Hurricane Katrina

Everyone knows about the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. We have all heard that it is probably the worst natural disaster to hit the United States. So how does it affect me, a Minnesotan...

First off, it hits me emotionally. Seeing these places just torn apart, 90% of come cities are destroyed, is just heart wrenching. To hear about the conditions in the Superdome where originally 10,000 people were staying to 30,000+ people that have been rescued and brought there; and now they have to get them out. To know that (years ago we drove from Texas to Florida and) I may have driven on some of these roads and past some of these areas that are just wiped out.

Second, it hits people I know even harder. My friend Tonya used to live in New Orleans. Her mother, father, sister and brother-in-law still do. Thankfully her Mom and Sister went to Alabama with her sister's pets and her father went somewhere else. Only her brother-in-law stayed back to due his duty as a firefighter. But they don't know what they will be coming back to. And my friends on Scrapshare who live in the area or have close family/friends that do, that are just agonizing over what has become of their cities and towns.

Last, it is going to have effects we do not even know about. The first was gas prices going up. One-fourth of all of the US oil is "farmed" in the gulf regions. This has already caused gas prices to get close to $3.00. I went and got gas Monday night and a lot of people were trying to get ahead of the rise. Plus, I heard today that some crops, that are grown there, were of course wiped out. And economically, who knows what this will do. Will people lose their jobs because their businesses were wiped out or will their be more jobs for those in areas like construction to help rebuild? I heard that gambling is a big industry down there with their floating casinos, and most - if not all - were wiped out. Will people ever visit New Orleans like they used to.. will it still be the Big Easy? Or will people just not come.

I stayed up later then I planned to last night watching some of the coverage. It just tugs at me, more then any disaster ever has. I only hope and pray that people will get back to their version of normal more sooner then later.

Here is a pic from www.wcco.com showing the flooding in New Orleans:

I think I will go give blood to help.
For those of you dealing with this yourself, I am sorry.

C-Ya!