Catastrophes

Hurricane Katrina has totally taken over my thoughts for the past few days. I was inundated with breaking news from CNN and Fox News every hour on the hour. Updates were coming in so fast at one point I couldn't remember if we wanted to get them out of the city or keep them in. I was like wait, wait... what are we doing over here?

Since I heard the first utterances of this catastrophic storm I've experienced a number of different emotions. I was pondering my emotional/ mental states and I thought it would be a good idea to share, or at least document.

My first response was fear because all I heard was this thing is dangerous so mandatory evacuations were underway? Do I know anyone still in New Orleans? How long is it taking? Why are the highways moving so slow and causing bumper to bumper traffic? The thoughts swirling about were continuous and went from ideas on strategic planning from city officials all the way to wondering what possessions people thought were important enough to pack.

I went to sleep Sunday night with a heavy heart.

Monday morning the hurricane hit. I didn't check the news until early evening... I forgot. All hell broke loose in New Orleans.

Stories were flooding out of the city faster than my simple mind could properly process them. Murders, suicide, fights, rapes ***tears flow as my heart breaks*** babies and children are the victims.

Then the people in the city start to emerge. First it's hundreds then that number multiplies, exponentially. Now I have even more questions. Why didn't they leave? Why didn't the police make them leave? Why didn't the governor provide public transportation in the way of city buses to get the people out?

Before these questions could cross my lips the stories pour in again. There is murder and mayhem in the city. The lawless are looting (whatever!) and innocent, stricken people are being tortured. The police force is skeletal.

Where do we go from here?