Disclosure: my wife used to live in Fargo. Her grandmother and aunt and uncle live there right now and have evacuated their house. I've been jumping up and down to tell them not to be a hero and get out. My wife lived in Grand Forks in 1997 when it was flooded. This is very real for me, but more real for them. But this is a yin and yang moment for me in a lot of ways. There's so much wonderful to be seen in the people of Fargo working together to protect each other. Through the snow, the mud, the inclement weather, and the frustrations, they're still working. It's something else.
Of course it's all sad that this has to be done. Another American city stands on the cusp of destruction at the hands of nature, and, possibly, due to ill preparedness. Now is not the time to get into accusations, but after 1997 Grand Forks, ND, and East Grand Forks, MN raised their levees significantly higher than the 1997 flood levels. The water level is higher there because more water comes in. Fargo, apparently, has not raised their levees in the same proportion.
Then I start hearing things that make me want to vomit. For example, Fargo is going to be OK because they aren't a bunch of welfare queens according to one commenter at NPR.
[Flip]
Just read this and be in awe.
B G (rlane1) wrote:
Wow! Very different reaction than New Orleans after Katrina. Where are the people on the rooftops screaming for government assistance?? Oh, that's right, they are self-sufficient hardworking people who take care of themselves and their families. It is not the government's fault that hundreds of poor black people couldn't heed the warning (4 days notice) and get out on their own. They stayed at their own risk, and then they blamed Bush. This is the sad state of our country.
I'm proud of those people in North Dakota for taking action and taking care of themselves and their property without blaming the government for an act of God.
March 27, 2009 3:20:18 PM PDT
Just in case NPR gets its act together and deletes that trash, the screen pic is here.
Look, the comparisons are going to be inevitable. We're going to watch—again—as a major American city is substantially destroyed by water. I'm sure there will be plenty of people that will point out that the government was more on top of getting the lilly white folks out of Fargo. I'm sure that may be true, but this is an apples and oranges situation.
But this kind of comment, I mean that's not an isolated example. This kind of seething anger is all over. It's aimed at AIG (rightfully, I think), it's aimed at "irresponsible homeowners" (yeah, they're sorry for losing a job, assholes). Has it always been there? Yeah. But these trying economic times seem to be taking fear and loathing to a new peak.
What kind of human being uses one disaster to disparage the "black people" who were apparently too stupid to leave New Orleans. Some of them didn't get word. Some of them had no way out, you fucking ass hole.
And so it's like implicit in this comment that by "self-sufficient" he means white. Well, there are—news flash—people on welfare in North Dakota. There are even a few minorities there. But the Red River of the North isn't going give you a drug test, a means test, or ask you if you're on welfare when it floods out the town.
I'm so upset I can't even type a coherent diary. What's the matter with people.
Anyway, three cheers for the people of North Dakota, Minnesota, and Manitoba for coming together in all of this. Can we say that without saying bad things about others. kthx?