Not much coverage of Hurricane Ike's aftermath.... too embarassing? Hell, New Orleans is still a disaster how long after Katrina?
While there's a financial disaster underway on Wall Street, we have some pretty substantial REAL disasters - physical destruction of property, lives directly affected - that are not getting much coverage.
well, CHINA is covering it..... first listing on a Google search:
http://news.xinhuanet.com/...
Survivors may await weeks for hot meals:
http://www.cbn.com/...
Seems like there are real problems in Texas..... not to mention continued flooding in the Midwest http://www.bloomberg.com/...
more
From Reuters:
http://www.reuters.com/...
Texas rushes Ike relief as health crisis looms
GALVESTON, Texas (Reuters) - Texas officials warned of a health crisis on Monday and urged thousands of people to leave Galveston, where relief supplies were scarce for hungry, exhausted residents of the island city ravaged by Hurricane Ike.
In Houston, millions struggled to cope without power in the U.S. energy hub.
About 2,000 people have been plucked from flooded areas by helicopters and boats in the largest rescue effort in the state's history as searchers scoured battered communities along the coast and Galveston Bay.
..............
http://www.latimes.com/...
Texans mired in Hurricane Ike's aftermath HOUSTON -- Weary residents of the Texas coast foraged Sunday for water, ice, generators and gasoline as rescuers continued to save people trapped by widespread floodwaters a day after Hurricane Ike flooded roads, destroyed homes and businesses, and knocked out power to nearly 4 million people.
Under drenching morning rain that submerged more roads and underscored a mood of misery and frustration, emergency officials tried to unsnarl a last-minute snag that delayed deliveries of U.S. government food, water and ice to several million people struggling to cope. Federal officials blamed state leaders for abruptly changing distribution plans Sunday morning........................
So... is the media response now NOT to cover natural disasters so we don't realize how horrid the response is?
Or is Wall Street somehow more 'important?'
Well if MONEY is the issue, how about THIS?
http://www.news-journal.com/...
Ike could deplete taxpayer-backed insurance fund
If damage exceeds $2.1 billion, insurers would pay and then get tax breaks.......................In the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, private insurers drastically cut back on hurricane coverage along the Gulf Coast, prompting coastal residents to flock to the windpool in record numbers. As a public-private partnership that provides "last resort" coverage to coastal residents, the windpool has long relied on state money as a backstop for policy payouts.
Now the windpool's liabilities are nearly triple what they were when Katrina hit three years ago. It has about $2.1 billion from insurance premiums to cover Ike-related damage, estimated state Rep. John Smithee, R-Amarillo, chairman of the House Insurance Committee.
"I'd be shocked if it didn't exceed the $2.1 billion," Smithee said, adding that computer modeling predicts total insurance claims of $10 billion to $12 billion.
Under the windpool's financing scheme, insurance companies would have to pay upfront to cover any deficit. But taxpayers ultimately would pay the tab through tax breaks to repay the companies.
Jim Oliver, the chief executive for the state windpool, said the fund had $29 billion of "exposure" in four counties: Galveston, Brazoria, Chambers and Jefferson.
"This is going to have a big impact on the state," said Oliver, adding that it might take weeks to get a solid estimate of the losses.
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Hmm... isn't "Smithee' the name directors use on a film when it's SO bad they don't want their REAL name associated with the disaster? Pointbeing that Texas is going to have serious problems paying off this insurance - prolems they've known about for a couple years but refused to deal with.... didn't want to anger anyone by charging more....
Methinks a LOT of Texas voters are NOT going to be happy..... .may be enough to change voting patterns ther - IF these people CAN vote....... I wonder how that's going to work out compared to New Orleans after Katrina.... even 'Stock up on Food Water and Ammo' Republican Congressman Culberson was critical of FEMA's response.....
Meanwhile, Ike - or its remnants - continued to wreak havoc in the Midwest
http://www.boston.com/...
Violent remnants of Ike bring deaths, blackouts in Midwest CHICAGO - Residents of the Midwest faced blackouts affecting more than 2 million homes and businesses and flooded homes yesterday after a weekend of devastating weather caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ike.
The violent weather in the Midwest, the latest in a brutal summer that has slammed parts of the region with severe flooding, brought Ike's total death toll to at least 39 deaths in 10 states from the Gulf Coast to the Ohio Valley.
As Ike faded and headed off toward the Northeast, combining with a weather system that arrived from the West, it dumped as much as 6 to 8 inches of rain on parts of Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri. It spawned a tornado in Arkansas that damaged several buildings, and delivered hurricane-force wind to Ohio, temporarily shutting down Cincinnati's main airport during the weekend. Missouri had widespread flooding, and high water on the Mississippi River was expected to close a riverfront street later this week in front of the famed Gateway Arch of St. Louis.
"We've got flash flooding all over the place," National Weather Service hydrologist Mark Fuchs said of Missouri.
"We've never had flooding like this," said Tom DeGiulio, town manager in Munster, Ind. About 40 Indiana National Guard troops were activated Sunday to help with the evacuation of as many as 5,000 residents there.
About 2 million homes and businesses across Ohio had no electricity yesterday, Governor Ted Strickland said as he declared a state of emergency, which allows the Ohio Department of Transportation to help communities remove debris from roads. He said it would take days to restore power in all areas of the state.
Why isn't this disaster getting more coverage? Earlier complaints about the lack of National Guard resources to deal with earlier flooding got buried pretty quick..... Guess we're ignoring all of this....
Why not......if thousands are left homeless and nobody covers it, are they really homeless?
But then the definition of 'homeless' is now food for political debate
http://www.nytimes.com/...
Knowing how DC works, and how 'inflation' is now miraculously at 3-4% (bad enough for real in itself back in MY youth - they'd FREAK at 3% inflation in the 50's) instead of 14% what it is using 'outdated' methodology...... you can buy cheap toasters - just can't afford the bread for them.... well, expect 'homelessness' being redefined to exclude anyon that has some sort of covering - say a cardboard box - providing shelter.
It's really really awkward for Bush - Mr. "Ownership-Society/Record-number-of-Homeowners" Bush to admit how many people are now homeless after having houses foreclosed....... we're ignoring those displaced after natural disasters...
But then it appears that such things are best kept from pulic view..... we're ignoring Texas and the Midwest, just as the politicians ignore the astounding number of homeless on the streets of Washington DC..... kind of hard to walk there after 5 - even from the Capitol to the hotels downtown without seeing one or two every block... but then we're STILL ignoring the lingering mess on the Gulf Coast from Katrina.... why hasn;t THAT gotten more coverage? Wasn't KARL ROVE in charge of rebuiolding New Orleans? Why hasn't anyone asked him about his failure to deal with THAT - seems like he has a pretty nice gig on Fox right now - shouldn't he have finished with New Orleans before moving on?
You THINK the pols would be paying attention to this mess.. but I guess the lesson learned after Iraq, after Katrina holds... if you don;t want a story covered, keep the news people away.
If you've got more stories, links, please add on