The state of Vermont woke up this morning to a new reality that turns the joke, ‘You can’t get there from here’ on its head. All of a sudden, we truly can’t get there from here. Whether it is from the south or the east or the north or west, either there are no options at all or extensive detours. The north, south and west will open up soon enough once the flood waters recede and repairs made but the eastern entry points, notably Route 4, will take much, much more time to be restored to pre-Irene status.Below are a few pictures to help you get the picture in Vermont. Click on the pictures for the larger view.
Senior pundit George Will's utterly loathsome words:
“Florence Nightingale said, ‘Whatever you say about hospitals, they shouldn’t make their patients sicker,” he said. “And whatever else you want to say about journalism, it shouldn’t subtract from the nation’s understanding, and it certainly shouldn’t contribute to the manufactured, synthetic hysteria that is so much a part of modern life. And I think we may have done so with regard to this ‘tropical storm,’ as it now seems to be.”It's way past time for Will to retire, don't you think?
And finally, Rmj at Adventus' brilliant find - this old cover from The New Yorker.
Someone once did a brilliant take off on the New Yorker cover about the Episcopal Church. Anyone have a copy?
ReplyDeleteThere are two different issues being smashed together here IMHO. (1) Media presentation of the threat and actual storm damage as it is occurring; (2) Government reaction to storm warnings and resulting acts of preparedness.
ReplyDeleteGeorge Will is commenting on media and Cokie is commenting on government. I tend to agree with George Will that the media latched onto this storm like the latest "Summer of the Shark Attack" having such a (thankfully) long gap between hurricanes. As the storm hit NC they were at a loss to find "good" damage footage to play.
The government reaction was based on initial predictions that Irene would make landfall as a Category III. NOAA forecasters are at a loss to explain how the opposite of what they were expecting occurred beyond to say that it is still not an exact science. My only concern about significant government response to these storms is what I would call the "Cry Wolf" effect. How many forced evacuations will populations tolerate when no significant damage occurs before they start ignoring the calls to safety? Given all the calls for evacuations etc. - was Vermont even thought to be in danger? (I don't know the answer to that) At what point does government reaction become government over reaction along the lines of duck and cover drills of the 1950's?
I have also heard grumblings that the coverage of this storm was different because it targeted New England more so then the south - don't have much to say about that. I think the media would have been hungry for a good story no matter where it was headed myself.
Finally, I am a cynic and just as I am disgusted with the farce we call Airline Security or "Security Theater" where we go through elaborate rituals to pretend we are really doing something. I question how much of the government actions were truly effective and how much was mere theater so that politicians could cover their butts in the aftermath. I mean shelter space for 70,000 in NYC? (And closing down the mass transit network as well just to make it easier for folks) Then there was the mayor's decision to NOT evacuate Ryker's Island - and if you feel convicted prisoners don't deserve to be moved - there are many in that facility that are simply awaiting trial. I also believe there is a significant juvenile presence, but I might be mistaken. Incidentally, NC evacuated prisoners to safer locations.
So we can get carried away and turn this into yet another partisan bicker fest with Republicans saying it was all overblown and Democrats saying how good the response was - frankly, I think it is much more complicated than that.
Of course I could be wrong...
Even Cokie talks about all we supposedly learned from Katrina regarding children and families that is still not in place...did any of the government "actions" truly address those issues?
ReplyDeleteTobias, I'd love to the take off. Anyone?
ReplyDeleteRenz, I didn't mean to start a partisan bicker fest. I said nothing about Republicans. Yes, I know Will is a Republican, but I hated what he said. In my initial post I used 'old fart' instead of Will's name. I corrected my post, but that is my true sentiment about Will, whose writing I once admired back in the day.
I'm no admirer of home girl Cokie Roberts, either.
I didn't mean you in particular, Mimi, I meant Will & Cokie - with regards to a partisan bicker fest and the likely talking heads, presidential candidates, etc. My apologies if you thought I meant you. You, as always, are gracious even when you are angry and have your dander up.
ReplyDeleteI meant, 'I'd love to see the take off.'
ReplyDeleteRenz, thanks for your kind words about me.
The old Beltway codgers, females included, need to make way for younger blood. Is Cokie even a Democrat these days?
Don't yell at me, I live in Brooklyn. As far as Manhattan is concerned, Brooklyn might as well be in Louisiana.
ReplyDeleteAs far as Manhattan is concerned, Brooklyn might as well be in Louisiana.
ReplyDeleteAin't that the truth, Counterlight? The Bronx, too, our friend Tobias' home place.
More helicopters overhead taking relief to those trapped in towns, including my partner.
ReplyDeleteVermont was utterly surprised because the storm tracked to the west of the state rather than the east and many places got over eight inches of rain in under 24 hours. We are not a flat state so there aren't a whole lot of places for the water to run off and obviously towns are by rivers. You do the logic.
The transportation secretary of the state (VT) says the goal is to get the major E-W routes passable by WINTER.
So while people may snipe about whether coverage of New England is elitist, Republican or what, it's what we are living right now.
So while people may snipe about whether coverage of New England is elitist, Republican or what, it's what we are living right now.
ReplyDeleteI think the "elitist" coverage was of what didn't happen to NYC.
Vermont has my sympathies, and I'm not sure what you could do to prepare for flash floods from a tropical storm. You can board windows against a hurricane, and even flee to higher ground. But other than run from flood waters, there isn't much to do about them (I've lived in places where flash floods were also a way of life, but the warning for those often comes just before the waters roll down).
If you are going to evacuate, you must do so early, while most others are still making up their minds. We've done that, and it was pretty painless. We've also waited too late, and ended up not leaving. Once we evacuated, and the storm struck our home town and then followed us to our place of evacuation, where the very eye itself passed over us. We thought the storm was over. We could see blue sky. And then the winds returned with even greater force.
ReplyDeleteThe problem with where we live is that one scenario has 8 feet of water coming in. It's never happened, but the experts tell us it could. On our farm northwest of Baton Rouge, we may get blown away, but at least we won't drown.
In many places, people had under five minutes to leave because the water rose so fast.
ReplyDeleteThere's no preparing for that.
ReplyDeleteYou really don't have to "find" that New Yorker cover: it's never gone away (it's a popular poster---that, and the ZILLION parodies of it)
ReplyDeleteJCF, if you can find me a link to the Episcopal Church parody, I'd like that.
ReplyDeleteMimi, may I suggest you owe George Will a slight apology? That comment was from the Sunday morning gabfests of 8/28, when the storm was still actually heading up to New England, and the focus of attention was still on New York City. The flooding in New England and upstate New York had not even begun at the time he was saying that.
ReplyDelete