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I went through Hurricane Andrew, when I was 10. Right through the eye, fainting in dark puddles while the windows shattered, all the crap. Eating Red Cross meals in the field at a long makeshift buffet table with neighbors.
And so when Katrina passed through here, knocking down a few trees and leaving us without power for 2 days...and then moved on to New Orleans as a whole other MONSTER...I really cried for them. I was riveted by the News. I understand that kind of devastation.
And I've had this knot in my stomach for the past day or so, watching Gustav head toward them now. My neighbors, sister and I were all woken very early this morning by RAIN. Not rain but RAIN. And I sat up in bed, talking to Elise (who was yelling "wawa! wawa!" and pointing out the window), and thinking about how it's the most minor outskirts of this gigantic force of destruction that's headed straight for this town that's trying so hard to rebuild...
I remember the chanting and the tshirts and the news at night and the bilboards, from when I was a kid - everything down here about banning together, "WE WILL REBUILD". People through their life savings into investing in small business, and their free hours into volunteering - it was a serious passion for some. But a lot of people left. A lot of stuff was gone and didn't come back, until like...5 years ago.
And if Homestead had gotten hit again, this soon after? It would be a ghost town.
Why the hell is there even another storm this bad MAKING landfall again, so soon? Ctegory 4 and 5 hurricanes touching down is like, an every 20 years occurance, and spread around some between different places...
It's hard because a part of me, of course, thinks, well...maybe people SHOULDN'T live in New Orleans. Maybe it just isn't safe, and they should stop rebuilding. But...I love Key West. I was born there, my dad and aunts and grandfather are there, I'm back all the time, it's such a unique awesome little mini-culture where people come from all over the world to visit - just like NOLA. And it's a 3x5 mile island, below sea level. It could be wiped off the map. A weak 3 hit in 2005 and the flooding was covering the tops of cars the next day.
It's such a fragile lot of hope to even exist from one day to the next in places like that, as if it can keep going indefinitely. I think about this a lot lately, the optimism (or foolishness?) of planting flowerbeds even here up on the peninsula. The incredibly high property values despite the enormous cost of insuring your property and the hassle of shutters and the lines for canned goods. The vying for coastal properties even as we scan the news daily for 4-5 months out of the year.
I just don't know.
ETA: I just went and looked on the official site and it is a 3 right now, so that's a little better at least. Last night and this morning they were saying 4/5. I hope it doesn't have enough time over the water to get back up any more strength.
But I hope everyone who prays is praying for Louisiana.
And so when Katrina passed through here, knocking down a few trees and leaving us without power for 2 days...and then moved on to New Orleans as a whole other MONSTER...I really cried for them. I was riveted by the News. I understand that kind of devastation.
And I've had this knot in my stomach for the past day or so, watching Gustav head toward them now. My neighbors, sister and I were all woken very early this morning by RAIN. Not rain but RAIN. And I sat up in bed, talking to Elise (who was yelling "wawa! wawa!" and pointing out the window), and thinking about how it's the most minor outskirts of this gigantic force of destruction that's headed straight for this town that's trying so hard to rebuild...
I remember the chanting and the tshirts and the news at night and the bilboards, from when I was a kid - everything down here about banning together, "WE WILL REBUILD". People through their life savings into investing in small business, and their free hours into volunteering - it was a serious passion for some. But a lot of people left. A lot of stuff was gone and didn't come back, until like...5 years ago.
And if Homestead had gotten hit again, this soon after? It would be a ghost town.
Why the hell is there even another storm this bad MAKING landfall again, so soon? Ctegory 4 and 5 hurricanes touching down is like, an every 20 years occurance, and spread around some between different places...
It's hard because a part of me, of course, thinks, well...maybe people SHOULDN'T live in New Orleans. Maybe it just isn't safe, and they should stop rebuilding. But...I love Key West. I was born there, my dad and aunts and grandfather are there, I'm back all the time, it's such a unique awesome little mini-culture where people come from all over the world to visit - just like NOLA. And it's a 3x5 mile island, below sea level. It could be wiped off the map. A weak 3 hit in 2005 and the flooding was covering the tops of cars the next day.
It's such a fragile lot of hope to even exist from one day to the next in places like that, as if it can keep going indefinitely. I think about this a lot lately, the optimism (or foolishness?) of planting flowerbeds even here up on the peninsula. The incredibly high property values despite the enormous cost of insuring your property and the hassle of shutters and the lines for canned goods. The vying for coastal properties even as we scan the news daily for 4-5 months out of the year.
I just don't know.
ETA: I just went and looked on the official site and it is a 3 right now, so that's a little better at least. Last night and this morning they were saying 4/5. I hope it doesn't have enough time over the water to get back up any more strength.
But I hope everyone who prays is praying for Louisiana.