August 29, 2005
Early Monday morning, August 29, Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Louisiana and Mississippi coast leaving death and destruction in its wake. The storm broke through two levies that protected New Orleans and flooded the city streets with water up to twelve feet deep.
Thousands of people who had been unable or unwilling to evacuate prior to the storm were trapped. Some civic leaders estimated that more people have died in the path of Hurricane Katrina than died on 9/11. That remains to be seen. Most of the death and destruction were caused, not by wind, but by walls of water twenty-nine feet high, the highest ever recorded on the Gulf Coast.
Our hearts go out to those who have lost their loved ones and their possessions. Cathy Messecar writes a weekly newspaper column in Conroe, Texas. On September 2 she wrote, “Two statements coming from media coverage of hurricane Katrina’s aftermath have stayed with me: ‘We have each other,’ and ‘If you know God, pray.’
“Ann and Vernon’s Gulfport, MS home was leveled. They summed up their losses as significant, but not devastating by saying to NBC’s Lester Holt, ‘We have each other.’ “Mansions and mobile homes, bicycles and Chevys, clothing and canned goods are submerged in the toxic soup along the southeast Gulf Coast. Louisiana’s governor estimates that at least 500,000 homes were destroyed in her home state.
“The second statement is from Linda, interviewed by a Houston TV station. On Sunday, Linda’s husband stayed behind to protect their house, and she hasn’t heard from him since. She pled with viewers, ‘If you know God, pray for my husband.’”
Cathy has zeroed in on two important lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina: (1) Family and friends are far more important than houses, cars, boats, and earthly possessions. (2) When life gets out of control, PRAY.
Therefore, let us pray for, and grieve with, those who have lost everything in Hurricane Katrina.
Praise God that so many have given so much to help these hurricane victims get back on their feet.
