So where did this 90,000 square miles cone from?

[achtung_circus]

It seems excessive. I did some measurements on googleearth and can't get anything close to 90,000.

Is it a way to spread the damage and death, to dilute it?

[Rude Horner]

1. Maybe...

they also measure from the ground up to the top of the atmosphere.

:smoke:

[GreenPartyVoter]

2. *rofl*

------------------------------------------------------
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[ThoughtCriminal]

3. I guess it could be spun

"Not many deaths/acre".

Total area:
Louisiana 51,843 sq mi
Mississippi 48,434 sq mi
Alabama 52,423 sq mi

[karlrschneider]

4. I wish I knew...that's quite a bit bigger than my whole state (Okla)!

:eyes:

[Kali]

5. Hi AC-

:hi:

What are you talking about?

[achtung_circus]

7. Hey Kali

I'm talking about the 90,000 square miles mentioned in regards to Katrina.

Is this total are of affected states?

Is it area where people have died?

Is a large number to make the toll look more spread out?

Is it the total area covered by whatever area of FEMA this is?

Why this number?

I see it cited a lot at FR & MSM.

What are the parameters?

[pitohui]

8. it's the size of the federal disaster area

for instance, lauderdale county, where meridian, mississippi has been declared a federal disaster area because of the severity of the damage there

have you even ever heard of lauderdale county before today if you are not from the region?

this storm was big

[achtung_circus]

9. So it is based on some objective parameter? nt

[pitohui]

10. yes the federal gov't has to agree

you cannot just inform fema you are a federal disaster area

they look it over, assess the amt of damage, & then agree that it is indeed bad enough to warrant federal disaster status

you have to convince the feds that state and local authorities can't afford the costs of recovery

it is not automatic, & i know of cases where federal disaster status has been denied even though state & local officials requested it

[Kali]

11. Guess it got explained...

when you used the word "cone" I got confused.

[pitohui]

6. i drove thru part of the area, sounds abt right to me

i saw wind damage as far north as meridian and jackson, mississippi, some of it severe, cat 2 winds are nothing to play with in an area where you normally would never get a hurricane

you are not even hearing abt the rural areas of mississippi & louisiana where ppl have been without electricity or drinking water for a week or more

there is severe damage on the coast as far east as moss point and pascagoula that i know abt

i don't know the effects in alabama but i've heard they even got damage that far east, maybe even some deaths there

these are not your little ol yankee states like rhode island, these are good-sized states w. severe damage, loss of life & property over a very wide area

there is nothing "dilute" abt not being able to get housing any closer than 400 miles away from where your damaged house is located so you can do the repairs

i do find it a bit suspicious that they are focusing on a strangely low death toll just for orleans parish when there is much loss of life throughout the region, maybe this much is indeed "spin" to dilute what is happening to those unfamiliar w. the region & unaware that several cities, not just one, have been hard hit

but there is no exaggeration that a wide area was hit by this exceptionally large storm