Furniture and Decorating Often Has to Take Second Seat to Natural Disasters
All of the work that you have done selecting lighting, mission style living room furniture, table lamps, and other accessories appears to have been for nothing. As the flood waters continue to rise it is becoming increasingly likely that all of the things in your home will be under water. You have attempted to move what you can, but with a limited number of roads open to allow you to relocate it looks like you will have to evacuate.
As families across the Midwest deal with a flooding event that materialized in a matter of days, there are many who are struggling. And while furnishings are not everything, it is difficult for people to imagine returning to a home where the lighting will no longer work and all of their possessions will be ruined. Locations that have never seem flooding before may not have had flood insurance and the nation as a whole looks at a major weather event that will cost the local communities millions of dollars.
Major Weather Events Continue to Create Devastating Situations for Individual Families and Entire Communities
Many people may question why the national media covering what has unfolded this week in Nebraska matters. Research indicate, however, that without national coverage there are challenges to getting the kind of help that is needed. have done some research, and here are a few reasons it really matters. For instance, when national media reports are merely a regurgitation of a single story that keeps getting passed around from agency to agency it is impossible to show the real devastation. A single story that has been taken from various local sources and tweets from Omaha Scanner, and the Nebraska Governor and a single tweet from the President may not be sufficient to getting the aid that will be needed. Without boots on the ground in a place like Nebraska, for instance, there is a fear that the rest of the nation will not understand its latest plight.
Although the midwest may be a significant part of the furniture and food industry of the country, in many ways this is a part of the country that has always felt a bias from the west coast and east coast media. Now that 59 of 93 counties in a state that is only 400 by 200 miles are under water, however, residents want the nation to think about more than the food they provide and furniture that they sell. Towns are islands. If this was happening in NYC or LA we would be inundated around the clock from all directions. The bias feeds the perception that this is a part of the nation that is are ignored and does not matter. This feeds the next national elections, and a feeling of isolation.
Local news reporting about lighting and furniture and the farm economy is important, but the need for reporting on natural disasters is vital. Local news can report devastation caused by weather, but they are typically only reporting the minute by minute and emergency operations. They do not have the time to push the governor, the President, and others on the issues of climate change and its impact on the Midwest.
Well financed national media has access to ask the big questions that need to be asked, and to bring in scientific data and help provide context to the issues. Real problems often do not get solved if a national media publication or TV does not cover and represent the whole country. It is these media groups that are there to ask the questions about what happens next once the waters recede after a flood. Will FEMA be available to help? Will funds be provided to rebuild? Why is the infrastructure at such risk? These platforms can also promote engaging national conversations about infrastructure issues.
Once the big problems are solved, individual home owners can get back to making decisions about lighting and other decorating purchases. Until then, it is difficult for home owners to see past the immediate need that devastating floods and other major weather events can cause.