Katrina 29/08/2005 As I watch the television pictures of hurricane Katrina battering the coast of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, it becomes very clear that the geographers are right to call Britain's climate temperate. One can live in England for decades and never see a storm like this.The scale of the thing is hard to comprehend. Satellite pictures show its extent, filling the eastern half of the Gulf of Mexico with a whirlpool of ragged cloud, ever-tightening towards the center. And there the circular eye of the hurricane peers back at us as the weather people try to contain their excitement at such a perfect storm, reminding themselves of just how much damage and loss of life it will cause. The whole system is immense, stretching from the west coast of Florida all the way to the Louisiana/Texas border; one could lose several Britains inside it.And now, as the eye makes landfall and moves northwards just east of New Orleans, out go the reporters to give us an idea of what it is like to stand within a hurricane. As they try to speak coherently while battered by those winds and assaulted by the deluge, one thinks of the cameraman too, also out there in the maelstrom, suffering for his art. Why do they do it?Of course, the answer is thee and me; they know we want to sit at ease in our armchairs and see just how bad it can get. To show pictures of palm trees being bent and torn, water rushing past in a river where once there was a road, is never as dramatic on film as in reality. We need some poor human to give the thing scale, to be an example of the actual experience. Only then can we get some idea of what it is like.Brave men. We might carp at them for bias and selection but, when the chips are down, they are the ones who get out there in the storm and duck down into the trenches of war. And all so that we might see what it's like without risking our comfortable lives.Sure, I can be cynical with the best of them and say that these are the foot soldiers of the media, that the real opinion-makers are their bosses, the ones who sit in state in the calm of the studios. But their time will come and one day they will sit in safety while asking stupid questions of a new bunch of young hopefuls out there in the wind and the rain.Give them their due. It takes courage to be in situations that all others have fled, purely so that the public can have their experience by proxy.I know what excitement a storm can be. In central Kansas I stood and watched the rain fall sideways as a tornado crashed through a small town not ten miles away. Very easily I could be one of those crazy tornado-chasers, taking photographs of the monster as it rips its way through the countryside, scrambling for the car when it changes course and heads directly for me.But being close to something like that is not the same as being within it. I am not so stupid as to imagine that the excitement would last long if actually caught by one. They are killers, just as the hurricanes of the Gulf are.Sometimes it seems that there is no part of this country that does not have huge weather. Hurricanes and tornadoes in the south and west, floods in the Mississippi valley, blizzards and ice storms in the north, and drought and forest fires in the far west. It doesn't matter where you are in America, mother nature will have a go at killing you.And I think back to my countrymen in their little island off the coast of Europe and how they gripe and complain at a little drizzle or a heat wave that touches 90ºF. Man, they don't know what real weather is!
Clive
Josh I dunno, Clive. I grew up within 15 miles of the Atlantic and thus lived through more than one category 3 or better Hurricane. To say that these reporters are brave because they don a $1000 parka and walk out into the wind and rain is pushing it as far as I'm concerned. I heard from a coworker that, upon being asked by a FNC reporter "Why are you still in this city?", a resident of perhaps my favorite city on earth (and home to more than a few very good friends of mine) replied "None of your f**king business." I suppose what I object to is that reporters, so often hostage to their own careerist egoisme often make themselves the story instead of the potential human tragedy going on behind them. Date Added: 29/08/2005
Gone Away Ah well, Josh, I reckon you've had more experience of these things than have I. The thought occurred to me this morning while I was watching one of the reporters, standing out there in the hurricane, when a piece of roofing material shot past only inches from his head. I'm not saying he didn't yell and duck, though... ;) Date Added: 29/08/2005
ME Strauss Ah Clive, There you've gone and been insightful again. What great observations on humankind. We're all so filled with our preconceived notions of what makes life so hard. Even the most educated and well-traveled of us can't see beyond our noses sometimes. We forget that there are people involved. Silly things that we are. Date Added: 30/08/2005
Gone Away Well we do like having something to moan about, don't we, Liz? ;) Date Added: 30/08/2005
Jodie Clive, I think it's part of the human condition to complain. :) Date Added: 30/08/2005
Trée Thoughts and prayers tonight. I haven't seen such devastation to my beloved Gulf coast since Camille. I remember as a child seeing the utter destruction she left behind in 1969 and those memories will remain with me all my days. Although the death toll has only been reported at 60 tonight, the number will surely rise into the hundreds if not more. As many as 500 are still trapped on their roofs tonight awaiting rescue at daylight. Godspeed. Date Added: 30/08/2005
John (SYNTAGMA) And don't forget all those bloggers blogging away from their little nooks and crannies, mostly unpaid, and in many cases simply not able to get out. Duncan makes the point that many of the big mainstream media were also blogging the storm. How eerie is that? Date Added: 30/08/2005
Mad Bah! You haven't lived till you've survived an English drought. "What do you mean I can't use a hosepipe?" :p Date Added: 30/08/2005
Gone Away Indeed so, Jodie. :) Date Added: 30/08/2005
Gone Away Yes, Trée, you remind us of the terrible destruction these things bring. I had not seen any casualty figures when I wrote this piece but always there are those who are killed. Date Added: 30/08/2005
Gone Away Well, I suppose if you're caught in it with no way out, you might as well blog, John! Date Added: 30/08/2005
Gone Away That happens here, too, Mad! Date Added: 30/08/2005
Trée Clive, like most everything in life, it's so hard to truly understand what we don't experience. I live in Tennessee but grew up in Louisiana and my family still lives there. The fear in their voices, fear of the unknown sends a chill down my spine. They evac'ed and are safe, which is good. Whether they have homes to go back to, no one knows at this point. As I sit in my cool, dry home, with all the clean water and food I could ever want, and I realize my ability to fully comprehend what has and is occuring is extremely limited. Godspeed. Date Added: 30/08/2005
Gone Away Amen, Trée. Good to hear that your family is safe, though. Date Added: 30/08/2005
ME Strauss It was a time like this that I learned . . . If I can say "No one is going to die and we're still going to eat tomorrow," I don't have a lot to complain about. Thoughts with all known and unknown who are dealing with distaster. I've been evacuated. It's not nice. Date Added: 30/08/2005
Gone Away Hear, hear, Liz. Date Added: 30/08/2005
Glod Oh I do love our maritime climate, with it's wetness and blunted extremes and the fact that the gulfstream keeps us warmer for our latitude so we can commute in gloom without the need for thermal underwear. And the mixing of arctic currants wih the gulf stream gives us some pretty interesting fauna to see when we dive. Date Added: 30/08/2005
Gone Away All true, Glod. I'm glad to see that you appreciate the good things about Britain. ;) Date Added: 30/08/2005
damian Hello Gone Away, A belated hello. I was just going through my archives and just read the lovely comment you left on my blog ages ago and thought I just had to write. What a beautiful essay you've written. As I write this, I'm expecting friends who live in New Orleans who're coming to stay with me in Bucks Co., PA for a wee while because they can't get home to Louisiana. They were in Russia on vacation and came into JFK yesterday Date Added: 30/08/2005
Gone Away Good to see you, Damian. I have left a rather wordy comment on your next-to-last post in honour of our meeting again. ;) And I hope that your friends will not find too much devastation to their home when they return. The news from Louisiana is terrible. Date Added: 30/08/2005
Glod Actually I wish we could be a little further north, it doesn't half not get as cold as it should, I want to see more freezes of the Thames. Date Added: 30/08/2005
Gone Away Global warming, Glod. You might have to move to Scotland before you'd see the Thames freeze over (and that would probably be in a Victorian postcard...)! Date Added: 30/08/2005
Josh Well, apparently two of my friends, one living in Slidell and the other in Kenner LA. completely lost their homes, the latter having been within 100 yards of a levee breach that decimated his entire neighborhood. Sucks man. Such a great place that may never be the same again. I dunno if you've ever been there, Clive, but The Ponchartrain causeway into the city is one of the coolest 20 miles of road on the planet. If and when they rebuild it, you should check it out. ;) Date Added: 31/08/2005
Gone Away Funnily enough, I saw a documentary about the building of the Ponchartrain causeway only a couple of weeks ago. You are right, it is one cool bridge. That and the bridge to the Florida Keys are two of the things I want to see in this country. The devastation is appalling; just what they've shown on television is mind-blowing and they can't show it all. It really reveals how little mankind is in control after all. And it does indeed suck about your friends. Date Added: 31/08/2005
Stuart I don't know that I agree with you Clive. We don't get those storms but we do get bushfires and I well remember a couple of years back watching a news report about a fire that was sweeping through some houses on the edge of the the bush. Courtesy of a cameraman and a reporter we watched while one lone householder fought to save his house with his garden hose - and he was doing a really good job of it too until the smoke got the better of him and he sagged to the ground. Instead of snatching up the garden hose and helping the poor unfortunate householder the reporter and the cameraman turned their attention to the way the fire was about to engulf the house. I'm afraid that at that point the only word I could find to describe that reporter and that cameraman was 'parasite'. Date Added: 31/08/2005
Gone Away You make a good point, Stuart, and one that I came across only today when someone mentioned in a blog about reporters developing a callous attitude over time. Part of the job, I suppose, but no excuse, that's for sure. Date Added: 31/08/2005
Marti Mother Nature can certainly remind us of her power from time to time. Have you yet experienced one of our Midwestern ice storms? Here’s my driveway after one: http://digitaldoorway.net/images/trees-ice-fade_1_.jpeg Date Added: 31/08/2005
Mauser*Girl Very well written - and a beautiful blog layout as well. As for the storm - I'm not sure why the reporters do it. I think there's a certain rivalry of wanting to get the best report and the best pictures while bringing people the news. We had Hurricane Isabel in southern VA some time ago and we were in it. I ran out to take pictures... but that's just me. No journalistic reasons. ;) Date Added: 31/08/2005
Josh Well, They are strong folks downt'the bayou. Anxious as I am to verify that he and the family are in good health, I have no doubt about their fortitude. Hell, last time I was in Kenner it rained so much that there was a solid foot of standing water in my friend's driveway. I asked him "Man, Billy!? What in God's name is going on?" He said "It's February." Then we got out the Blackened Voodoo and the fireworks and played in the rain. Date Added: 31/08/2005
Gone Away Marti: I have not yet experienced an ice storm, although one in Oklahoma once forced me to fly from Dallas to Kansas City, rather than drive. Your photograph looks very pretty but it must have been quite exciting to get a car down that driveway! ;) Date Added: 31/08/2005
Gone Away Mauser Girl: Good point about the rivalry between reporters to get the best shots and be in the most dangerous places. I'm sure that's part of why they do it. And thanks for the kind comments. :) Date Added: 31/08/2005
Gone Away Josh: Oh them crazy rebs... ;) Date Added: 31/08/2005
Bif What an interesting blog. I found you through a series of unfortunate events. Pardon the pun. I don't watch any coverage on these disasters. Maybe it's denial or maybe I just don't like it ... not sure. I put my Url. I'm interested in why you moved to the prairie from the UK. Date Added: 31/08/2005
Gone Away Thank you, Bif. The answer to the moving question is simple enough: I married an American lady and for a few years we lived in England. But she became homesick and so we moved back to the States, choosing the town where her daughter lives, Lawton, Oklahoma. So it's sorta accidental but not that I'm complaining - I like it here. :) Date Added: 31/08/2005
John (SYNTAGMA) Marti, that's a great shot. The world as a crystal. How does that affect your pumpkins, though? Date Added: 31/08/2005
Gone Away .oO(Maybe we should leave Marti's pumpkins out of this...) ;) Date Added: 31/08/2005
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