A prayer for the flood victims of the Midwest

Obviously, to the extent we can help immediately, we will help. You’ll come back better….Sometimes it’s hard to see it.

This is the cold comfort President George W. Bush gave yesterday to the residents of Iowa and other states in the Midwest who have been devastated by tornadoes and torrential rains over the past week.

He was obviously trying to compensate for failing so notoriously as comforter in chief in the wake of Hurricane Katrina three years ago. Nevertheless, Bush deserves credit for providing a little hope to all whose homes and personal effects have been washed away.

To date, 24 people have been killed, tens of thousands across six states have been forced from their homes and millions of acres in farm land have been destroyed. But the rest of us should be mindful that the impact these floods will have on the price of everything from beef to breakfast cereal will make $5 gasoline seem cheap.

I’m constrained to note, however, that – with so many roads, levees and bridges crumbling under pressure – it seems much of America’s infrastructure was built like a house of cards.

Meanwhile, things are bound to get worse. Because U.S. government climatologists joined experts from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change yesterday in predicting that:

The frequency of heavy precipitation events (or proportion of total rainfall from heavy falls) will very likely increase over most areas during the 21st century, with consequences to the risk of rain-generated floods.

God help the people of the Midwest….

Related Articles:
Katrina medals of dishonor
President Bush Katrina cheerleader in chief
Bush’s new deal for New Orleans
Flogging Katrina…

Iowa Midwest floods