Agreed. The on the ground stories which include a government helicopter deliberately trashing a parking lot covered with relief supplies greatly outnumber any specific stories about people being rescued.

I buried my lede.

The biggest facts about this disaster and any "relief" are:

1) Even if FEMA were sublimely competent at projecting effective disaster relief and rescue, the overall problem of helping this area would be extraordinarily complex, difficult and costly. I could see it costing many billions to clean up the region. With a "GOOD" FEMA.

Fixing this area so it is habitable and traversable seems about as plausible as a manned mission to Jupiter next year.

2) The region of about 4000 square miles or so has been reduced to a physical state WORSE than pre-settlement. Before European settlers arrived en masse in the 1800s, the area was probably FAR safer to travel and EASIER to build than today. Today you have: miles of disturbed soil/mud; buildings ready to collapse at any time; thousands (likely) of dead rotting bodies; now useless and hazardous infrastructure such as the interstate, highways and roads, etc; HAZMAT hazards. Plus probably thousands of stranded individuals who are exposed to the elements.

I don't see how the region can be cleanly "rebuilt". There are no actual assets there. Everything man made that was washed away in the flood is a liability and not an asset.

Ground up building from worse than scratch.