This hurricane blew.

As I watched Katrina's clouds roll in from the south today, I thought back to my trip to New Orleans while I was in Arnold Air Society. I was recalling some of the sights that I saw: The Superdome, Bourbon Street, Canal Street, and the Mighty Mississippi. I wondered just what those places were like today. The dome has damage and is filled up with refugees aching for some clean water, food, and sanitary conditions. Bourbon Street looked remarkably well but that could change since a levee broke and flooding is creeping into downtown. Last I heard, the western end of Canal Street was flooded so the water is making its way into the French Quarter.

I almost feel guilty that I am sitting up here in the Midwest. I'm safe, dry, comfortable and bitching that gas shot up to $2.88 a gallon at the end of the night and it will get higher. But these poor people down in the south--they are really hurting. I can only scratch the surface in trying to grasp what they are going through. This really is a disaster and we are only beginning to find out the repercussions of this even. Heaven forbid we have a repeat of last season and this area gets smacked again.

President Bush has cut short his vacation... apparently because of the storm. Truthfully, I don't care. It's mostly for show. What can he really do anyways? FEMA can handle it. I'm sure that the governors of Louisiana and Mississippi can do a fine job of handling the guard down there. Already, some big corporations are beginning to donate their time, money, and materials. I know that Wal-Mart has donated an initial $1 million plus whatever they can fundraise in all of their stores. In addition, they kept their stores near New Orleans open to give out supplies (which I'm sure they ran out of before their generators died.)

Ms. Sally said that her son, who works for AEP has already been told to prepare to head on south. Many of the companies are taking their workers from around the country and sending them to the south. I wish them well and hope that the recovery and reconstruction projects go well.