Bringing It Home

As we watch the devastation brought on by Hurricane Katrina, it’s easy for those of us with no clise ties to distance ourselves as much as many Americans were able to distance ourselves from the devastation of the tsunamis earlier this year.  We have to do it as a mental defense mechanism.  We watch CNN and see thousands huddling together in the Superdome and it’s all okay.  They’re safe.  We see buildings toppled and cars crushed by the debri and it’s all okay. Those are just things – they can be replaced.  We hear about water from Lake Pontchartrain pouring back into the city after a two-block-long breech in a levee and that’s not a problem.  Everyone has been evacuated, right?  Wrong.

If you peruse the streaming video from CNN, you’ll see the following:

Screams for Help:  Jeanne Meserve gives an emotional account of the devastation in New Orleans. The reporter tells of hearing “people yelling for help. You can hear the dogs yelping. All of them stranded.” as she and the rescue crew she was with left the area last night when it became too dangerous to continue to rescue efforts.

Heartache for Hurricane Victim: A teary-eyed, decimated man describes how his house was split in two by raging flood waters as he and his family clung desperately to the roof. As he tried to hold onto his wife, she told him, “You can’t hold me. Take care of the kids.”  Even the reporter was affected.

I can’t begin to imagine what these people are going through.

If your family is still together, safe and dry, take a moment to tell them you love them.

And to all you people looting in the affected areas – you bad, bad people. I hope that “free” stereo equipment blows up in your face. And if you’re stealing food to survive – chances are it’s probably not safe to consume so just wait in line like everyone else and let the Red Cross and other agencies take care of it.