Katrina Brings Chaos (and Humility?)

Hurricane Katrina has wrecked havoc across New Orleans. Havoc indeed is too light a term, and whatever comments I post regarding this tradgedy are trite by comparison, regardless of how poignant my insight may happen to be. Nonetheless, aside from offering a desperate prayer to God Almighty, the little I can do lies in whispering into the haze.

It seems that tradgedy can either bring out the best in people or the worse. When the tragic is tied to the degree of helplessness, people become the animals that they are and we see what humanity can bring. Such a diagnosis is admitedly dark, but it seems to be the only acceptable theory which fits the events taking place within our great country. The reader may judge for himself.

Storm victims were raped and beaten, fights and fires broke out, corpses lay out in the open, and rescue helicopters and law enforcement officers were shot at as flooded-out New Orleans descended into anarchy Thursday. "This is a desperate SOS," the mayor said.

About 15,000 to 20,000 people who had taken shelter at the convention center to await buses grew increasingly hostile. Police Chief Eddie Compass said he sent in 88 officers to quell the situation at the building, but they were quickly beaten back by an angry mob.

"We have individuals who are getting raped, we have individuals who are getting beaten," Compass said. "Tourists are walking in that direction and they are getting preyed upon."

"Hospitals are trying to evacuate," said Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Cheri Ben-Iesan, spokesman at the city emergency operations center. "At every one of them, there are reports that as the helicopters come in people are shooting at them. There are people just taking potshots at police and at helicopters, telling them, `You better come get my family.'"

An old man in a chaise lounge lay dead in a grassy median as hungry babies wailed around him. Around the corner, an elderly woman lay dead in her wheelchair, covered with a blanket, and another body lay beside her wrapped in a sheet.

"I don't treat my dog like that," 47-year-old Daniel Edwards said as he pointed at the woman in the wheelchair. "I buried my dog." He added: "You can do everything for other countries but you can't do nothing for your own people. You can go overseas with the military but you can't get them down here."

Suffice it to say that New Orleans has seen happier days. It is not my intention to come off as pretentious. Certainly the people are behaving wrongly, but in fairness, this is not to be unexpected. It would be more puzzling if there were not incidents in the capcaphony that is New Orleans. That being said, it is still interesting to note what is happening, all the while knowing that I, too, would probably be a member of the angry mob.

It was commented--by a friend of mine--that it sounded like Iraq. The comparison is not airtight, but it speaks to a very real truth. There is very little difference between human beings. We are all capable of great things and we are at the same time capable of acting like the savages we are seeing in New Orleans.

One gets the impression that those in New Orleans are very much wrapped up in self-pity. Again, this cannot be blamed, and I too would be first among those bemoaning the hand of fate were the tables turned. Yet that attitude seems to epitomize what is wrong with Americans.
We were appalled that the terrorists would dare attack our land. We are less appalled that Hurricane Katrina chose us be the reciever of her bountiful gifts, but we are most assuredly not happy.

Yet such is the way of the world. Terrorism is not new any more so than natural disasters are. We do not deserve to be made to suffer anymore than the citizens of say, the Middle East or Africa, but nor do we deserve to suffer any less. Pain is a part of life and wishing it away does no good at all.

If one is forced to look for the good in this terrible situation it is this: we are once again experiencing the anguish present constantly to the rest of the world. Perhaps this time we will take the lesson to heart. Then again, perhaps it is in our nature to remain stubborn to the end. Oddly enough that is one of the greatest reasons we suffer.

Be it because of God or not, another reason humans suffer is because of natural disasters, much like Katrina. Occasionally it is important to be reminded of this. A little humility wouldn't kill us, least of all me, who has turned a tragic occasion into an oppurtunity to bestow my wisdom.

One can be assured the irony is not wholly lost.