This storm...

Katrina has resulted in so much devastation. I can't help but think of the residents of Nueva Tacagua where I worked in Venezuela when I think of this disaster. They had lost their homes in landslides and entered a downward spiral of increasing poverty. I don't have much hope for anything better for the lower-income residents of New Orleans. Today I talked with someone who had lived in Section 8 housing. She escaped/evacuated with her three small children and now has to start all over again. For someone in her situation recovering posessions or replacing them is going to be a long slow task. How long till she gets a new apartment? and then beds? and everything else? How much will it cost her to get new clothes for everyone?

This is a dark time. How long till the water recedes? Till the area is free of disease? Free of corpses (both new and old)? Free of raw sewage? Till the homes are rebuilt? How many decades? And where will all of these people go while it is being rebuilt? So many people entering refugee camps in our own country, with no hope of returning to their homes.

My heart is heavy.