New Orleans

The enormity of the crisis stunned me, as it did many people. Anger, frustration, sadness all rolled into one as I watched the never ending coverage of people as they first breathed a sigh of relief - whew! we made it through the storm! And then we watched as levees were breached, the city flooded and people's capacity to endure was stretched to the max. Especially that of the poor....already leading lives of quiet desperation, from day to day, suddenly tar paper shacks and hovels many of us would have a hard time ever calling "home", were swept away, flooded, or burnt and everything they had - with no hope of rebuilding, no insurance, savings, no job now that those were gone with the flood as well, parents and children separated, grandparents, brothers, sisters, cousins, husbands, wives plunged into a whirlwind of turmoil and grief.
Do I think we failed New Orleans - you bet!
Do I think all that failure was just in the last week - no way!
Do I think we can point a finger at one mayor, one governor, senators, representatives, one president - no - this was clearly a long time coming and the burden of guilt lies on many heads, including those of the citizens of the New Orleans we once knew.
As is often the case, things wear out, break down, or are just inadequate for the big test. But as long as they are still functioning, even if it's just marginally, we tend to ignore it. And so the pumps, the levees, the flood control of a city built below sea level got ignored for generations.
You know how it is, you know you should put money away for that roof that will eventually need to be replaced, that furnace that won't last forever...but there are so many other things calling to us and our resources on a daily basis that we lose sight of planning ahead - of stocking the larder. And so, like the grasshopper in the Aesop's fable, New Orleans winter has come.
My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone there, and in Mississippi and Georgia. May God guide you through this trial. And may this be the wakeup call we all need to put our plans in order, our reinforcements in place.