As far as looting – I’m not sure how much looting goes on where so many homeowners tend to be armed – hunters, or otherwise; and where the law is taking their job seriously.

Having family members who have done reconstruction/repair work for phone and power utilities all their adult lives, the folks in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi tended to treat the compassionate utility crews better then they were treated the minute they hit the Louisiana line. Folks here cooked for them, brought them refreshments, thanked them. Then in LA, they had to be escorted by law enforcement or military units to get their job done.

Please remember, it’s going to take time and patience to get everything back on, in working order. But they are doing the best they can and don’t get in their way.

Also, a clean garden sprayer filled with rainwater, or clean water of any kind, makes a terrific shower – rather than no shower; and misting water onto the bed at night makes it feel cooler for a little while. God bless and keep y’all safe in your hour of need.

A die-hard Florida Cracker.

The people of Nashville acted admirably. They deserve to be lauded. But don’t do it with some self-righteous smugness that has no basis in reality.

And that should be a criminal offense, IMHO.

To preface my comments, I live about two hours away from Nashville, and have a lot of family in the Nashville area. I love the city and the people. And kept close tabs with what was going via my Nashville friends’ and relatives’ emails and and Facebook updates. I’m very sympathetic and my point is not to diminish the impact of the flood.

But…

To even brush up against comparing it to Katrina is ludicrous. Nearly 1600 people lost their lives in Louisiana alone… nearly 2000 all told. The death toll for the flood was 31. Virtually all of New Orleans was without water and power, and the lower ninth ward was all but destroyed.

The petulant and self-righteous Rush Limbaugh-like tone of this column does more disservice to the citizens of Nashville than it does to anyone. My friends and family in Nashville handled themselves with dignity, aplomb, and good humor throughout this ordeal. The author’s classless sniping and whining and sanctimonious chest-thumping is his own.

However, because I have family there, I was greatly interested in following the flood story everyday. I never had much of a problem seeing it on the local news for a few days after it started. A couple of national news stations also made updates. And the Internet was full of pictures and stories.

Perhaps, not as much as I would have liked to see, but it was out there.

Keep in mind, power outages prevent many from Nashville from seeing the news while others in the country tuned in daily for updates. Flooding also prevent certain types of interviews and even access.

Again, I still would have loved to see a lot more coverage, but it wasn’t totally ignored.

Churches all across the nation still have prayer groups and relief programs active.

May God bless the whole state.

Your friend,

Steven