adult Hec = apocalypse?

::checks forehead for sign of the beast::

The funny thing is that I always advertised myself as the Anti-Hurricane Good Luck Charm. We moved to South Florida in '68 right after the last big hurricane and they didn't have another one until Hurricane David when I was in college.

But did you notice that the hurricane was named after you??????

I'm not sure financial resources are going to make a dent in the emotional damage a disaster of this magnitude is going to cause, even if it helps get the country on its feet a little quicker.

I told her she needed to unpack her cis privilege. Hee.

Heh.

they didn't have another one until Hurricane David when I was in college.

well, you're not going to flood your own command center, right?

But it does seem like there have been much bigger disasters in the last ten years than there were in the first twenty (1961 to 1981) that I was growing up.

I suspect there are several things going on. There's the usual culprit, more media. Camille got five (or maybe ten) minutes on the national evening news, plus a minute or two on the local radio station's hourly news and a story (or three) in the local daily paper. Katrina got wall-to-wall, 24-7 coverage on the Internet, and if you wanted, you could read the NOLA local paper and listen to the NOLA local radio stations (at least, to the extent that they were still running).

Those local media might have given a little more play to Camille if there was a local angle -- say, the mayor's son lived in Biloxi at the time. Now, there's always a local angle. Just among us Buffistas, we have current residents of NOLA, former residents, and people who went to school there. And the same is true of most of America.

The reaction seems to be different. Katrina is the first time I can think of a "you're on your own" reaction to a disaster -- and that reaction alone is newsworthy. Conversely, think of the massive collections of money right after the Haiti quake last year.

And, as a kid, you aren't likely to pay attention. How many kids in our generation really paid attention to current events unless school required it? How many adults saw reading the paper or watching the TV news as practically a civic duty?

But did you notice that the hurricane was named after you??????

That hurricane had my name on it!

well, you're not going to flood your own command center, right?

Well, I might. 'Cuz I'm capricious that way.

In the last ten years though we've had: 9/11, Indonesian tsunami, Katrina, Haiti, major quake in Chile, two major quakes in Japan...

I guess I should go look this up on Wikipedia instead of pulling it out of my butt.

I'm so sorry Maria.

Hayden, I hope he gets home safely.

The reaction seems to be different. Katrina is the first time I can think of a "you're on your own" reaction to a disaster -- and that reaction alone is newsworthy.

Worse than "you're on your own." It sorta felt like (some) people were saying, "well it's your own damn fault" and from (fewer people) "good riddance to bad rubbish."

I guess I should go look this up on Wikipedia instead of pulling it out of my butt.

Wikipedia is in Hec's butt...pass it on.

I'm not sure financial resources are going to make a dent in the emotional damage a disaster of this magnitude is going to cause, even if it helps get the country on its feet a little quicker.

Yeah, my coworker was just asking who she should give to. I was like, I don't know. Everyone? I mean, who is cleaning up the bodies washing up on beaches? I still can't let myself fully comprehend it.

Katrina is a big reason why I can't handle looking at pictures or video of what's going on right now.