What can I add to the upsurge in blogging about this unbelievable storm? Not much. In terms of meteorology, the most amazing quote I heard was that Katrina was like a 30 mile wide F3 tornado.
Ever been through or close to a tornado? I have. An F1 tornado nearly thumped our house in North Carolina. I saw the swath of snapped trees cut by that "little" F1. Trying to comprehend a 30 mile wide F3 is unthinkable.
We lived in Jackson, Mississippi from 1990 through 1992. We have many friends in that area still. My father's parents were born and raised near Meridian. Those communities (in between Jackson and Meridian) took a direct hit. I don't know how they fared -- news out of Mississippi is sketchy.
In terms of the human tragedy, what can be said other than we need to support these families in prayer and their communities with our money.
UPDATE: I received an email from my aunt in Natchez, MS (175 miles from New Orleans). Power is out in parts of Natchez, all of Meridian, all of Jackson, all of Tupelo ... you might as well say most of the state is out of power. Natchez was around 100 miles from the path of the storm. It knocked down trees all over the city. My cousins in Jackson are fine although there is a lot of tree damage. One of them dodged three tornado touchdowns on his race home from where he works. I have a cousin named Scott Hawkins who lives in Biloxi. He is one of the editors for The Sun Herald. Scott chose to ride out the storm and cover the story. If you've seen pictures of Biloxi ... the devastation is mind-boggling. My aunt and uncle just heard word that Scott is alive. The news from Biloxi is grim -- they are beginning to collect corpses.
My home (an apartment complex) was destroyed in 1999 by an F-4 tornado (~200 mph winds), and we were home when it hit. Our building was situated just lower than the surrounding ones, saving us from injury, and fortunately, nobody in our complex was seriously injured.
Hurricanes are worse in the scope of damage and area affected, but tornadoes are worse in that you don't know they're coming. I wouldn't wish either one on anybody.
I've learned that my friends in Metairie (near New Orleans) safely evacuated to Houston, but almost certainly lost their home to the flooding.
Posted by: tgirsch | August 31, 2005 at 15:17
So many of us are grieving over the horror and aftermath of Katrina, and will keep praying as these people/families try to keep going. God be with them all. I'm glad to know your cousin Scott made it through.
Posted by: Vicki | September 01, 2005 at 20:45
Jeff:
In the wake of all of this, I'd be curious to know how you'd respond to this.
Specifically:And it got me thinking about questions that have riddled theologians for as long as there has been theology – namely, if there is a God, why would he let this happen? And to take another step back into Milton-land, why exactly would such a God deserve to be worshiped?That question has "Jeff" written all over it. You should, however, read the whole thing, because he has some interesting views on Christianity, and I'm sure you're likely to disagree with many of them.
Posted by: tgirsch | September 02, 2005 at 15:57
Tom,
Feddie has a good response here:
http://southernappeal.blogspot.com/2005/09/how-could-just-god-allow-this-happen.html
I'll take a longer look to see if there is anything I would add.
Posted by: Dawn Treader | September 02, 2005 at 16:47
Saw Feddie's response, and some of the responses to the response. I didn't care for Feddie's response, because it seemed to espouse the "humans-exist-solely-as-pawns-for-God's-amusement-or-to-stroke-His-ego" line of thinking, and even in my Christian days I felt that humans had a more important role than that.
Posted by: tgirsch | September 06, 2005 at 14:22
Then try out John Piper's response, which speaks to the underlying presuppositions in your question.
http://www.desiringgod.org/library/fresh_words/2005/090205.html
We need to have the right perspective -- and true wisdom and knowledge always begins with the fear of the Lord -- versus arrogance toward the Lord.
I think the coming days and months will reveal why this happened. We stand on the verge of seeing an outpouring of unselfisness, mercy and grace like we have never seen in this country. It may surpass 9/11 in terms of a spiritual resurgence ... which is badly needed in a culture as narcissistic, selfish and acrimonious as ours.
C.S. Lewis said it well when he said, "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world."
Posted by: Dawn Treader | September 06, 2005 at 22:27