"This is our version of Katrina." That's what Johnson County Emergency Management spokesman Mike Sullivan told the Chicago Tribune.
Mike Sullivan should be ashamed.
As a transplant from Mississippi, I've known both natural disasters intimately. In both, water rose, ravaged. People were affected. That's where the comparison ends.
For Hurricane Katrina, the death toll is still unknown. Sourcewatch.org argues that, because of the disaster's lasting effects, it's still rising. Some counts put it higher than 4,000.
And how many people have died in Johnson County?
No doubt exists whether this flood has been catastrophic, has changed lives, has altered our view of the world. I was there with you all. I sandbagged, worried, evacuated my own newsroom by hand in the pitch black when electricity was cut. I cried as I read stories from our newspaper and others. I prayed for those affected. I'm still waiting for the water to recede, and I hope just as much that the damage is minimal.
Meanwhile, for those of you who weren't there, I'd like to tell you a little about Katrina: