Katrina the Ill Wind

What a sad thing it has been to watch the details of hurricane Katrina unfold. It has presented so much devastation and loss, as well as, so much opportunity and support. The loss of life was great as was the physical damage done to property. Who to help first and how to help was a major concern. Who is responsible for dealing with this tragedy and who should be held responsible for all the loss? And finally, how do we prevent this happening again in the future? I do not claim to know the answers to these questions, but I do have some thoughts. The devastations and loss is most apparent and known by most all. The gulf coast was left in little more than a heap of lumber and debris, which was what once constituted life for so many. Loss of life and material holdings are beyond reasonable grasp when viewed collectively. The wind literally removed so many communities and towns as did the storm surge. The flooding left death and disorder in so many other communities and cities that it took on a war-torn eeriness. Watching live reports and radar images on television left me with a view of humanity being fed into a giant meat grinder. So big and so fast was the carnage that little was left, save prayer. Along the gulf coast, Mississippi appeared to have taken the brunt of the storm. Wind and water damage was so immense and widespread that, “where to start,” was a real concern. New Orleans, Louisiana being to the west of the hurricanes eye was in a better situation for survival than was most other areas affected. They had been spared the focus of the storm, but the storm itself was not all that would affect them directly.

As hurricane Katrina came into being, it crossed the Florida peninsula as either a category 1 or 2 if I recall correctly. It blew a little and dropped some rain, and heading on into the gulf in a weakened state, causing little concern for the rest of the gulf coast region. Over the next 24 hrs, it quickly grew into a category 5 hurricane, which many feared would approach levels of damage as compared to hurricane Camille. As it turned out, Katrina has replaced Camille as the evil overlord of storms, and will be the storm of comparison for future hurricanes, hopefully not to be outdone.