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Ignorance abounds even amongst the “educated conservatives.” This flood is bigger than Cedar Rapids. Katrina was bigger than the 9th Ward.

But really, the only comparisons need to be “how does America respond?”

That was ultimately what I learned from New Orleans. Not who f’ed up. But that there were still people hurting who needed help.

I’m with 2J. I’d come if I could. But let us know how we can help (and spread the word) from here.

Lots bigger than CR. That is my point. The flooding STARTed like two weeks ago and people just now started noticing. Here we were on the edges of our seats watching what was going on in Cedar Falls and Waertloo two weekends ago and bracing for what we knew was going to be big. From then all the way until it crested here and the a couple days later in Iowa City we had a stead stream of increasing estimates of how bad it was going to be. Then I would go on FR and see... nothing at all. Not just about CR but about the whole state. I think the 4 dead boyscouts in the tornado got more ‘air time’ .Yeah I know, tragic. But we are talking hundreds of thousands of homes underwater. Tens of thounsands in this city alone. Then a day or two after the crest I started getting calls from family asking how we were because they were seeing it on the news. The thing was that until there was video footage it did not make the 6oclock news.
But I expected more in FR because we have text news here not video.
No I am not all egotistical about CR. Small towns all over here are under water. Des Moines has not even crested yet and they just evacuated down town.

Kate and I have not really done anything to help because most of it is tightly controlled stuff and strangers are not allowed down there. We were good and did not even drive through downtown (the free way goes right through (over on an overpass) all the areas that flooded to see it. Kind of a shame. We now wish we had been bad and made at least one pass while the water was high to get picts or just make it seem more real. This side of town is so normal it does not seem real. Except the water restrictions and all the semis. Plus I just noticed one of the large parking lots my company owns a block from here has been made into a national guard depot. It is full of military trucks.

The thread I referred to was a vanity wondering sarcastically where the stories of looting were. I chimed in to tell a bit about the looting that has happened and then *bam* pulled thread with no explanation. I don't need a place to whine or sympathy because we are doing just fine. I just want to see people watching what is going on here and giving a damn. So far it seems like unless we have whiny grandstanding officials or mobs of idiot looters our disaster is hardly worth noticing. I guess that would not bother me much if the whiny incompetents did not get fawned over.

Sorry to vent. Part of this all is that things look so different in the local area when a disaster is approaching and then here and now starting to recover. Like when my dad comment on the phone that this must be hard when the state was already reeling over the deaths of those boyscouts. When viewed locally the statement makes no sense because the flooding started days before that and that same storm system caused flash flooding all over the place as it slowly ground across the state. It was kind of odd to see news coverage about that tornado and then a foot note that oh by the way Iowa is underwater too.

Sorry to vent. Been a little keyed up lately.