Replies

I'm in St. Petersburg and I've thought from the minute the Hurricane turned suddenly that the death toll would be high. Also, I've heard rumors that one park alone had 60+ bodies. If that's the case, they need to come out with the info. Delaying it is going to anger people.

I also think it will become a political issue if the death toll is high.

Also, I've heard rumors that one park alone had 60+ bodies. If that's the case, they need to come out with the info. Delaying it is going to anger people.

Who exactly will be angry? Angry about what?

I also think it will become a political issue if the death toll is high.

You honestly think the Bush Administration is going to sit on the death count until after the election?

If you don’t, what possible political angle do you see in them delaying the release of a huge number for a few days?

Also, I've heard rumors that one park alone had 60+ bodies.

A classic example of the old classroom trick where the teacher whispers something in the ear of one student and that student whispers it to the kid next to them, and when it goes through all the kids and back to the teacher it doesn't resemble what was originally said at all.

Any number "60" rumor you hear is based on the brain damaged EOD director of Charlotte County having blabbed to the media he'd "ordered 60 body bags" though he really had no idea how many people were killed. The media, of course, since it contained the words "body bags", went orgasmic and spread it around.

However, over time on various boards including here and some weather boards, the "body bags" comment has turned into 60 killed, or 60+ killed, or 60+ killed in just one trailer park, or whatever.

I doubt the number killed goes a LOT higher than what it is now...as for a variety of reasons the surge appears not to have been as bad as the normal surge for a Cat 4 storm (fast storm movement, narrow area of top winds, and very short time, only a few hours, above cat 2.)

And surge is the only thing really capable of causing mass casualties in a hurricane. It's what kills 500,000+ people in Bangladesh, and it's what killed the 6,000+ in Galveston TX in 1900.

Winds are surprisingly easy to survive, even if the apparent damage to dwellings is catastrophic; witness the (relatively) low death toll of Andrew.

The only way the death toll will get a lot higher if the rumors that 200+ people stayed on the barrier islands is true.