New Orleans Vs Mumbai

I recently received a forwarded email from a fellow Indian friend. I must admit that at the first glance it made a pretty interesting reading. but a little critical analysis showed that it was one of those mails that was supposed to tell everyone that Indians are the best in the world ...

Inches of rain in New Orleans due to Hurricane Katrina....18.
Inches of rain in Mumbai ........................................................37.1

>> Rain wrecked havoc in Mumbai, but in New Orleans it was high winds, reaching 184 mph (281kmph), more than the rain. We also ignore the fact that even with low rains, a low lying New Orleans which is actually ~6 ft under sea level would naturally be worse-hit compared to Mumbai, which for most part is 30 to 50 ft above sea level. Please read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina to know more about the hurricane.

Population of New Orleans ................................... 484, 674
Population of Mumbai ........................................... 12, 622, 500

>> I don't see any correlation between population of the city and the magnitude of the tragedy.

Deaths in New Orleans within 48 hours of Katrina ............... 100
Deaths in Mumbai within 48 hours of rain .............................. 37

>> This is shooting in the dark. Even now no one really knows how many people died in Katrina, but the latest figures are ~900. How could someone figure out 100 died within 48 hours of Katrina is a mystery to me. And in India, we know the official toll is always grossly under-reported. However look at this - the toll in Mumbai was 1000+.
http://in.rediff.com/news/2005/aug/03rain3.htm

However, if you want to look at gross figures, compared to ~900 dead in New Orleans, within about 15 days, about 140 people had died in Mumbai and Thane because of rain-related ailments. (There goes the argument about good management by government).

Number of people to be evacuated in New Orleans ......... Entire City
Number of people evacuated in Mumbai ............................ 10,000

>> Well, an entire city needs to be evacuated if it lies under sea level, and if the water would not go for the next 3 months and when most of the city's structures have been destroyed. This just proves the gross magnitude of the tragedy. Would Mumbai have survived a flooding for 3 months? Besides, even if 10,000 were evacuated in Mumbai, 90,000 were evacuated in

Cases of shooting in New Orleans ........................... Countless
Cases of shooting in Mumbai ................................... None

>> I dont know much to comment on this. Mumbai DOES stand out on this point. Americans aren't used to despair as Indians are. Isolation, hunger, desperation and fear of death can drive them to insanity faster than Indians.

Status 48 hours later ....... New Orleans is still waiting for relief, army and electricity.
Status 48 hours later ........ Mumbai is back on its feet and is business as usual.

>> Those who think Mumbai is Business as usual would do well to read these links
http://in.rediff.com/news/mumrain05.htm. A tragedy of 1000+ lives and 5000 crores worth of loss can never mean business as usual in 2 days.

I am surprised how people can make comparisons at human tragedies and engage in a game of one-upmanship. They are so hungry for heroes that they would not stop at anything.

At least dont forward such mails - they make Indians look like a bunch of mean, selfish and heartless guys.

Yes, one thing that pinched me is that the US contributed only $100,000 towards relief in Mumbai. But then Indians contributed nothing towards Katrina (not that I know of). I would like to read some citation if India contributed something.