Katrina cometh

Pubsub has links to blogs covering hurricane Katrina, with links in turn ranging from the official US Weather Advisory that one commentator says is “positively biblical in its prognosis”; another suggesting Instapundit’s running coverage and Drudge Report saying “God Bless New Orleans”; a blog pointed to author Poppy Z. Brite (whose novels I enjoy very much) refusing to leave (another Louisiana-based author has a blog at electric mist, with entries on the hurricane, too); a blogger (felicitously called Windypundit) concerned over the potential destruction of Antoine’s Restaurant, inventor of oysters Rockefeller.

From Instapundit these useful links: Storm Digest, complete with pictures and weather analysis; The Times-Picayune, a New Orleans paper; a list of hurricane bloggers. One of them, JoshBritton.com seems to be in the area affected, and links to the Weather Channel blog, and Wizbang’s speculation about the potential fate of the Superdome, New Orlean’s stadium holding evacuees. Other bloggers include Kaye’s hurricane blog and Hurricane Harbor.

Someone once tried to explain to me why hurricanes seem so much worse than typhoons. Whatever the reasons, the whole world holds those in danger in their thoughts. Hurricane Katrina will affect us directly because it’s already affecting the price of oil, and surely there are Filipinos in the areas to be afflicted. Only good news is the hurricane has gone from a Category 5 to a Category 4. CNN coverage indicates a bit of class resentment, as the poor have had to stay behind and the wealthier have had an easier time evacuating.

Addendum: This post makes it clear that events such as the hurricane reflect a considerable change in following -and participating- in news, something far different, in terms of experience, than say, what we might have gone through five or even ten years ago. Right now I’m watching two feeds: a live webcam and a local New Orleans TV station (list of TV stations offering live feeds on the internet are here). Blogs, in particular, offer a means for people to find out what other people are experiencing, without events being reduced to statistics in the news: this is doing for disasters what Salam Pax’s blog did for the invasion of Iraq. The BBC shows how people are interacting with each other via news organizations; other blogs are also fostering a sense of community and empathy.

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Manuel L. Quezon III.

7 thoughts on “Katrina cometh

  1. This is bad. My father just boarded his ship (working for as one of the crews) in New Orleans. He sent an SMS saying the hurricane is very bad out there. We sent him a cell load but he was not able to reply. Well, the last satellite track I’ve checked showed me the ship is still in Orleans. Katrina should leave New Orleans fast.

  2. thar she blows!!!

    i dont know which is blown out of proportion…the category 5-turned-4 hurricane “KAT” or the news about it…mass media dictates “when youre not interesting EXAGGERATE”…

  3. that blows 🙁 Im glad we dont experience it here in our country. all we can do is say prayers to the Good Lord.

  4. I know a Katrina who is very passionate with her concerns about the Philippines. I featured her in my comic strips which has a link to her website Hate Philippines. You’ll understand when you read my strip 😉

  5. I can’t believe you left out all of the wonderful conservative blogs from your list of US Politics links. How can you expect to get a fair picture of the politics over here when you only listen to one side of the issue? For that matter, being a respectable blogger yourself, how can you expect your local readers to intelligently assess the issues when all they read about is left-wing rhetorics?

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