>>With so many hurricanes this year, it may be that the foreign news orgs didn't pick up how bad it was. But I don't know.

I think that is part of the problem. We all heard that Katrina shifted course at the last minute, heaved a huge sigh of relief, and stopped worrying. It was at least a day before I realized that very bad things had happened in New Orleans despite the course change.

M60ti, VP180, QS8, M2ti, EP500, PC-Plus 20-39
M5HP, M40ti, Sierra-1
LFR1100 active, ADA1500-4 and -8