Hurricane Katrina: Days After The Disaster...

Victims Await Relief....

When I first watched the national news Monday evening, news correspondents were saying that New Orleans, LA had been hit hard, but missed the bullet, while Biloxi, MS caught the full brunt of the storm. Perhaps, communications weren't good at the time, because by the next morning the news had turned into another direction of stating that conditions had worsened. Areas previously thought okay became flooded as levees broke in New Orleans.

But what really broke my heart was a news report that I saw first thing on Tuesday morning. An older African American man relayed his story to CNN of how his home was ripped in half. He told how he tried to hold on tight to his wife's hand. But she told him that she wasn't going to make it, and for him to take care of their kids and grandkids. Then she was gone. The water took her away. During the interview, the man was holding the hands of two small boys. And he kept saying that he didn't know where he was going or what he was going to do. At that moment, I just wanted to reach out and hug him and his grandkids, brush their tears away, and bring back the man's wife and the kid's grandmother, but I couldn't.

In another story on CNN, a military soldier or national guardsman and a woman worked on the top of a roof to help an elderly man suffering from heart problems and diabetes to get prepared to be hoisted to an awaiting helicopter overhead. Then the camera panned over to other people waiting for help on their roofs.

It hurts right now to even revisit those memory as I type, because there are so many people out there suffering in the same position now. Although I was running late that morning for work, I picked up the phone and called the American Red Cross. I had to wait a while before a Red Cross operator could get to me, which seemed to indicate that many others were donating as well. However, in some way, my donation doesn't feel like it's enough. In addition to praying, I wonder what else we can do to help.

It is now about 72 hours after the hurricane struck, and things are in total chaos. Hurricane victims have lost loved one. They lost all of their possessions and homes. And many don't have a job to report to anymore, because businesses and other places of employment were badly damaged as well. Victims haven't had power in days. They haven't had a shower and don't have clean clothes. Babies don't have clean diapers. Folks are still standing on roofs waiting for evacuations. Many victims wonder what the next day will bring them. And overall, things look pretty grim. Nevertheless, I'm going to keep the victims in my prayers, because God is good.

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If We Come Together, We Can Make A Big Difference...




Hurricane Katrina Relief Organizations:

American Red Cross

Habitat for Humanity

Network for Good

Salvation Army

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Song of the Day:

"Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" by Marvin Gaye