is katrina for the united states what chernobyl was for the soviet union?

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― sdfsdf, Sunday, 4 September 2005 11:48 (twenty years ago)

Given that a large area around Chernobyl is still uninhabitable 20 years later, and likely to remain so for a long time: no.

― Forest Pines (ForestPines), Sunday, 4 September 2005 11:51 (twenty years ago)

No, I've heard it was the tsunami -- no, wait, Hiroshima -- no wait, 1970 cyclone in Bangladesh!

― Ian Riese-Moraine: Let this bastard out, and you'll get whiplash! (Eastern Mantr, Sunday, 4 September 2005 12:56 (twenty years ago)

Ian OTM, the need to quantify a disaster in terms of other disasters is rather icky

― Banana Nutrament (ghostface), Sunday, 4 September 2005 13:01 (twenty years ago)

Also, the media response is completely different -- in that the Soviets stonewalled for days even admitting anything had happened in the slightest. Katrina was rather hard not to notice in comparison.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 4 September 2005 13:03 (twenty years ago)

katrina is our katrina. end of discussion.

― renegade bus (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 4 September 2005 13:05 (twenty years ago)

It is America's 9/11.

― Frogm@n Henry, Sunday, 4 September 2005 13:27 (twenty years ago)

It is America's Iraq.

― scott seward (scott seward), Sunday, 4 September 2005 13:31 (twenty years ago)

Ouch! Very true.

― nathalie's pocket revolution (stevie nixed), Sunday, 4 September 2005 13:32 (twenty years ago)

It's America's America.

― Andrew (enneff), Sunday, 4 September 2005 13:56 (twenty years ago)

Also, the media response is completely different -- in that the Soviets stonewalled for days even admitting anything had happened in the slightest. Katrina was rather hard not to notice in comparison.

Yup! Although we can't say the Soviet response is too dissimilar to the reactions of Chertoff and Brown this week.

― Ian Riese-Moraine: Let this bastard out, and you'll get whiplash! (Eastern Mantr, Sunday, 4 September 2005 14:37 (twenty years ago)

Well, if you do want to compare it to something on a similar scale, I would say it's more similar to the earthquakes that rocked Armenia (in the USSR) in 1988. Some even argue that contributed to the eventual downfall of the Soviet Union.

― Jena (JenaP), Sunday, 4 September 2005 14:56 (twenty years ago)

Yup! Although we can't say the Soviet response is too dissimilar to the reactions of Chertoff and Brown this week.

i agree. not to mention that no small number of bushco officials are every bit as thick, venal, and disingenuous as the typical soviet apparatchik.

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Sunday, 4 September 2005 15:04 (twenty years ago)

not to mention that FEMA appears to work w/ all of the efficiency, transparency, and compassion of yer typical soviet bureaucracy.

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Sunday, 4 September 2005 15:41 (twenty years ago)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4216102.stm

― RJG (RJG), Monday, 5 September 2005 23:54 (twenty years ago)

as i recall the chernobyl response was, in sectors that didn't effect the attempt at massive denial, pretty effective. i.e. exactly the opposite -- a great deal was handled, but everybody pretended nothing happened (which led to other stuff not being handled, of course). meanwhile, here nothing was handled but everyone knew it happened.

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Tuesday, 6 September 2005 03:32 (twenty years ago)

someone on a news prog said it was like "hiroshima"...

Hey, good pick!

― mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 6 September 2005 08:33 (twenty years ago)

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