I have never seen a storm like the Katrina. I've been thru several "bad" hurricanes and it has been reasonable even when tough. What they got is just insane. Having a comparison of "bad" I can truly say this people have it worse than I have ever been thru and I have been thru more than my share.

Just letting you know if you are even somewhat sympathetic or empathetic to take up trodgers suggestion as a challenge to play your ass off this month.

My mother asked once if a hurricane is like a tornado, as she has lived in the midwest. I answered her after my first rough one I asked her to imagine one the size of Texas with flooding to follow and 100 year old oaks falling due to the wind and rain, the mess doesn't stop when it is over, things continue to degrade.

When she moved into my house in NC, I had a shelf that wasn't to be touched unless we had a hurricane. Candles, batteries, water, paper plates, plastic silverware, canned and dry goods. I have been thru a tough one and vowed never to again be in the same position of not being able to make coffee or have have food at home even if I have to beat the beans with a hammer, these people are in a far worse spot than I would ever be prepared. A storm is just a storm to me, but what these people witnessed is beyond normal comprehension to their plight. I normally say to hell with a hurricane and just deal, these people are beyond that, I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS, and I have dealt with this kind of weather for a decade.

To quote: "things continue to degrade."

Here in Indy, we had over 2 inches of rain in 18 hours, thanks to what was left of Katrina.
Some of that was absorbed by the ground, but some will be runoff, which will increase the volume of the Wabash, White, Ohio, and eventually the Mississippi river.
If you know geography, then you see the implications of this.

The Mississippi is going to remain above flood stage for many more days.

My heart goes out to them all.

Excellent post, rdale. I have been in alot of tornado's living here in the midwest but what those people got just looks to be unfair.

I to sympathize with the victoms of that nasty hurricane. Hopefully there is more damage then death and that those people will be able to get back to their normal lives very soon.

We know. Last year, we lost our home in Cape Coral, FL to hurricane Charley. I had a wife, three teens, a dog, a cat, and four parrots in our bedroom under mattresses and everything else we could drag in to protect us. It worked. When the lanai tore off the back of the house, we were safe. When the shingles peeled off the entire roof we were safe. When the ceiling started to come down, we were safe. I've lived for 50 years through tornados in Texas and KC, blizzards and nor'easters, floods and a couple of whirleygirls, but nothing ever had come close to this.

The devastation simply freaks you out. Until you crawl out from under your own damage and survey your town, it's pitch black at night and there are armed troops at every intersection, you just can't know.

But, even having lived through a Category 4 storm, we had nothing compared to the people in Miss and La. Having been through it, my wife and I still cannot comprehend what they've suffered and will continue to suffer. Maybe we know better than most, which means we know how much we don't know.

I do know this. Never again. I will never, ever challenge the power of Mother Nature. I'll be gone. Charley simply scared the brave out of me.

My wife is on her way right now to the Red Cross, to volunteer to go to the area and help in any way she can. She would be gone three weeks, but feels it's something she has to do. We've been living in FEMA housing for over a year, as there is simply NO affordable housing here. She feels strongly she needs to give back the help we received.

I wish her well. She's my hero.

CJ

CJ--kudos to your wife for volunteering, we need more of that.

Here in Dallas, we are seeing thousands of... refugees.. and they are opening the large 17k seat Reunion Arena to house everyone. At least its air conditioned and not surrounded by water. My company had a meeting today and we are marshalling our entire company's to help do what we can.

This is really unbelievable and it's going to last for months. The reports are the flood waters have stopped rising; however, that's only because sea has reached equilibrium. Essentially New Orleans is a part of the Gulf of Mexico now.

I've PM'd Tetsuo, who's understandably gone on vacation. I'm still hopeful we can make a donation as a site. I'm giving 25% of my August winnings as it was my best month ever.

I am doing research about a storm like that and, this is not confirmed yet, but a storm like that in New Orleans has a Return Period of over 140 years. As I said, I havent confirmed this.

Is there a register of something similar in New Orleans?

BTW, PSO www.pokersourceonline.com has charitable donations for many institutions, included the American Red Cross, where you can donate $10, and they match your donation. Everytime you donate certain amount, they´ll be receiving twice that. I think they´ll have a fund to help people affected by this hurricane.