in the United States since the Civil War. And the outlook remains dim for the residents as they may not be able to return to their city for a number of months. So many emotions I have gone through watching this disaster happen just a few states away. I can not even begin to imagine what those people are struggling through. Some, completely devastated, as they are completely wiped out of all of their material belongings, others are just grateful to be alive.
A lot of money was raised for the tsunami victims, and I hope we are as generous with aid to our own people now when they need it. And as I am ending this late Wednesday and early Thursday people are looting. I see people getting transported to faraway shelters, people getting angry, and people getting scared. At my gas station I sat behind three cars waiting to fill up. I don’t know what is going on. I cannot pretend to know. I am here, and ya’ll are there. Still, I watch my news. It comforts me. I know if you could watch too, it would comfort you to know you are not alone.
My mind goes again to before Katrina and the alerts that were issued. The news “Alerts” are overdone in my opinion. I think we need to be careful about crying “wolf.” I believe more people would have evacuated if they had not heard, “wolf!” so many times in the past. Sometimes there is a genuine alert and sometimes they are simply trying to boost ratings. I think we all know the difference. Let’s proceed with caution when issuing these warnings. No one can truly predict the weather, I know that. But alerts issued when no emergency exists should be strictly forbidden. Period. Now, on this Thursday evening of thought I must add that the fundamental breakdown of basic law and order is horrendous. To take up arms against your fellow man in a tragedy such as this is truly criminal. To rape a woman or a young girl in a tragedy such as this is criminal as well. Crimes (including looting anything unrelated to basic needs) should be prosecuted. And I know that is easy for me to write sitting in the comfort of my home, but you must understand that is not just my perspective, but many other people’s as well. It is one of the reasons help was not provided in as timely a manner as possible. Take care of one another. It is essential for survival. It is amazing what an organized group can do. This is not an episode of Survivor. Shooting people who are there to help you is just plain stupid. Also on this Thursday, watching news coverage I am surprised that more news personalities have flocked to the city of New Orleans. Why are more people going in, when so many there are desperate to get out? The city is infested. It will take months to rescue and there is speculation it will never recover. Watching more news personnel converge on the city is very disturbing to me. While I think the media handled the coverage of Katrina as good as possible, with the exception of the idiots at the height of the storm being blown around and the previous ubiquitous “alerts” on so many other non-emergencies, I find myself scratching my head with the flocking to get into the disaster areas. My worry is that this will get so much worse before it gets better. Progressively, it has gotten worse by the day. The media, although addictive, is confusing not only to me but I am sure the people of New Orleans. From the beginning, they have alerted and urged people to get out. CNN, in the early stages of coverage, was encouraging people to send in their pictures via phone or internet, while they were alerting people to be careful and get out of the city. Reporters have poured into the region now as emergency evacuation is underway. I am confused as I know you are in New Orleans. You watch these news trucks go by and wonder why, if they got in, no one is available to help you. However, as you struggle for survival, those of us at home are forced to watch and wait. And we all pray. Finally, it is Friday. I watch as the news struggles to become part of the rescue in New Orleans. I can see it on their faces they want so much to throw the microphones down and help these people at the Convention Center and Superdome. Now, Katrina has faces. Babies and elderly sick people on display for the world to see. See their pain? Send help now; they suggest while reporting the hellish circumstances surrounding the people still left in New Orleans. I clicked back and forth from CNN to Fox News to MSNBC. They all had the same message now. Help these people! Orson Welles would be proud. Truth really can be more horrific than fiction, though. After all this is New Orleans, not New Jersey. This was Katrina, not Martians. But there was panic then when he presented War of the Worlds on the radio, and there is certainly panic now as we watch our television sets. However, we as a nation have a history of overcoming tragedy, real and imagined. I await the follow-up coverage. I await the relief. And I hope that in the future, as broadcast regulations were changed after the theatrical presentation of War of the Worlds, that news channels consider re-vamping their alerts to the public. And that we as a public consider preparations when being alerted. I appreciate all the news that I have received over the past few days. I know the good people who were affected by Katrina haven’t even had that. |
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I started watching the news Sunday at about seven o’clock. I flipped from the Weather Channel to Fox News to CNN to MSNBC and my eyes were glued to the screen as I was hypnotized by swirling colors of green and red. I watched as various men and women drew on maps like a coach might draw out plays for his players. And all lines pointed to New Orleans. Reporters in New Orleans remarked about the patrons in bars still in the French Quarter as other residents fled the city. 
Later on Monday, as I complained about the exhaustive television coverage on the catastrophe that didn’t seems so catastrophic from the last time I turned on the news, I learned that the Hurricane Katrina was in fact responsible for massive amounts of damage. 
At once I am completely frustrated by all the news coverage, but also appreciative of any news at all, as I know the people remaining behind in New Orleans have only drips and drabs of news to follow. Sophisticated technology is absolutely amazing. I think about the tsunami across the world less than a year ago. There was no warning. And although the path of Katrina was not quite as what was initially predicted, the end results may actually be worse than what was expected from a direct hit on the Big Easy. 
And my thoughts shift to life and death. I think about what I would do. I looked into my backyard just this afternoon and thought about how your backyards must look. I am not there, I do not know. My backyard was not covered in water; rather it was filled with sunshine. All day there were lines at the gasoline pumps here, hundreds of miles away from New Orleans. Seems so ridiculous when I know you are lining up to get water, while standing in water.