Hurricane Katrina may well be a historic catastrophe for New Orleans, the Gulf Coast, and our oil supplies. Of course, our Islamist enemies will portray this as the wrath of God visited upon the Great Satan. When Muslims were hit by the massive tsunami, we sent the first help, and provided a huge portion of the actual assistance reaching people.

This reveals yet another basic way in which we differ from those who preach terror and hate. But in the short run, they will exploit every weakness and every misfortune of ours.

We will post more about the oil situation soon. Supplies and prices could suffer sever disruption.

In the meantime, I am appalled at what I see in New Orleans.

We are told that poor people cannot afford to get out of town. Instead, they are being offered shelter in the Superdome. This makes no sense to me. It should be possible to organize an evacuation for all. Use the city buses, school buses, and anything else that moves people faster than 30 miles per hour. Set up carpooling sites on the web and on land, where people with a spare seat in their car can pick up someone. Are we going to condemn people to possible death if they do not own a car? Expect the left to make hay of this, after the crisis is past. The last time I checked, New Orleans was run by Democrats.

If Katrina remains a category 5 storm, wooden structures will be destroyed, and high rises could possibly become unstable. Glass will fly through the air at 150 MPH. I am praying for all those in the path of this killer storm.

Thomas Lifson   8 28 05

Eric Schwappach adds:

I was living in the Columbus, Georgia area when Hurricane Opal came through.  We are approximately 240 inland, but the damage wrought by that storm was astounding.  Pine trees, limbs and general debris littered the streets.  The drive to work was a real challenge because of it.  What was most unpleasant was our home being without power for almost two weeks.  We have a well and if there is no electricity to power the pump, then there is no water.  Fortunately for us, our neighbors who had generators were very generous.  It was after that storm that I purchased a generator for my family's use.
 
But the folks left behind in New Orleans will not be as lucky.  They will almost certainly experience miserable conditions for weeks upon weeks if Katrina maintains her punch.  You are correct in your assessment about the poor being condemned to possible death because they lack the means to purchase their own automobile.  It is truly a sad situation.
 
My prayers will also be offered up for the safety and well—being of those left behind.