No New Orleans

I guess since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, we've become desensitized to lower levels of natural disasters in cities.

Or maybe we only care when it looks like you can make a sexy political story out of it.

Last weekend it began raining in Nashville, TN and it didn't stop. More than 13 inches fell in 2 days. That's about 30% of Nashville's annual rain fall in 48 hours. The great city of Nashville sits on the banks of the Cumberland river and the river rose and flooded a lot of downtown Nashville.

Additionally, the Army Corps of Engineers was forced to release water from 2 dams and this water flooded other areas of the already super-soaked city. There were 20+ deaths in Middle TN (which doesn't only include Nashville), many families have lost everything as the vast majority didn't have flood insurance. The city is reporting over $1 Billion in damage.

One might think the national media would have jumped on this. Another major natural disaster in a large city (Nashville has a larger population than Atlanta, and ranks as one of the biggest Southern cities) with almost no recognition from the outside world.

You'd be very wrong if you thought that. Sadly wrong, even.

I don't expect national coverage to the extent that New Orleans recieved in 2005. For one, this flood wasn't that big or wide-reaching and for two, there were many other things at play outside of a city being completely under water. I don't want to get into a situation where we compare this to what happened in New Orleans in 2005, because for the most part they're not comparable.

But the question remains -- who's going to Volunteer for the Volunteer state?

Ironically, apparently only the state itself. All the stories you hear now are about neighbors helping neighbors. Which is great. And the state is recieving federal funding. The President called the Governor and the both agreed his presence, with all that is required, would take away from the relief efforts, for now.

But where's the national media coverage? Nashville could use the help of every state in the union, not just every city in the state.

On a larger note, I think the media ignores the South (except for Atlanta) all the time. I think that point has been proven in light of this.

If you go to CNN.com now and search Nashville, all sorts of videos will pop up. But those videos we distinctly remember of Anderson Cooper in New Orleans as the city flooded, CNN doesn't have because they, like their other major outlet counterparts (and I don't mean to make it look like only CNN ignored this for almost a week) didn't pay much more than a footnotes' worth of attention until now.

I'm sure someone will say, and rightfully so, they're there now. Yes. They are (interviewing mostly country stars who have been effected -- thank God for Kenny Chesney who pointed out that he will be able to replace things, while other families will not). Nashville will come back, it will be fine and that will happen regardless of whether or not major media outlets notice. I'm just put off by what it means when newsworthy things are happening and no one cares.