Utter Devastation

Hurricane Katrina has devastated New Orleans, as two levees that keep water out of the below sea level city have broken, causing water to rise to as high as 20 feet in some areas. The water is expected to continue to rise. Consequently, chaos has broken out in New Orleans. Rescue workers are bypassing the dead. There is currently no electricity and no drinking water. The largest hospital in New Orleans has been forced to close its doors. A prison riot has broken out at the local prison where prisoners have taken a deputy's family hostage.

There has also been looting (Warning: profanity and rant ahead), and I had the misfortune of seeing TV footage of some of these ass clowns looting the local Walmart. Nothing gets my blood boiling faster in a disaster situation like this than looting. What pisses me off about the looting is not so much the actual theft of property, but rather the looters utter contempt for their fellow man. Thousands of people right now are stranded and need the assistance of the police to get to safety. Yet the police have to divert some of their resources to prevent some dip shit from stealing a bicycle at Walmart. I hope you enjoy that bicycle in the 20 feet of standing water you dumb piece of shit. Hopefully, the police will catch a lot of these morons and get them behind bars for a significant period of time. End rant.

New Orleans is not only place that suffered significant damage from Hurricane Katrina. Over 100 people are dead in Mississippi and more than one million residents in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi are still without power. They might not be able to restore power in some parts for weeks. Preliminary risk estimates put the insured losses as high as $26 billion meaning the total cost of damages from the hurricane could be billions more. With such widespread damage, I would highly recommend donating a few bucks to one of the many worthy organizations that are helping out with the hurricane relief. Instapundit has a nice round-up of some of the organizations.

I would like to conclude by offering my thoughts and prayers to all of the victims of Hurricane Katrina. I pray that the worst is over.