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What the fuck, indeed. I don't have too much to add, but here's my bit: residing in the U.S. as I do, I have to say that my already faltering confidence in stateside media is taking another significant blow. Predictably, they're minimizing the heart-wrenching devastation and focusing on shock-pieces, and I understand why they do this. Still, is there not an educated guess regarding casualties? Is there a reasonable estimation regarding the lack of sufficient search and rescue/disaster recovery capacity in compare to the actual situation (how much more is needed and when will it get there?) I feel like a lot of this is being ignored as inconvenient subject matter to an extent that I find deeply disturbing. Another poster noted most astutely that a large segment of the U.S. media has been insinuating that the people stranded and in danger decided not to leave, and even going so far as to say this should be a lesson for those who do not listen to the advisories. That's fucked. According to the 2000 census:
"The median income for a household in the city is $27,133, and the median income for a family is $32,338. Males have a median income of $30,862 versus $23,768 for females. The per capita income for the city is $17,258. 27.9% of the population and 23.7% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 40.3% of those under the age of 18 and 19.3% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line."
That means 128,340 people likely had no personal transportation with which to heed the warning. I suspect exodus en masse on foot is not a pragmatic way to escape a hurricane. To be fair, I'm sure some of the numbers that remained thought they'd just "be tough", but even those folks don't need a "lesson" on the subject of heeding advisories. For fuck's sake.
Talk is that New Orleans must essentially be abandoned. I guess that remains to be seen. The event is already having a considerable impact on the entire U.S. Near the impact, people are paying upwards of $5 and in some places upwards of $6 for a gallon of gasoline. In most of the U.S., Gasoline and diesel run between $3 and $3.60 - up from $2.60 to $2.90 - as another poster noted. Most goods in the U.S. are delivered by the trucking infrastructure. Today, it costs about $800 to fill up a semi and under most loads this will allow you about 800 miles. If gasoline and diesel were to see a hike above, say, $5, average consumer goods (milk, eggs, et al) could see a 175% increase in cost to the consumer. That's a killing blow to communities below the poverty line. I think the long term consequences will pan out to be as bad or worse than the immediate ones. As Jack Fear said earlier, the reaction of some of those left in the city is exposing a very real dichotomy in the U.S. I think the ripples from this event will show the ice the U.S. stands on to be very, very thin. In my estimation, the long term consequences, political fallout, and even hard numbers on the casualties in New Orleans, won't be forthcoming until December at the earliest. |
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