A tornado was reported to have hit Oklahoma today. 51 people are confirmed to be dead (more deaths expected to be uncovered) , some of which were children. Many others are injured and are in the care of nearby hospitals. The tornado did tons of damage to property and it completely destroyed two elementary schools. The tornado traveled at speeds up to 200 miles per hour and it was over one mile wide. There is a lot of information, photos, and even videos for those of you who are interested in seeing more as this post does not tell the half of it.More information/visuals can be found here : http://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2013/05/20/tornadoes-severe-weather-plains-midwest/2325875/
Obviously, this is a tragic event and I don't have any specific questions for you to reflect on. Respond as you see fit.
3 comments:
One thing that I began to reflect on when I first heard about the tornado was how the public reacts to natural disasters. In cases like the CT shooting, all over my Facebook was statuses about how tragic and upsetting it was. Over the past 2 days, I have counted 8 statuses about the Oklahoma tornado. Is there somehow something inherently less tragic about a natural disaster? I'm not necessarily criticizing peoples' responses to death and disaster, I'm just curious about other peoples' thoughts as to whether or not you all think that we as a society put more value to deaths by different causes or to different types of people.
On a more political note, I'm excited to see the differences between the Bush Administration and the Obama Administration in the way the handle events like these.
I'll be intrigued to see how the sequester affects the response to this disaster. Will Congress have to authorize extra spending to deal with the disaster? I hope so.
I feel sorry for the victims of this terrible natural disaster. Unfortunately, tragedy and disaster seem to become more and more common as the days go by. The devastation of the tornado in Oklahoma is shocking and I hope relief efforts go well. I wouldn't say I'm excited to see the differences between how the administrations handle the problem because this is not some reality show on television. I only hope that the people can be helped.
Thankfully, some people are handling out support. The community is giving its support to the unfortunate victims of this tragedy.
Sam mentioned that there is not an abundance of information regarding the tornado in comparison to other disasters. I'm sure the officials are just still looking for more information about the incidence so the accuracy of their data is confirmed before they report it. Society puts value on deaths that interest them. For example, a man who dies of a shark attack is more likely to make the news than a man who just died on natural causes.
Overall, I hope Congress can quickly and effectively contain this disaster without any hassle. It would be beneficial if they did not squabble over the costs and such issues.
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