Hurricane Katrina
Victor asked about hurricane Katrina. Katrina struck the Gulf Coast (Remember “This Land is Your Land” where it talks about the Gulf sea waters?) Mississippi and Louisiana were most effected by the storm. Physically, California was not effected because it is over 2000 miles (3000km) away from here; two ranges of mountains, the Sierra and he Rockies, shield us from the effects of weather in the Gulf. Our storms move from west to east. We probably will not have any measureable rain until October or November.
(New York Times photo and text)
However, the storm has left over a million people without homes and an uncounted thousands have died. It has been the focus of news for days, as the tragedy overwhelmed the ability of local and federal government to meet the massive need. Tragically, some people took advantage of the situation, looting stores and actually shooting at rescuers, like it was some kind of video game. Thousands of people who were forced to stay in the city of New Orleans were in the enclosed Superdome, a football stadium, without running water or air conditioning (the climate is very similar to Enping’s). Now more than 250,000 people have moved to the neighboring state of Texas. So while hurricane did not physically effect Sacramento, it has psychologically effected our entire nation. As an American, I wonder what kind of people we have in our country who would shoot people who are trying to rescue other people. The figures and tales of suffering are hard for me to grasp. I wonder how long it will take that part of our country to get back to normal. It will probably be years and for many, their lives will never be the same. From a distance, I can only pray for God to alieve the massive suffering of so many thousands of people.
A couple of national news sources that are very good for this kind of coverage are the New York Times for print and NPR for audio
