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The Gulf

It has widened.

I look at the images on TV, the internet, and the newspaper of the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, and I am struck by how fragile all of us truly are. The thing that angers me and saddens me the most is those who can least afford the destruction are the very ones who are suffering the most. I read a story of elderly residents in a boarding house, trapped and drowned. I saw a picture of a person handing a three-month-old baby to a rescuer in a boat. They spent the night on their roof.

I think of the people in the Superdome, who are only there because they had no place else to go. The conditions inside the Superdome have deteriorated with no end in sight.

My prayers go out to the people in the Gulf coast states. Please, if you have family or friends affected by Katrina, post a comment to let me (and others) know.

7 comments to The Gulf

  • The fragilness of all of us is much on my mind. Prayers for everyone who has suffered from this. When we attend the funeral (described in my blog) this week in New Mexico it will be the first time I have ever been away from my youngest for a night. I’m sure she will be fine. I’ll probably have a harder time. Events like this hurricane make me just want to hug my children tighter.

  • Kelly

    A friend from work has a 96yr old aunt who decided to stay in New Orleans and had to climb to her roof to get out!! That is resilience!! I am saying a prayer for her family and all those affected!!

  • Are these disasters becoming more frequent, is the news coverage becoming more and more intense, or am I just noticing more? Makes me feel like my selfish little day of self-pity was just that: absolutely pitiful, and without an ounce of compassion.

  • Heartbreaking…my prayers go out to all those affected.

  • This is a letter from a friend of a person in our church. Oh my…

    Hi yall,
    I just wanted to update you since I’m still in Louisiana. I’ll start by
    letting you know that my family and I are safe. Early Sunday morning,
    my parents, my grandfather, and I evacuated our homes and have
    temporarily moved into my sister’s one bedroom apartment in Baton Rouge.
    After a brief outage yesterday, we have power now, and we’re doing
    fine.

    As far as New Orleans is concerned, it is complete devastation. It’s
    difficult for me to describe the entirety of the destruction. You’ve
    probably seen some of the footage on the cable news stations, but
    initially they were painting a very distorted picture. Because most
    non-locals think that the New Orleans proper only includes the French
    Quarter and the downtown area, the national news stations made it sound
    like the city was spared yesterday. The reality is that more than 80%
    of the city is under water. Not only is downtown and the Quarter now
    experiencing flooding, but every single residential neighborhood is also
    flooded. The levees broke in several places, and the abnormally high
    water levels in Lake Pontchartrain are essentially emptying into the
    city. There is no escaping the water. Imagine this: there are no more
    schools, no shops, no commerce, no office buildings, no air
    conditioning, no running water, no electricity, no medical care, no
    food, and no means of communication. Martial law has been declared in
    the city; this means that anyone still in New Orleans no longer has any
    civil rights. There are spontaneous fires across the city from broken
    natural gas lines, and the threat of widespread disease. There is
    widespread looting and it is absolutely disgusting at a time like this,
    yet not surprising. You understand what I mean if you’ve spent any time
    in New Orleans’ different neighborhoods.

    As I write this, the flooding is getting worse. The few people who
    remain in the Superdome and in hotels are slowly becoming trapped as
    water levels rise. Desperately ill hospital patients are being
    transferred out of the city, but many are dying in the process. The
    human cost is overwhelming, and there is absolutely no way to know when
    we will be able to return or if we even have a home to return to. The
    entire metropolitan area, encompassing dozens of parishes, is completely
    paralyzed. You should feel fortunate if you’ve ever had the opportunity
    to visit New Orleans at any point in your life, because you may no
    longer have that opportunity anymore. I am not trying to sensationalize
    this, but New Orleans, as it formerly appeared, may no longer exist.
    Please pass this information on to everyone you can. It is important to
    get the word out because New Orleanians are going to need every ounce of
    help they can get in the coming weeks, months, and years. If you are
    interested in helping now, they have been publiczing here in Baton Rouge
    that you can call 1-800-HELP NOW. At the least, please pray for
    everyone who has been affected recently.

    If yall have any questions, I can try to answer them based on the
    information we’re getting from the local TV stations here (which has
    been doing a much better job of covering specific info). I’m not sure
    when I’ll be back at school, but it looks like my parents will be
    driving me back to Lexington since they can’t return home and are
    essentially refugees. Hopefully, I’ll be back by the weekend. I’ll see
    yall soon.
    Amy

  • mopsy

    It is one thing to see the images on the news, but another to read the words of someone affected. Thanks, Vashti, for passing Amy’s email along.

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