I find it interesting that in the face of one of the worst hurricanes of all time, that one of the anchors at The Weather Channel said of the storm on Thursday, "This won't be a very big deal..."
Of course, now they have changed from The Weather Channel to The Katrina Channel, almost overnight. And they love it.
A guy called in from Biloxi, and said "Well, we are on the eastern edge of the eye and because of that, we will get the worst damage...yet everybody is talking about New Orleans..."
It's not that I don't agree with the man. It is actually very true...providing that the levees hold Lake Ponchatrain back. New Orleans is getting more attention because it is more romantic than Biloxi. Plain and simple.
Come on, you know it's true. We picture the revelers at Bourbon St, drinking away their fears, only to find out, too late that they should have gone to a shelter...I mean...we're talking biblical here, folks. It is the stuff of Cecil B. DeMille in its scope. Can't you see the hethens making their false idols and looking up as the tablets are being thrown at them in one final scream?
Of course it isn't just imagery. New Orleans has long been avoiding a storm like this. It is , quite possibly, the worst place in the US for a hurricane to hit. It is 20 feet below sea-level and surrounded by bodies of water that are held back by dams and levees.
What really came to mind as the gentleman called in, was the need to feel a part of this epic. A major want inside to feel a part of the human drama unfolding. A need to connect.
But do you feel like the rhetoric is ramped up just a little bit? Not by the gentleman caller, but by the news channels?
I am in NO way, shape or form saying that I dislike the coverage on Hurricane Katrina. ANY information on these storms is helpful, and saves many lives. But I believe the Weather Channel is calling themselves-"The Hurricane Station" in commercial tags, ever since Friday.
It all sometimes feels a bit much. I have to stop typing now and go back to watching it, though. I'm hooked, and they know it. Or I will just watch it live here...
http://www.nola.com/bourbocam/
1 comment:
I don't know if anyone else does this, but...I always try to think of a song that corresponds to the name of a big Hurricane...I usually do this only if the said hurricane will be hitting where I am...(During Isabelle", I chose "Isobel" by Bjork, and that was the first song on a mixed CD I put in as we drank till the power went out.)
The only song I can think of for Katrina is from the 60's cartoon "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Disney...the song is...called "Katrina" and the chorus is something like this...
"And yet once you have met
That little coquette,
Katrina,
You've lost your heart..."
hmmm...chilling.
OK...OK...I know this makes me even more of a loser.
I'm still sore that my math tests weren't good enough to become a meteorologist. :)
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