Hurricane Katrina looms large in American cultural consciousness. As one of the defining events during George W. Bush’s second term as president, the scale of the devastation that struck Louisiana — combined with the inadequacy of the relief effort — earned notoriety even outside the United States. Almost 20 years after the levees broke, another storm has swept in an unprecedented catastrophe: the economic and human cost of Hurricane Helene might be even greater than that of Katrina. So why, then, are so few people acting like that is the case?
In Appalachia, one of the poorest regions in the country, the common belief is that the mountains protect the locals from storms. Unfortunately, this is true only up to a point: when a hurricane like Helene hits — bringing once-in-a-thousand-years levels of rainfall — the mountains become a curse rather than a blessing. Helene has triggered mudslides and rockfalls that have destroyed entire towns and obliterated almost every road in a vast radius.
With the roads completely gone and the bridges smashed, it is the earth, not the water, that becomes your worst enemy. Driving is impossible, travel by foot is next to impossible: isolated settlements can often only be reached via helicopter. Those I have spoken to in North Carolina describe a disaster of “biblical dimensions”. The only thing that comes close to it in recent history is the “Great Flood” of 1916 in North Carolina, but Helene has easily beaten the river gage measurements from back then.
The death toll of Helene is currently inching closer to 200, already making it the second-deadliest storm after Katrina. But this number will rise and then rise again in the coming days. In truth, with the reality of unnavigable mountain terrain, an obliterated road network, and massive power, cell phone and water failures, nobody knows how many are dead. Without sufficient rescue efforts, more Americans might end up succumbing to the lack of water in the wake of the flood. But despite all of this, and despite the fact that the clock is ticking for many Americans trapped without food, water, or means of communication, coverage of Helene has been strangely muted. This silence has, in turn, masked a far darker problem: the lack of resources and manpower going into the rescue effort.
Bush’s response to Katrina was criticised at the time for being lumberingly slow and ineffective. But the relief effort being mounted now is a pale shadow of what was done a mere 19 years ago, and that makes the silence around this disaster even more ominous.
In 2005, significant planning and resourcing was being carried out days before the storm even made landfall. Ten thousand members of the National Guard had gathered from several states to deal with the damage Katrina was about to cause. The final number who helped with the effort measured closer to 20,000. But those guardsmen did not stand alone: the US Army was preparing to assume overall command of the entire rescue effort through US Northern Command, where its battle staff coordinated response forces over various state lines. The regular Army helped too, including forces from the 82nd Airborne Division and the Army Corps of Engineers.
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Subscribe“So why, then, are so few people acting like that is the case?”
Because the president is a Democrat, not a Republican. If we were having a Repug prez, all media were screaming about how he does not care about America.
This is a real problem. The regime media is circling the drain, but it still sets the agenda to a great degree, and still influences casual news consumers.
Bush didn’t own the outrage industries. Biden does (although he’s probably forgotten it).
Very good story Malcom.
Thanks for this. I had no idea about the abject failure here.
Look forward to this blowing up. FEMA is in the crosshairs because some people are starting to wonder where the funding and resources went that were supposed to handle disaster events like this. I’ll give you three guesses and the first two don’t count.
The problem isn’t malice, it’s senility.
Well, have you seen the guy who’s in charge? Perhaps he truly does represent America after all.
Hurricane Helene not an American Chernobyl. Chernobyl was completely avoidable, but Soviet politicians chose not to, the results they cut a lot of corners on safety and training, and construction and engineering. The result it was a disaster waiting to happen, made worse by the fact that the warning signs were ignored. The response efforts we’re botched by the top down nature of the regime in the fact they kept everything secret until things got off control. The reason why the hurricane was so bad here is because of the terrain, which is mountainous and lends itself The flooding and mudslides, with a once in a century storm making things worse. The geography also makes relief efforts much more difficult, at the transportation system is limited. Yes sure, infrastructure is also bad which is hampering efforts in the region, but infrastructure has always been rather limited and underdeveloped due to the poverty and isolation of the area. There’s also the fact this is an election year, and lots of excessive noises being made and political nonsense floating around.