Days after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in August 2005, the national news media expressed collective alarm at the discovery that in modern America, many people shelter in place during storms for the simple reason that they can’t afford to … Continue reading
On Neptune Avenue in Coney Island, the throngs that surrounded the Coney Island Gospel Assembly’s relief site in November have mostly dissipated. The mobile medical office—a gift from a pastor in Joplin, Missouri—remains in place, and a Red Cross truck … Continue reading
Hurricane Sandy may be remembered not only as the most powerful storm ever to strike the Eastern seaboard, but also as the moment when a large segment of the U.S. media first allowed itself to say the words “climate change” … Continue reading
As with so many roads in the outer boroughs of New York City right now, the drive into Gerritsen Beach, on one of the less fashionable fringes of coastal Brooklyn, abruptly changes once one hits the flood zone. Suddenly, traffic … Continue reading
Drive along the Brooklyn beachfront, and at first, things don’t look quite that bad. Massive trees have fallen along Ocean Parkway and in Asser Levy Park, crushing unsuspecting cars; power is still out to most of the peninsula, so cars … Continue reading
So the reports by CNN’s Gary Tuchman of serious flooding in the Lower 9th Ward – as well as his later report that the police were telling anyone in the area that the levees there could “explode at any time” … Continue reading
With Anderson Cooper momentarily off the air (he’s moving his satellite truck so it doesn’t blow over), CNN has turned to Gary Tuchman, who’s finally made it to the Lower 9th Ward. There, he reports, a “deluge of water” is … Continue reading
Best unintentionally funny moment of the Gustav reporting so far: Anderson Cooper, standing in the official reporting zone of the French Quarter, assuring viewers that “You don’t see anyone on the streets here except police and emergency personnel – anyone … Continue reading
Flipping cable channels for the latest on Hurricane Gustav, I can’t help notice a striking similarity to the run-up to Hurricane Katrina three years ago: Every single news station is reporting from the French Quarter, or the adjacent downtown region. … Continue reading