Just looking over the hundreds of pictures taken of the hard-hit communities of New Orleans, Biloxi MS and Mobile AL still gives me frights. Expressways are completely submerged, houses and trees from a birds-eye-view look like boats surrounded by seaweed, traffic lights are ripped off the wires from which they once hung, cars crushed by piles of bricks and other debris... I could go on and on, but it is just absolutely devastating. Granted, New Orleans wasn't hit as hard as everyone had feared (the hurricane veered off to the east at the last minute), but since the ground there was already below sea level for most of the area, I knew there would still be a hell of a lot of water. I've been reading papers, online articles, and blogs covering all this mess and representing people's personal fears and prayers to those suffering direct damages. I have yet to talk to my dad since the incident, before which he told me some distant relatives who lived where the hurricane hit refused to leave. I do worry about any potential news as it comes, fearing that I will have yet another connection to this catastrophe.
New Orleans may not be livable for several weeks, maybe even a couple months, depending on how quickly all this water evaporates. Hard to believe a place that is completely packed with partyers on Mardi Gras could suddenly be so empty on a day like this (well, empty of people anyway). But in a way, that's probably a good thing; it means most people survived. The next thing to do is pray for those that cannot pick up the pieces, and donate cans of food to those that lost their entire food supply in the destruction.
No comments:
Post a Comment