Not So Good...

So Katrina didn't leave a very happy wake yesterday. Lots of flooding, as suspected, in New Orleans (as seen to the left, there)... though not as bad as they feared. The city's protected by levees and pumps and such, and I guess there has been a few breaches and pumps not working. Evacuees may not be able to go home for several weeks, what with search and rescue efforts, flooding, damage to homes, diseases from animal carcasses and chemicals running amok.

Lots of mayhem in Mississippi and Alabama, too... and loss of life. Katrina brought a 30-foot storm surge to Biloxi as she came ashore, crushing hundreds of homes to their foundations. So far, they know of one county in Miss. that lost at least 80 peeps (30 within one apartment building)... and there's a lot more places they can't get to yet to see how more people fared. Insurance companies are estimating a multi-billion dollar price tag. And I can't even begin to think about all those "animal carcasses"... pets... wildlife... barnyard life. I know a lotta disaster shelters don't allow animals, so peeps who can't evacuate have to either try to rough it out with their beloved pets, or find room for them at already overburdened pet shelters, or leave them to die. I can't imagine having to make that decision.

The good news is that this country is great about responding to disasters and people (and animals) in need. The National Gaurd, Red Cross, Humane Society, plus all kinds of other aid organizations are mobilizing to help. According to Red Cross, they have the largest number of volunteers ever for one event. Katrina shut down several oil refineries and drilling along the Gulf, and I believe I read somewhere that the President is considering dipping into nation's Oil Reserves... which, personally I think is a good call. Now don't worry... that doesn't mean I like the man any more, but I can't claim he's COMPLETELY devoid of common sense. And he HAS been very good with responding to national disasters (read: hurricanes) within the last few years. Online news forums have handy links to the Red Cross, HSUS, North Shore Animal League America and such... which I'll need to make use of right quickly.

The bad news (well more bad news) is that experts think we have more like Katrina to look forward to in the near future. A few posts ago, I mentioned that places like Africa and the Middle East seem to be embroiled in one disaster or horror after another. I suppose, if you were to look in from the outside, we've got our own batch of FUBAR goin on.

Oh well... one of my favorite quotes is by George Bernard Shaw:

"The longer I live the more I become convinced that the rest of the universe is using this planet as an insane asylum."

I think the planet is just gettin sick of the inmates.