The Rochester Post Bulletin and the Winona Daily News both have run editorials today praising the response of state and local officials to August's deluge in Southern Minnesota.
The Post Bulletin writes in Leaders are standing tall in time of crisis:
It's unfair to compare the Katrina disaster, which occurred two years ago, to the flooding in southeastern Minnesota.
Katrina was the most devestating storm to hit our country in recorded history, while last month's flood was contained to a much smaller area and affected far fewer people.
Nonetheless, southeastern Minnesota should feel fortunate that state and local officials -- unlike those along the Gulf Coast in 2005 -- appear to have done nearly everything right in the aftermath of the storm.
Led by Gov. Tim Pawlenty, government officials in our state have acted quickly to get flood victims the help they so desperately need. . . .
. . .Gov. Pawlenty, Rep. Tim Walz and Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Norm Coleman visited the flooded areas within hours after the rains stopped. Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff was also in the region. . . .
Yesterday's paper featured two articles about Walz's response: Flood dominates Walz's focus and Walz helps constituents weather the storm. Judging from some of the comments, Rochester area Republicans can't stand seeing any good press about Walz.
In the Winona Daily News, another editorial pats state and local leaders on the back in Elected leaders deserve thanks for service. Speaking for the board, the online editor writes:
. . . Over the past two weeks, Pawlenty was hardly alone, making his way through the mud and debris.
Sens. Coleman and Klobuchar, Rep. Tim Walz, state representatives Pelowski, Drazkowski and Tschumper and state senators Murphy and Ropes, local mayors, council members and county commissioners have spent untallied hours with flood victims on the phone and face-to-face meetings to cope with the immediate crisis and plan for the rebuilding that has only begun.
We’ve heard the dismissive comments, “That’s supposed to be their job,” “That’s what we elected them for,” “It’s about time they got off their dead backsides and did something,” “ ... just running for re-election � ”
And while it’s hard to find folks more jaded about politicians than journalists, all we can say is, in this case, they’re cheap shots, unfair and just plain wrong. Disasters of this magnitude humble the best efforts of individuals; only government can marshal, organize and allocate our collective resources and the burden of that task falls on the men and women who have been elected to make the decisions that will guide the recovery.
We know that those decisions won’t suit everyone, and that in a time of crisis, nothing seems to be enough or go fast enough. But we’d be hard pressed to fault any for a lack of effort, a lack of dedication or a lack of personal compassion.
We’d like to take a moment to thank them all. Through their effort, they’ve earned our respect and gratitude.
Meanwhile, there are a couple of good articles that bring home the power of the flood. In the WDN, we read Labor Day no vacation for some: Many around area busy cleaning up from floods. Remember the picture of the house swept onto the railroad tracks? The PB reports on its end in Demolition ends what flood began. The Strib tells one family's story in After the flood ... Where to begin?
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