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Is Iowa Another Katrina?

Posted by Jill Hussein C., Brilliant at Breakfast at 5:58 AM on June 10, 2008.


As Iowa drowns, where are the media and government?
iowaflood

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A good-sized swath of America's heartland is under water, and you'd never know it from reading the newspapers or watching the news. Via Warren Street at Blue Girl, Red State comes this on-the-scene report from Le Grand Orange:

Darrell in Iowa writes:

I am in Mason City.  Our levees broke Sunday morning.  Flood stage is 7 foot and waters are now at 19 feet.  Hundreds of homes and businesses are underwater.  The City's water plant was flooded and the entire city of 30,000 is without potable water.  A couple of hours ago the main electric substation flooded and failed and much of the city is without power.  People remain in flooded homes.  Early tonight I saw people wandering the streets not knowing where to go.  There are entrie areas of the city with NO emergency personnel on hand.

NOBODY from the outside has come to help.  Our local first responders are exhausted and overwhelmed.  Small rural towns downstream tonight are being devasted.  Levees everywhere are failing.  Calls for help in these small towns have been unmet.  Portions of our local guard are in Iraq.

The homeland has been left unprotected and people are suffering horribly.

"Darrell in Iowa"'s updates are here. Obviously someone chastised him for drawing parallels with New Orleans and complaining that the National Guard was not there to help. That seems a shame and uncalled-for. That Iowa was similarly left to fend for itself in no way diminishes what happened to New Orleans three years ago -- a tragedy that continues to this day. This gets back to that unfortunate concept of "a patent on suffering" -- that there is only so much empathy to go around. That our government is letting white communities drown as blithely as it did black communities should tell us that it isn't even about race -- it's about a fundamental contempt for EVERY American not in the Bush Family Circle.

As for the National Guard, complaints that the Guard just isn't there isn't a knock on Our Fearless Troops™ it's a knock on their Commander-in-Chief, who has sent them off to fight in a war based on lies so that he doesn't have to institute a draft.

The fact of the matter remains this: that once again, a section of this country is flooded, and the attitude of the Federal government is "Fuck you...you're on your own." This is what Republican policies look like. This is what making the government so small you could drown it in a bathtub looks like. This is what the domestic consequences of a war fought on the cheap look like. And it isn't over yet:


A dam near the Wisconsin Dells resort area broke on Monday, sweeping away some homes, as torrential rains caused more flooding across parts of the U.S. Midwest, authorities said.

No deaths or injuries were reported, though residents living beside a few rain-swollen rivers in central Wisconsin were urged to evacuate, the Columbia County Sheriff's office said.

The failure of the Delton Dam on Lake Delton caused mudslides that swept away a few homes. The water rushed to form a new tributary to the Wisconsin River, which eventually empties into the Mississippi River.

Police issued a warning about debris swept into rivers from collapsed buildings and roads.

Other dams in the Wisconsin Dells region, which is famous for its scenic lakes and resorts, were also threatened by a series of drenching storms in recent weeks, authorities said.

Gov. Jim Doyle declared a state of emergency in 30 counties in the southern half of Wisconsin. Similar declarations have been made in recent days in Iowa and Indiana, with flooding also affecting parts of Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota.

"This is an area that's been bombarded with rain over the weekend, anywhere from 5 to 10 inches, and you're dealing with saturated soils. So any rain that falls becomes run-off," the National Weather Service's Pat Slattery said.

Nearly one-third of Iowa's 99 counties were experiencing flooding, according to Gov. Chet Culver.

Flood damage estimated in the tens of millions of dollars were being added to recent storm damage in Iowa, including a tornado that flattened the town of Parkersburg two weeks ago.

The water treatment plant Mason City, Iowa, was swamped this weekend by the Winnebago River, three of four bridges in the town of Charles City were swept away by flooding of the Cedar River, and the town of New Hartford was evacuated.

Many corn and soybean acres were under water in Midwestern states, hurting farmers' prospects after a wet spring that had already delayed planting in many places.

Iowa and Illinois alone produce one-third of U.S. corn and soybeans, usually the world's biggest harvests of those crops.


And that's another side note: What happens to the prices of gasoline and meat when the crop used to make ethanol and feedstocks for farm animals are under water? If you think food and gasoline prices are high now, just wait till these shortages work their way through the system. Jimmy Higgins at Fire on the Mountain has some thoughts on this. Photos from yesterday in Cedar Falls, Iowa can be found here. And over at Culture Kitchen, a reminder of just who was laughing and posing with a cake (that was never eaten, just thrown away, like everything -- and everyone -- else used in Republican photo-ops) the last time floods devastated an entire region of the country.

Where is the so-called President? Where is the national media? Is trying to perpetuate the myth that John McCain is a popular, likeable maverick so taxing to the news organizations that they have no time or resources to cover what's happening in our own country?


Broken Glass
This is no doubt one of the ugliest periods in American political history.
Post by DCap. October 11, 2008.
Bipartisan Concern About the Dangers of McPalin’s Hate-Mongering
"I accuse you of deliberately feeding the most unhinged elements of our society the red meat of hate ..."
Post by Emptywheel. October 10, 2008.
Stock Market Drops 107 Points During Bush's Speech on the Economy
That's the kind of confidence Bush inspires these days.
Post by Amanda Terkel. October 10, 2008.

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Stay Strong, Mason City
Posted by: mishawaka on Jun 10, 2008 6:47 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
This past New Year's Eve, a friend and I drove from Indiana to Mason City Iowa to volunteer for John Edwards. We stayed in Clear Lake and drove to Mason City's Edwards office for our materials and instructions. I was especially pleased to be in Mason City as it was the site of one of John Dillinger's infamous robberies in the 1930's, as well as the home of Meredith Willson, creator of "The Music Man". While the city had obviously changed quite a bit since those days, I enjoyed the small town feel of the place.

I had no idea that they were experiencing such dire problems. Many people attributed the shame in New Orleans to "racism". Kanye West summed it up by saying, "George Bush does not care about black people". I thought that Barack Obama put it more aptly by saying, "It seems as if the people making the decisions in Washington cannot comprehend that some people cannot pack up their belongings, fill their tank with gas, drive to Houston or Dallas and charge a hotel room to a credit card, all a the drop of a hat.". However, if you believe that the Katrina response was somehow racially driven, then Iowa is dereliction of duty, plain and simple. Heads should roll. If they did in the Air Force, they should in Homeland Security.

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A goverment of corporations fronted by corporate-run media.
Posted by: heid on Jun 11, 2008 3:59 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The so-called news media has been gutted. They don't do actual reporting anymore.

Kucinich filed articles of impeachment and not a word about it was in any of the corporate media.

Iowa is drowning, and if you haven't been experiencing it, you won't know because the corporate media hasn't bothered telling you.

Another artificial blood test has been done and is being touted as successful based on nothing more than a press release by the corporation that arranged for the test. But reading the study itself tells a completely different tale. The test failed miserably. But you'll never get that information in the corporate-run media.

There is no longer a government of the people. There is only a government of corporations.

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The Caucus is Over
Posted by: Urstrly on Jun 11, 2008 4:19 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Seems like the only time we worry about Iowa is when they hold their presidential primary.While Mason City is a lot smaller and less economically significant than New Orleans, it'll get the same "equal" neglect that Bush gave New Orleans.

What I'd like to hear from Obama is that he intends to beef up FEMA to the point it can respond to domestic emergencies like this one. Too bad we can't get back some of that homeland security money that the Republicans squandered in places like Wyoming.

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Indiana also under water
Posted by: feduphoosier on Jun 11, 2008 5:42 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Indiana has been drowning too. And apparently Michigan and Wisconsin. Some of the photos I saw of Martinsville, Indiana -- only the rooftops were visible and even the highway was under water -- reminded me a lot of Katrina. 10 Indiana Counties are disaster areas. Good thing Global Warming is just a myth... else the powers that be might have to do something other than jack oil prices and rake in the cash for their 'base.'

By the time this administration is over, we're going to need an FDR. I hope our generation has one waiting in the wings...

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Media on the cheap
Posted by: realist on Jun 11, 2008 6:13 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Corporate media owners have been so budget-focused and cost-centered that they'd rather assemble some "experts" in the studio to talk about issues (and flack their books and candidates) for free than invest in substantive on-the-ground coverage of government, the war, or just about anything else.

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Bush responded in Burma in less than 4 hours
Posted by: warble on Jun 11, 2008 8:19 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Didn't Laura respond to the Typhoon and sunami in Burma in less than 4 hours. I am sure they have 5 destroyers and aircraft carrier with tons of water supplies and food on its way right now. The Burmese rejected their aid so I know they have it. They could not give away to the Burmese...I think they will send them to you right away knowing how concerned they were for the Burmese people. Just hold on. I am sure he will make a national announcement explaining all the Aid he is sending.You do have oil there, don't you?

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Mason City is my home town . . .
Posted by: Walks-in-Storms on Jun 11, 2008 9:06 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I was a cop and PI there, have many friends in Parkersburg, New Hartford, Charles City, Waterloo, Cedar Falls and other cities in the news of late.

As usual, Iowa gets the shortest of shrift from the nation's media - except, of course, during political years. As usual, we get little help from the rest of the nation with our troubles. We pay staggering taxes, get back from the federal government less than one cent on the dollar in "aid." A few years ago, both an Iowa mayor (Leo Roof of Waterloo) and an Iowa legislator suggested that Iowa secede from the union - "all we ever get from the deal taxes and orders from Washington about the way we educate our kids, and other politically correct "issues."

What will happen with the storm damage and flooding? Why, just what Iowan's have always done: they'll pick up the pieces, rebuild, and stay proud - all by themselves. We wrestle (the wimp sports like football and the rest are for staying in shape to wrestle during the off season) in Iowa, and we've won the NCAA wrestling championships 21 times in the last 23 years - with teams comprised mostly of Iowans. "Our liberties we prize and our right we will maintain." HAWKEYES!

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Just have to add this . . .
Posted by: Walks-in-Storms on Jun 11, 2008 11:13 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
First, what in the hell is the National Guard doing in Iraq anyway? What does "National Guard" MEAN? The matter of states left alone by their State National Guard, to be sent to some far-off place that has absolutely nothing to do with the welfare or safety of the people they are supposed to be guarding speaks to the incredibly bungled and bewildered state we're in.

As always with a foreign populaces, we had aid on the way to the tsunami victims in S.E. Asia, and to Burma, in hours. Only when its our own does our government sit on its trembling-with-greed hands. Only yesterday, wtih evidence of crime including war crimes piling past the moon, have we finally heard that Dennis Kucinich has finally gotten his effort to impeach the martinette we somehow elected president before the House of Representatives. Among all the things criminal about this goverment, it's merely the latest.

The worst crime, though, is that a people sit on their own hands, hands so fat and soft they can't shake hands with you, while it all goes on. When Katrina and Rita struck, there were semis at the Wal-Mart in Kingsville where I lived at the time, loading donated supplies for New Orleans. None of that (I can see a Wal-Mart from where I sit) is going on for Iowa, NONE!

When I grew up in Iowa, it was a custom - an unfailing, you-were-no-kind-of-man-if-you didn't, one - that when a neighbor had trouble, you went to help. When a farmer was hurt or sick, his neighbors banded together and took care of his family and his place, even harvesting the crops and taking care of the livestock. I was raised to believe you did that without question. Wherever you went, you were to make sure that the place and people there were better for your having been there.

Look where we are now. I am so damned disgusted, so ashamed, of my country I could crawl in a hole. Let me say it once more (I've said it here several times already), from John Stuart Mill: "A State (nation) which dwarfs its men, in order that they may be more docile instruments in its hands even for beneficial purposes -- will find that with small men no great thing can really be accomplished; and that the perfection of machinery to which it has sacrificed everything, will in the end avail it nothing, for want of the vital power which, in order that the machine might work more smoothly, it has preferred to banish."

Dammit, men - "act like you've got a pair." This benighted mess of a nation has been run by women, "metrosexual wannabe males," and that other kind of male for just too, damned, long. Show some male pride, you @#$%&! -instead of that pussy-whipped, limp-wristed, cowering, pampered "I'm worth it" selfishness, politically correct bimbo-babble and the rest we hear from everything with "designer pants for men" (barf) on nowadays.

Where the hell have all the men gone?!

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WELL, THE MEDIA
Posted by: fg on Jun 11, 2008 1:54 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
are covering Bush, just in case he might goose Ms. Merkel again. And where are the media as regards Mr. Kucinich's articles of impeachment?

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Deb
Posted by: debmcd on Jun 11, 2008 2:32 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Is Iowa a Democratic leaning state? If so there's your answer as to why there is no interest coming from D.C. Pitiful and disgusting but true. If they can keep the people from voting for Democrats in November you can bet they will absolutely not hurry a response. The government has already stated that emergency areas will not be getting ice from our great DHS. So I guess the president and his gang of thugs will only help if the area or state that needs assistance is Republican leaning. The D.C. gang is nothing but a bunch of heartless, greedy, self-righteous, arogant gangsters who look after themselves first and foremost.

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Franklin, IN
Posted by: Mr. G on Jun 11, 2008 3:37 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I own a house in Franklin, IN that was ruined by flood waters a few days ago. The entire area looks like a war zone. There are no national guard troops, but there are city police cars stranded in fields where they were swept by flood waters. Many people have lost ALL possessions and have no flood insurance. Many of us lined up today for tetanus shots, but many were turned away because the supply was inadequate. A FEMA employee walked the street where my house is located. She asked a couple of questions, made notes on a piece of paper, and walked away. My house is a rental house, and was part of my plan for paying for college for my three children. But that's a whole new issue facing this country--so many problems facing the people, so little concern from the "compassionate conservatives."

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