Tam, from 'View from the Porch' had this one. Political calculus: On Friday, Harry Reid said "When we had that devastating Katrina, we were there within days taking care of Mississippi, Alabama, and especially Louisiana. Within days," Reid said. "We are now past two months with the people of New York. And the people of New Orleans and that area - they were hurt, but nothing in comparison to what has happened to the people of New England." ...which is funny, because all I remember Democrats talking about back then was how slow the response was because George Bush hates black people. But that's not the important point, here. The important point is that now we know that in the Inside-The-Beltway mind, Sandy was far more devastating than Katrina, despite the latter killing 1833* to the former's 113. This provides us a handy metric for future use: If you live in flyover country, you're right around 1/16th of a real person to the bicoastal power elite.