When I went to bed last night, the TV talkers were saying that it looked like N.O. was gonna dodge the worst -case scenario. Tonight, the news is different. There's nothing left. It's worse than worst. As I watch , the news seems to be getting worse.
In 2003-2004 I processed insurance claims for two storms , Isabel and Gaston, and saw many photos of storm damage- some of the Catastrophe Team folks actually kept scrapbooks -( on their own time, of non-policy holder property) - but I've never seen any storm damage like the emerging picture of the Katrina aftermath. It's more like a tsunami.
Over a 14-month period , I closed over 8,000 homeowner claims and only had 15-20 'Total Loss' , i.e. , the property was to be demolished and re-built. Those were very serious cases ; people losing everything, families living in rental property for up to a year, etc.
But they were rare.
Now, entire towns and cities are gone. The only comfort is knowing that , unlike a tsunami, millions of lives were saved by the forced evac. It seems as if it'll be days or weeks until we know how many lives were lost.
Already, there are already accounts of wide-spread looting, car-jacking and shootings. The kind of stuff that gives anarchy a bad name. Martial law may become a neccesary evil.
Shit. I feel an urgent need to call home, but it takes a while to get through, even though home is nowhere near the damage zone. The connection cracks up a lot , but I just wanted to make sure my Granma was OK and tell her I was OK too.
It's suddenly 9:21 pm. Sitting and staring for most of two hours.
A thought intrudes.
It's the realization that I would probably would've been one of the idiots who stayed behind , saying stupid shit like "Hurricane Party - been there, done that", is a disturbing one. If I was lucky, I'd be waiting for the Coast Guard to pluck my stupid ass off of the roof. My cats would be gone. Everything would be gone.
I should be gone. I'm starting to freak out a little bit.
1 comment:
I was watching Nightline last night and saw some of the Katrina devastation for the first time. I recognized some of the bldgs that had been partially destroyed from when I was stationed at Keesler AFB in Biloxi for awhile. One of the gambling ships had been ravaged and run ashore and it really looked like something out of Pirates of the Caribbean. Boxcars had been pushed off of barges and were laying inland. Some of the shoreline looked like the tsunami aftermath pictures. Some of the folks that had stayed and were interviewed said they will never stay again. I hope many of the people that remained made it through.
Post a Comment