Disaster mythology and availability cascades

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, both public officials and the mainstream media painted a dramatic and deeply disturbing picture of violence and looting in devastated New Orleans. The New Orleans Police Superintendent asserted that "little babies [were] getting raped" in the Superdome, a shelter where hurricane survivors took refuge. super(1) As a guest on the Oprah Winfrey Show, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin reported that Katrina's survivors were sinking into an "almost animalistic slate" after days of "watching hooligans killing people, raping people" super(2).