Russia's Katrina. Pakistan's Katrina.

And yet, the politicians don't care. Which is what happens in societies that are not quite democratic.
First, the unfolding crisis in Pakistan--massive flooding.  How massive?  About 14 million people affected.

Twelve million are affected in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces, while a further two million are affected in Sindh.
In Indian-administered Kashmir, at least 113 people died in mudslides.
Meanwhile, it has emerged that a charity connected to a group with alleged al-Qaeda links has been providing flood relief.
Flooding has submerged whole villages in the past week, killing at least 1,600 people, according to the UN.
And the worst floods to hit the region in 80 years could get worse, as it is only midway through monsoon season.

The number of affected will rise a lot more.  A couple of days ago, when this started. BBC reported that a million people were affected. Then it became three, then four, then eleven, and now up to fourteen million.
In a truly democratic society, the country's top leaders will be compelled to show up at the affected areas.  Pakistan's president, Zardari, is in the UK.  And this was after the British prime minister openly dissing Pakistan, while on a state visit to neighboring India!

Meanwhile, Russia is on fire.  At least, it seems that way, and apparently smoke from there has even drifted all the way to here in Oregon!  Over at the New Yorker, Julia Ioffe writes:

This ongoing disaster should be Putin’s Katrina, but instead the vast majority sees him as a benevolent father who can magically help them

Why does she say so?  Read on:

Villagers received no fire warnings. When the fires started approaching, some had trouble reaching the local authorities. Others begged for buses to help evacuate their villages, were told to fend for themselves. Fire trucks didn’t come, either, and then their homes, made of wood, were gone in minutes. The forestry minister, meanwhile, is on his August vacation, and has no plans to cut it short.

The government’s response has been a disaster, and the people are blaming their local officials—but not the very top. When a mob of irate women descended on Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, they weren’t mad at him; they were demanding that he, as one woman put it, “string [local officials] up by the balls.”

Boy, this Vlad "the impaler" Putin has quite a hold on Russia, it seems.  But, you think maybe it is not fair to include Putin in the list of officials who need to be strung by their cojones!  Not so fast:

In 2006, then-President Putin, in consultation with the Russian timber industry, “reformed” forestry regulations, eliminating positions for rangers, making each of the remaining ones responsible for more territory, increasing paperwork so they spent hardly any time outdoors monitoring the forests—and, on the off chance that they did spot a small fire while on patrol, making it a punishable offense (a misuse of state funds) to put it out. The organization charged with extinguishing fires was the Ministry of Emergency Situations, which responded speedily and capably to the Moscow Metro bombings in March, but a 2005 reform instituted by Putin left regional emergency outfits severely underfunded.

So, what is going for this former KGB officer?  Ioffe explains:

Except for the minority who read news in papers or online, Russians would never know that shoddy, nonsensical, industry-friendly deregulation was responsible for this natural disaster as much as the weather. Instead, the vast majority get their news from television, which has been broadcasting pictures of Putin, sleeves rolled up, touring the destruction. In a particularly fine touch, the main Russian television channel broadcast a “phone call” from Putin, ostensibly on his cell phone in the middle of a pristine birch grove, to President Dmitry Medvedev, back in his ornate Kremlin office. The message was clear: Putin was in charge, and this reassured the people who had lost homes to the fires he helped cause. “Putin said they’ll build us all new houses, so it will probably happen,” one villager told the Independent.

Well, I hope the millions in Pakistan and Russia are able to get over the rain and fire with as little damage as possible to life and property.  And, after things settle down, I hope they boot out all the dirty, rotten scoundrels.  And then we will do the same here in America!  All those people claiming cojones, better watch out ...