Back Home, Thank God.
The destruction is truly mind-blowing. Folks in the emergency response field are use to seeing this sort of stuff, but on a small scale. Seeing whole towns and cities leveled, flooded, or otherwise damaged for miles upon miles is quite scary. It reminds us that the human being have such little true power here, and that something higher does exist. God himself only knows why this would happen though, as I certainly can’t explain it.
New Orleans will be rebuilt, but the road will be so long. The amount of devastation is just too much to comprehend fully. Trying to maintain order while doing recuses (I personally didn’t do any rescues, but some of the Coast Guard guys who did them were based out of where I was stationed), distributing food and water, and moving hundreds of people in crowds by bus was something that I’d never think I’d see here in our country (9/11 of course was similar, but in the same sense, totally different). To have homes reduced to foundations, buildings filled with water to the roof tops (and knowing there are bodies - people, dead people; people who have names, faces, lives, cars, families, pets, jobs - inside), trees and brush strewn about everywhere, parts of houses on roads, roads gone - ripped up, street signs where they don’t belong - all these are examples of what life now is like down there, or rather the environment there. Life is an entirely different story. Life isn’t life for these people, it truly is survival. You have children and elderly who don’t haves beds, or even sheets to sleep under. Entire families have gone days without food. Some walked miles and miles along the intestates without a destination, just hoping something better would turn up. Riding into the city faces looked at our convoy with broken faces, knowing that everything, everything was gone. Nothing. No clothes, no homes, no cars, no food, no water, no photographs, no computers, no phones, no anything. And that’s also a mind-blowing thought.
As far as looting and all that was so publicized on the news, I didn’t see much myself. Some of the fires we saw were said to be started by criminals running ramped in the city, other were set by “natural” causes such as broken gas mains and fuel lines. While some parts of New Orleans was in facvt dry, the “80%” flooded number was indeed true. Seeing entire neighborhoods submerged was quite a sight. Occasionally, we’d see personal belongings on roofs such as blankets, water bottles, chairs… But no people. While we didn’t know the fate of everyone, it was a mental reassurance to say to yourself, “They must have already gotten to them,” otherwise, I’d have killed myself of the thought of even more dead bodies.
Anyway, enough of this depressing blogging. Like I said somewhere yesterday, I’ve pretty much decided September isn’t a good month (9/11 and my wife; sister and all…) and now this. While on that note, I’d ask we all take some time to remember those lost in 9/11 (Katrina victims of course too - they need it more they anyone right now), and all those affected by it.
::Sigh::
Well, at least I came home to my wife, kids, and some freshly washed Mopars. My wife figured after everything, she’d wash the cars for me. Amazingly wonderful of her, considering she lost her sister just 4 years ago in 9/11. In most cases, I’d be happy the cars were washed, but this time, I know I’m just lucky to have a home and family to come back to. And that’s what really matters.
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