| Obesity | Newspaper Articles_2005 Hurricane Katrina Our thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama whose lives were drastically altered by Hurricane, and whose losses we cannot begin to phantom. We pray also that loved ones will be reunited, especially children and their parents. We are all saddened by the losses experienced by the people in these regions. We are also aghast at the slowness of the government to provide the basic necessities to the evacuees, and appalled at the emphasis that the media is putting on so-called looters. The big question is, what would happen to the food, clothes, electronic gear or whatever is being taken away by the people devastated by this disaster. Would those foods find their way back on store shelves for people to eat? Would the electronics be sold to unsuspecting customers? Or would they end up at the dump? You be the judge. Speaking of dump, the state is going to quickly find out that there is not enough space in hell to put all the debris left by the storm. And if they try to burn it, as they did in St. Croix after Hurricane Hugo, the people with asthma and other breathing problems had better make plans to get as far away as they can. I am not dismissing the magnitude of the problem faced by the disaster assistance arm of government and the private or nonprofit sector. I know that the logistics of dealing with this situation is huge. But, it will surely make a heck of a difference if people could just get food and water, a decent shower and a comfortable place to rest. I can tell you something about utter devastation at the hands of an unrelenting hurricane. You see, I lived through Hurricane Hugo. And reportedly, the winds in that storm broke the wind gage on the island at 200 miles per hour. What can I do? I am willing to volunteer the use of my house in St. Croix, Virgin Islands, a duplex, for at least two families who are willing to go there. And there may be other possibilities like this one. Get the Hurricane Hugo book, Portraits of Historic St. Croix Before and After Hurrican Hugo. It is a story of devastation and a people on this tiny Caribbean rising like the Phoenix from the ashes. A portion of the sale of this book will go towards helping the victims of Hurricane Katrina. |