Those who know me also know that I have a special connection with the city of New Orleans. I have visited New Orleans on several occassions. It is one of the only U.S. cities that I have ever seriously considered moving to. I realized fairly quikcly that this wouldn’t be a good idea and as recent events have so horrifically and eloquently pointed out, I made the correct decision.
It’s difficult for me to wrap my mind around the impact that Hurricane Katrina has had on the people who live on the Gulf Coast, despite the images I’ve seen in the media. New Orleans is a city I have visited repeatedly. How could it possibly be under water? I can’t imagine what the residents are going through, from those who evacuated and must now wait possibly months to even find out if their home still exists, to those who have been trapped in the city waiting for some mysterious reason, for the delayed rescue forces to come and help them.
Much has been made of the slow response of President Bush and his administration with regard to the aid sent to New Orleans, and I rightfully so. It is unforgivable that rescue forces were not deployed immediately in great numbers. But really, let’s be honest about this: are we surprised by anything that Mr. Bush does? My surprise would be for him to do something right. What is so criminal about his actions is the fact that there are lives in the balance here. Innocent lives in a country expecting leadership but receiving very little.
The “natural” part of this disaster keeps coming back to me as well. This horror has come about as a result of weather, something that man, try as we might, has little or no control over. Tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, blizzards… we can combat them as best we can. We can try to predict what they will do, but in the end, these things are part of the natural world, and that is something humanity has never really had a very good grasp of, both intellectually and physically.
What the future of New Orleans will be is still very much up in the air. The priority is to help the scores of people who have been displaced by this natural disaster. I hate when my thoughts drift to the inevitably selfish, “will that city I loved so much survive this cataclysm? When I next visit (supposedly next June) will the magic stlil be there?” It’s amazing how we can’t help but reduce a horrible experience, no matter how distant, to how it affects ourselves? For me, it’s just the enormity of such an event, and how unreal it seems. My heart goes out to all of those people, from friends I have in the area, acquaintances I have met online or during vacations, to the countless strangers whose lives have been uprooted.