The statements in my last paragraph were still under the context in which I was explaining the differences between what we saw in Iowa and what we saw in NO and its correlation to the disparity in the Gov’t aid response, per the article.

The root of my comparision was this – “It’s not a black and white thing, it’s a not being prepared vs communities coming together in a time of crisis thing. ”

My translation- The media, the idiot mayor of NO, and the scenes of human carnage were packaged up with a ribbon and delivered to us with the label “Our Gov’t hates black people, FEMA failed”…so in pours the aid.

In comparison, none of those same images were piped in from Iowa because they handled the crisis better. You didnt see the magnitude of people on the streets, or dead bodies (and neither did the media).

Iowa didnt become a race issue and they managed the safety of their people better…thus it received little media attention and less Gov’t aid. Again, this is just my opinion.

That’s a pretty bad benchmark.

The media gave us a sad view of those “poor” “poor” people left behind in NO. Orleans Parish has a 27% poverty rate and the median income is $28K, so it’s safe to say many of these people didnt even have transportation to get them out. Actually, I’ve been to NO many times on business and pleasure and yeah, bus transporation is a huge part of the cities infrastructure. Sadly, those same busses were under 11ft of water when they could have been rolling people out of town.

There was a combination of factors which hurt New Orleans – Poverty, poor city leadership..they simply chose not to leave… or didnt have the means to do so. Not to mention the city government completely failed the residents by not having comprehensive plans to get its residents out of the city. It’s only a city of around 225,000 people and by the media coverage, it looked like 225 million!

This was easy pickens for the media to paint a picture of crying minorities and people dying on the sidewalk. Mayor Nagin and the city of NO failed it’s people and they paid the price.

Iowa didnt get any coverage because it handled the emergency better. If you read the articles, major cities in Iowa mandated “forced” evacuations. Cedar Rapids forced 24,000 out of their homes. Iowa City forced about 600 people out due to rising water, 35,000 people outside of Des Moines ordered to leave, etc. Iowa ordered “state” wide evacuations…let me repeat – STATE wide…New Orleans was ONE city with a sparse population…huh? Will I be labeled a racist because of the truth?

New Orleans didn’t even a plan which included public transport, buses, and trains. It didnt exist prior to Katrina, and if it did exist…who failed to put it into action?.. FEMA? Are you kidding me? The city of New Orleans relied on the Federal Government to act swiftly…..shame on the city for that naive faux pas.

Yeah, there was a huge disparity in how the two emergencies were covered and viewed. When a city does it right, there is nothing juicy for the media and celebs to get their lips around. Oh, and I forgot, Joan Rivers said it best, people in the midwest are dumb. They couldn’t of possibly handled a natural disaster as well as they did. You’re damn right people in Iowa had a lot to lose when the floods came in, and they worked hard to make sure they limited damage and destruction. It’s not a black and white thing, it’s a not being prepared vs communities coming together in a time of crisis thing.

I felt bad for the residents of New Orleans, I felt really bad for the children who suffered at the hands of pathetic state and city leadership…not federal.
DId they show thousands of crying Iowa residents on the sidewalks? Did the media show dead people sitting in wheelchairs with blankets draped over them? Little kids running around with no food, shelter, and sleeping on overcrowded cots? People crapping inside of a sports arena? Women getting sexually abused by other displaced victims?

NO – you know why – it didn’t happen in Iowa.