Hurricane Katrina

I'm kind of at a loss as to what to say or do at this point, and I don't know where to start. We've made a donation through Lowe's (because - at least locally - they have said that they will double the amount everyone gives for the hurricane victims) and prayed for the sake of the people who have lost so much and in many cases everything. Other than that, I don't think we're in a position to do anything else useful at this point. Maybe in a few weeks or months, there will be something else to do. As I've said a hundred times since Monday, it's a mess.

At the same time, I know most, if not everyone, living in my area are supremely glad that Katrina didn't come here in a self-centered way that is very human. As someone who lives in constant awareness that hurricane season comes every year without fail on June 1st and lasts until the 1st of December, I know how terrible and frightening it is to watch the storm intensifying over warm waters and creep closer and closer to where I live, knowing how bad it will be if it does hit, and all the while praying that it will turn... We've been extremely lucky this season. But with every storm, I know it has to hit somewhere, it's the nature of the beast, and someone somewhere will have to suffer it's fury. It could have been much worse for those in Katrina's path, but it could have been less severe too... if the mandatory evacuations had started earlier, if hospitals had evacuated their critical patients early on, if the levees had been just a little higher (something that was recommended, but wasn't done because of cost), if communities hardlined the developers and refused to distroy wetlands and build in unwise locations... So much could have been done to lessen the damage from this storm to human life and property. I just hope (in additon to hoping that help comes quickly to those who need it) that, with the mosquito population likely to skyrocket out of control at least for a short period of time and so many people with no where decent to live, West Nile Fever doesn't move into the area or hasn't already, and that everyone who is stuck in the effected areas for the time being are smart enough not to drink contaminated water, even if it isn't stagnant.

And on that very unpleasant thought, that's the end of this blog entry...