Hurricane Katrina

Dozens of residents move to higher ground Monday, Aug. 29, 2005, in New Orleans as rising waters flood neighborhoods off N. Claiborne Avenue in the Orleans Parish as a result of Hurricane Katrina. (St. Petersburg Times/Douglas R. Clifford)


It's weird how history happens. We study it in school, but we never realize that someone, at sometime, had to live it.

As Hurricane Katrina ripped through New Orleans and the gulf area of Mississippi, I knew that the days that followed would be ones that we would never forget.

Now, as I sit in the newsroom, every television glued to either CNN or MSNBC for round the clock coverage of the disaster, the devastation that lies in the wake of Katrina becomes more than just the latest news story - more than another chapter in the history books. It becomes real.

When I think of New Orleans, I don't think of Mardis Gras and colorful beads. Instead, I remember the time I traveled with a friend to the Big Easy for the Bayou Classic two years ago.

We drove down Elysian Fields, drank hurricanes on Bourbon Street, and visited her family in the West Bank. Her family opened up their homes to me and gave me a real Creole Thanksgiving dinner, complete with seafood gumbo and stuffed bell peppers.

Last year, I went to Baton Rouge for a conference and caught up with a lot of friends from my first excursion to the Big Easy. We danced the second line, ate King cake and danced the bunny hop.

I always planned to go back to the city I call my second home. I'm an adopted New Orleanian. Now, my heart yearns for those who have lost their homes and, in some cases, their lives, because of Katrina.

Over the past few days, I've been calling my family and friends in Mississippi and Louisiana to make sure everyone is okay. Some tell me that everyone escaped, but what they will return to remains uncertain. Others say they haven't heard from family members and just pray that everything is okay.

Things in New Orleans and the surrounding areas will get worse before it gets better. Today, there were reportings of rapes and other crimes as the people who have been stuck with very little help from the government over the past four days reach the ends of their ropesFamilieses are being split as evacuees are bused from the city to Texas, Baton Rouge and other places around the country willing to help in any way they can. Gas prices climb past $3 here in Michigan, but the cost is higher in other parts of the country. The lawless streets of New Orleans are almost uncontrollable as people raid grocery stores to get the basic necessities to survive. Bodies of those who didn't make it sit along the sides of roads.

It remains to be seen what will happen once New Orleans dries out and the people there try to resume something resembling a normal life. No matter what happens, our country and all the people old enough to remember this event, will never be the same. It's weird how history happens. I just wish, at least in this case, we didn't have to live it.

My prayers go out to everyone whose lives were touched by Hurricane Katrina
and my sincere thanks to those who are working to help those in the area.
To donate to the victims of Hurricane Katrina, visit the American Red Cross.