Katrina And You

I have a link to the Red Cross on the top of this blog. Please, click the link NOW and donate whatever you can afford to. The people hit by the worst of the storm need your help. What South Florida got was Mickey Mouse compared to what the Gulf Coast got.

The damage pictures you see on TV are just the larger cities. If you have never been to Alabama, Mississippi, or Lousiana before let me explain what you see in these states. TRAILERS. Lots of trailer homes. Building codes are a joke, compared to South Florida codes. Even the non-trailer homes are wooden framed and use crappy pressure board for roofing material. These structures do not survive strong winds.

Alabama and Lousiana are not wealthy states. Neither is Mississippi. Many people hit by the worst of the storm have no insurance of any kind. Many of them are at or below poverty level. A lot of people are never going to recover from this storm. It took South Dade County 10 years to recover from Hurricane Andrew, the Gulf States hit by Katrina will take much longer to recover. Yes, the tourist hotel casinos will recover, but the general population will not. They will need a lot of help.

So please, use the Red Cross link and give whatever you can. The recovery effort will take a very long time, and The American Red Cross will be there for the long haul.

The United States Coast Guard is doing an amazing job. I have seen some television footage of some rescue operations. The Coasties are often overlooked as a military branch. They are never in direct combat, but when your ass is in a crack on the water, it is the Coast Guard that comes for you. Nothing is a more welcome sight to someone in trouble than a USCG chopper and rescue swimmer.

And now for some photos I took of a CATEGORY 1 storm. Katrina hit as a strong category 4 or maybe category 5 storm. In Mimai, the storm surge was only a few feet - and there was heavy flooding in some parts of the County. In the gulf coast, Katrina pushed a 20 foot storm surge. Lousiana is sinking, most if not all of New Orleans is below sea level. So are the little towns surrounding the Big Easy. Entire communities have been washed into the sea.

Remember, the photos below were all caused by tropical storm and/or MINIMAL hurricane damage.

The above photo is of a palm tree in tropical storm force winds, not even close to hurricane force.

Branches from the jackaranda tree, torn off by tropical storm force winds.

The tree I planted after Hurricane Andrew. It fell down during the worst of the storm.

A tree fell across the street. This was not part of my yard, but was on my street.

The front yard.

Jackaranda tree damage. The tree used to provide a lot of shade.

The front yard part 2.

Top branches of the jackaranda tree.