Rita and Katrina: You’ve officially jumped the shark.

Take a moment to peruse today’s front pages from around the country. By and large, most papers have stopped going high with pictures from Mother Nature’s evil twin sisters: Rita and Katrina. Obviously, this isn’t much of a surprise: The news cycle is notorious for its short attention span. But the bigger question is this: As local, state and federal governments tackle the enormously important reconstruction tasks, what kind of play will those efforts receive? Will the fascinating (and ongoing) sociological issues emerging from these tragedies get the attention they deserve? Will Americans care enough to read them?

Of course, it won’t be long before our front pages are water-soaked with hurricane coverage all over again.

In the meantime, expect these pictures to soon dominate coverage.