Flooding In The Midwest Continues...So Where Are The Celebrities?
On Saturday morning, yet another town in northeastern Missouri was inundated by the ever-advancing floodwaters from the Mississippi River. The small town of Winfield, Missouri, was the latest casualty in the fight against the flood, with its makeshift sandbag levee failing in the early morning hours.
To date, countless small towns, hamlets, roads, and homes have been overtaken or somehow damaged by the Flood of 'o8, with damages reported in the billions of dollars, while recovery estimates are calculated from months to years. The states of Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana have all been hit in some way since March with floodwaters and residual effects of too much snow, too much rain, and not enough riverbed to hold it all.
So far, there are twenty-four people reported dead and 150 injured. Tens of thousands of Midwestern folks have been displaced, living anywhere from the houses of friends and relatives to motels to Red Cross shelters to their own rooftops. Millions of sandbags have been filled by town residents and volunteers from several states away to shore up existing levees and create new, temporary ones. I can't possibly link to all the sites with stories about the floodwaters and the people trying to survive.
However, there is a question I would like to ask:
Where are the celebrities?
Granted, there are many agencies collecting donations for people affected by this flood. You can always donate to agencies such as the United Way, Red Cross, Salvation Army, or the Humane Society.  Companies such as Kohl's, PetSmart, Lowe's, Wal-Mart, and countless churches, banks, volunteer organizations, grassroots movements, and individuals are donating funds, supplies, and manpower to help those affected. Even FEMA, that much-maligned federal organization, has set up a web-based system called The National Donations Management Network. You can also visit the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster site. But all these are headed or organized by ordinary people, or those working for the government...not anyone who is a celebrity, in the showbiz sense of the word.
During the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, an admittedly horrific and devastating natural disaster, you couldn't swing a sandbag without hitting a celebrity, a news anchor, or a cameraman. Reporting from places hit by Katrina was ongoing and heavy. Celebs came out in full force to both try to offer help and condemn those who they felt were not responding in the appropriate manner. Well, according to at least one agency, the Midwest has been hit by smaller versions of the same sort of disaster:
Elcano said the Red Cross also learned that Iowa’s flooding is much larger than it was in 1993. Couple Iowa’s disasters (including tornadoes) with others in the Midwest and the organization is offering assistance at numerous “mini Katrinas.†Continued on the next page
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