LOCAL media was downplaying Katrina. Were you here?
I had my father, bed-ridden with a feeding tube, so we watched constantly. As late as Saturday morning we were being reassured that it would ‘miss’ us and we’d be on the ‘good’ side. Margaret Orr- on WDSU- was blithely upbeat about a ‘blustery day’ when it came ashore!
By Saturday noon we were on the road out-and the LOCAL news didn’t sound dire till Sat nite/Sun morning when we were in Mobile.
No way would we have still been here Saturday morning if the dire warnings had been on the local news. If it happens here on a weekend, N.O. pays no attention-unless its football or a ‘fest’. I talked to people in local supermarkets Friday nite who said ‘what hurricane?’!
What national media was saying, and what the NWS was telling local officials, got ignored, or downplayed, till Sunday.
It was like, when faced with a truly dangerous ‘worst case’scenario, it was too much to believe. People went into denial- the opposite of hype. Locally it was unwillingness to face the approaching nightmare.
Thank heavens the media and officials on the Gulf Coast faced reality and prepared their people. Hearing local news in Mobile-and comparing it to the N.O. media-was like being on another planet. Reality there- fantasy and denial here.
http://www.facebook.com/mattdrudge
Scientist mocks: Phony ‘Hurricane’ Coming On Shore With 33 MPH Winds...
NOAA’s Phony “Hurricane” Coming On Shore With 33 MPH Winds