Photo by Francis James, 10/10/05
Considering that a major American city went under water, we find the few extra words worth the effort.
So today, Times Picayune reporter Gwen Filosa again receives our Seal of Approval for continuing to refrain from using inaccurate and harmful ‘Katrina shorthand.’
In an article today, Ms. Filosa described the flooding five years ago as caused by ‘Katrina and the levee failures.’ Getting the story right begins here in New Orleans. Eventually NYT, WashPo and others will figure it out.
As noted by John McQuaid, former political reporter for the TP, using Katrina shorthand is dangerous “with its underlying associations of “natural disaster swamps city below sea level – what the heck are those people doing living down there?”
We add that i t’s dangerous because the majority of the American people lives in counties protected by levees.
McQuaid recently chided two bloggers for ignoring the civil engineering component of the flood.
“It’s just wrong to say Katrina would have been an immense disaster no matter what.” — John McQuaid in True/Slant.
It also protects the human beings responsible, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
