Spare a thought for people on the East Coast of America

[Wesley]

Hurricane Sandy bore down on America's East Coast while we were sleeping last night, hitting New York and Manhattan, large parts of New Jersey and floods and damage as far as Buffalo City. Its one of the largest storms seen this decade since Hurricane Katrina, although the scale of the devastation and damage has yet to be determined. Generally, locals were forwarned and ready for the storm, boarding up houses, blocking off entrances to subways and evacuating people in areas that would be hardest hit. The presidentiual elections have been halted for a minimum of 48 hours and that postponement may even last a full week as several states are unable to get voting venues up on time. Several parts of New York are deserted and subways have to be given the all-clear before anything starts again, which might take longer than the rather optimistic estimate of two weeks. Lower Manhattan is experiencing water levels of two metres or more and many homes, cars, schools and buildings have been damaged, some irreparably.

Linky to gallery

I stayed up late last night watching news feeds and CNN webcasts to follow the storm as it hit. Its not nearly as devastating as Katrina, but its definitely a very costly and bloody affair for everyone affected. I'm wondering how this will affect the elections as well. Thoughts?

[Grimnebulin]

Firstly, of course we should be empathetic toward those who have experienced loss as a result of Sandy, whether it be life, property or livelihood.

But man does the media make it hard to me to get in touch with that empathy. I understand the novelty of a city experiencing the worst storm in living memory, but if this wasn't New York we were dealing with, or at least a 1st world country, would it have received half the attention it has? I'm not suggesting that we rank disasters by body count or total financial damage, but you'd think this was the greatest storm in history the way everybody is carrying on. I've seen the word 'ravaged' used in at least five different articles and one broadcast; do they even have the slightest comprehension of what the word actually means? The news feed flashes about the death toll for here to Canada (yeah, that one had me scratching my head), and the fear mongering reached levels far in excess of what was actually required.

I'm sure there have been instances of great heroism, and it's still to early to tell for sure just what the extent of the damage will be, I guess I'm just venting because I hate the way in which the media covers these types of events. What purpose does it serve to stick your reporter in the middle of a flooded street?

As for the election, I doubt this will have much bearing on it at all. Both sides have responded as you would expect, with the Democrats pointing out that Obama was far quicker to react than Bush was with Katrina, and the Republicans have made statements that support their own agenda. I can't really see how the flooding would sway voters. Or was your question more n regard to whether this will affect election day in terms of making it more difficult for people to vote? It may well do, but it would probably affect both parties in equal measure.

[Wesley]

Yeah, I'm more interested in how the various affected states will vote, if at all. Otherwise, the whole thing would probably be postponed until the other cities and states can vote without too much hassle, giving parties more time for campaigning. Might sway the election either way if they get that kind of opportunity.

But I agree, if it wasn't on a collision course with New York it wouldn't have received as much publicity. Haiti and Cuba are screwed as far as the coastal towns are concerned, but at least its nothing like the earthquake the Haitians went through two years ago.

[-Bouncer-]

Well just over a month ago, I was there doing some work and visiting my brother. He and his wife lives on Manhattan and I've been stuck to CNN since yesterday. Barely got any sleep and since the power is out, I only get a text message now and then. Luckily everything seems fine with them through this storm.

@ Grimnebulin, I have to agree - I thought to myself, "Why the F would CNN throw a reporter in the middle of it all?" Maybe it's part of their job description. That being said, this is a terrible storm overall. It did a lot of damage and obviously it would be a big media thing because you know its in one of the biggest cities in the world. It would have gotten attention, no matter where it was. Maybe not as much though.

[Grimnebulin]

I think it's still too early to say. The currently affected areas probably have a stronger leaning toward Obama, but that also means that even if voter turnout is low, it wouldn't affect the State result. It would however affect Obama's national numbers, which could be interesting. That said, these areas are also mostly wealthier states with excellent access to infrastructure, and should recover from this disaster quickly. As far as I know, early voting isn't a major factor, so it's unlikely that early votes would be affected.

But let's not forget that even though Sandy is losing some of her wrath as she moves inland, she could still affect a number of more central states, and in many of these areas it is Romney who is seen as the more popular vote.

Overall, Obama probably stands to win more than Romney stands to lose, if that makes sense. Romney, although he's had to cut campaigning short, isn't in a position to have his campaign affected, whilst Obama is now very much under the microscope. If he handles this well, it could boost his popularity, but if he handles it poorly, this close to election day it's bound to be forefront in voters minds.

The one to watch, in my opinion, is Virginia. This is always one of the most tightly contested states, and Sandy's influence on the state, if any, could be critical.

[brazed]

Actually, most natural disasters get a lot of attention (Haiti, Japan, Indonesia, NZ). I would also say that it being NY, it deserves a bit more attention seeing as it's one of the biggest business hubs in the world, and Wall street affects all of us, 'tis beside the point if we like it or not....

I'm more interested in New England, as I lived there and have quite a number of friends who live in Mass, NH and Maine...

[Grimnebulin]

Most natural disasters get a lot of attention, depending on what else is newsworthy, would be my suggested clarification. And again, I'm not suggesting that they don't get any coverage, or even a fair bit of coverage, I'm commenting on the hyperbolic nature of the press. Twitter, Facebook, the airwaves and local television are all brimming with reports about New York, yet the fact that an estimated 63 people died as a result of the same storm in Haiti has been all too quickly forgotten.

Is Sandy's impact on the US relevant? Of course it is, and yes I'm a realist enough to concede that NY will always be subject to far more coverage than most cities, but is it honestly asking too much for the coverage to be both accurate, and more importantly, measured?

'Thousands flee the devastation', as one headline put it, is fear mongering plain and simple. If anything, the coverage should be emphasising the value of preparation. It seems that sometimes we can learn from previous mistakes, and I have no doubt had the various authorities not reacted so swiftly in terms of encouraging people to prepare, things may have been a heck of a lot worse. Pertinent information, spread in a calm and efficient manner, will always trump 'run for your lives'. Granted, if infrastructure permits. But that's a whole other discussion.

[Xperimance]

In class, we're currently discussing environment change and it's quite ironic that we were talking about Hurricane Sandy in class today. My teacher showed us a video of the hurricane and it's quite scary what's going on at the moment. The storm is probably still happening while I'm writing this so all my thoughts go out to those affected by the hurricane.

[ZoRPA]

A homeless woman made a spooky Halloween’s eve discovery on the Upper Green: bones from a centuries-old human body unearthed by a giant oak tree toppled by Superstorm Sandy.

[Kharrak]

The issue with news, as ever, is that it's a business more than anything else.

People watch bad news. Bad news is good news is money.

And additionally, there's the political spin. Fear mongering helps paint a bad picture of the presidential house, and one can always ask the question "why weren't we more prepared?. Likely why Obama has gone so far out of his way to attempt to assist in this matter, since it can be used as an immensely powerful tool for either candidate.