Hurricane catastrophe calls for yet more compassion

The devastation of hurricane Katrina wipes out any other thoughts I

might have. My emotions are at the mercy of photographs that have

almost no meaning -- the scope of destruction beyond comprehension.

How can I make sense of this tragedy on a bright California day?

As I watch the repeated images of water pouring through the broken

levees, entire neighborhoods submerged to rooftops, and rampant

looting of unprotected stores, I find myself increasingly numb. The

statistics overwhelm: towns 90% destroyed, 2.3 million people without

power, homes simply vanished, oil rigs trapped under bridges or

simply missing, interstates broken into jigsaw pieces, boats mingled

with shattered remains of homes far the the edge of the shore.

Refineries and shipping shut down. Casinos -- and the blessing of

their daily tax revenues to the state coffers -- gone. No water or

phone service. Dead bodies and sewage turning stagnant water, which

will not fully receed for months, into a cesspool of disease.

The tragedy of the Bluebird slide pales beneath this behemoth. Not

the personal tragedy of the families who were displaced -- those are

similar, no matter the cause of loss. But the depth and breadth of

this southern nightmare, that have consumed all available services,

and still there is not enough help.

The emotional triage is the same -- rescue and protection of life

and limb, then food and shelter. Laguna was lucky to have such

tremendous resources and reserve. How do we begin, as a broader

community, to comprehend the needs to three state regions devastated

beyond what we have born. Even our firestorm and resulting floods are

small by comparison.

It’s one thing to rescue people from rooftops and submerged homes,

but what is going to happen next? What do you do with entire cities

of people who cannot go home? Not today, or tomorrow. Not next week,

or the week after. There is speculation that electricity in parts of

New Orleans won’t be re-established for 12 weeks. We heard grousing

about inconveniences from the Laguna after only three days.

When my mother lost her home, she had found a replacement, as had

other affected families, within a relatively short period of time.

For the most part, residents were able to stay within their

community. Those displaced by this storm are without community -- and

for some, will be not for weeks or months -- but for years. Where are

they to go? What is to become of the small business owner who cannot

operate his shop? What of the shipping that will not make it either

in or out of port? How will it affect all of us? Paper products.

Chicken. Rice.

I had intended a piece on compassion, before the news of Katrina

wiped out nearly every news event. The kind of compassion that takes

a heart of cold steel and renders it soft and pliable. The kind of

compassion that transforms a hard line position on a social issue and

engenders with new consciousness.

And I supposed, down beneath the descriptive words, this is a

piece on compassion. Because certainly, it will require compassion --

deep seated unwavering compassion -- to come to terms with the long

haul which will be required to simply clean up from the storm’s wrath

-- and deeper still, to go the distance to rebuilding what has been

destroyed.

Some of the same arguments we’ve heard applied to Laguna Beach

will likely surface in response to Louisiana, Mississippi and

Alabama. They shouldn’t have built there. They shouldn’t have built a

city below sea level when surrounded by water. They shouldn’t have

built ocean front homes in an area prone to hurricane landfalls.

I.e., They shouldn’t build on hillsides prone to failure. The fact

is, we do and they did. In the face of that, how do we grant them the

same rights and embrace their loss?

The value and distribution of resources comes full frontal with

this larger than expected event. With an estimated price tag of $25

billion dollars, I can’t help but wonder, from where these funds are

to come. It is easier to be supportive of those closest to home, but

now the question we must all ask ourselves, is how we can again go to

our personal wells and come up with a bucket of sustenance for those

in greater need.

A start would be the Red Cross, which has a link for on-line

donations: o7www.redcross.org/donate /donate.html f7

The address for the local chapter is :

American Red Cross

601 North Golden Circle Drive

Santa Ana, CA 92705

Phone: (714) 481-5300 - Fax: (714) 835-1931

* CATHARINE COOPER is a local designer, photographer and writer

who thrives off beaten trails. She can be reached at

[email protected] f7or (949) 497-5081.o7

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