"our Tsunami"

There is a New York Post headline for today that says "our Tsunami." I heard it several times on the news yesterday as well. I don't understand why it's being used. This tragedy is unique and very different than a tsunami event, especially the Tsunami from December that killed over 300,000 people.

Hurricane Katrina was a horrific thing in its own right. I don't get the attempt to garner sympathy by comparing it to the Southeast Asian Tsunami, when there should be enough sympathy from it being a devastating hurricane. I think this might all point to a need to compete somehow. In a very messed up sense it seems like a morose competition. I have seen it before in other situations where people compare personal tragedy as though there was some sort of prize awaiting the person with the worst life. I am not saying this is what is happening; I just really don't like the use of the Tsunami in that case. A tidal wave caused by an earthquake and storm surges caused by a hurricane are totally different. The only things they have in common are that they both involve water and destruction. Following that logic, a skiing accident and an iceberg disaster are equitable. They could have said this was "our 9-11" but that would have caused an uproar, even though both were great tragedies and caused the loss of many lives. It is because the US hates being outdone even when it comes to disasters. But I do not hold it against the people who said it, it is their way of coping. I blame the newspapers and TV for running with that headline. Even an event like this means nothing if it’s not catchy.

All of that being said, I think the destruction in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama is terrible. All of the loss of life and the loss of property in places that were already amongst the poorest in the nation are heartbreaking. I was in Miami during Hurricane Andrew which was terrible, but it did not have the flooding like Katrina. It also hit the trailer homes and the poor communities the hardest. I remember all of the debris and destruction, the martial law and the inconvenience of being without phone and electricity. I knew a lot of people who lost their homes and all of their belongings, but the death toll from that was low; it seems that the toll from Katrina may be in the thousands. I hope this is the last hurricane for this year, but somehow I doubt it. The season ends in November and September is usually the worst. That is all I have to say about that. I hope the dead find peace and the living find safety.