The Myths of Katrina

File Under: Myths

True, or not? The National Geographic couldn't have possibly predicted a flooded New Orleans, right? And it makes sense that there were crocodiles swimming around in the flood waters, right? And we all know that there was widespread death and perversion inside the Superdome. Why, Mayor Nagin said that gangs were raping babies! Well, as the "fog of war" clears, we're getting a better idea on what actually happened. TDI has compiled a few responses to some popular rumors, concerning Hurricane Katrina:

- At the Superdome, 6 people died. 4 from natural causes, one from an overdose, and one jumped to his death. There were 4 bodies outside of the Superdome, and another 4 dead at the Convention Center in New Orleans. There were no murders inside the Superdome. In fact, it's sounding like people were better behaved than we had heard. And you know who was the worst at spreading the rumors of widespread raping and killings? Mayor Ray Nagin, on Oprah. The next mayoral elections keep looking worse and worse for him... (read)
- The National Geographic even eerily predicted the events that transpired after Katrina. And they predicted it in 2004! (read)
- Did Pat Robertson say that Katrina was God's wrath for the folks at the Emmy's choosing Ellen Degeneres for hosting the 2005 ceremonies? No! And it's the "no!" that suprises you, isn't it? (read)
- Go to this site, and go down to Myth #3. They do a good job of breaking down the cencus numbers, for whites vs. blacks in the city, and if it was just "all the black people left behind", as some claim.
- There was no crocodile swimming around the flooded city, looking for fresh meat. Or flesh as meat, which ever you prefer. (read)
- The levee's weren't waiting for repairs or upgrades. There were never any orders for them to be worked on. And Army engineers say that even if the levee's were upgraded, the flooding would have still occured. (read)
- A few people with an allergic skin reaction had some skin flaking off after coming into contact with floodwaters, but that's the worst of the bodily harm resulting from just touching the waters. There has only been one reported dog bit, no hepatitis A outbreaks, and no evidence that 2 search-and-rescue dogs dropped dead after being in the floodwaters. The waters have mainly lead contamination and sewage. It's not toxic. (read)

So... How did all these rumors get started? It's probably something like the telephone game, a "he said that she said" thing. And before you go blaming the media, think about this... First, they're the one's now refuting the myths. And secondly, if you easily believed them, so did they! I'm still shocked at the Superdome situation. How on earth did we get all of those rumors? We'll probably never know. But we DO know the flip side of the coin. And for THAT we can be VERY grateful.