Like a lot of people, I was relieved to hear that New Orleans was spared the worst of the hurricane. It is one of my favorite cities, redolent of everything that thrills and pleases the senses, and full of warm and true people who tune to the rhythm of life just a little more acutely than most. You can read about my own magical day in the city here.

But on Tuesday morning, the rising waters and general turbulence of the hurricane caused two major levees to break, unleashing watery havoc on this jewel of a city. Almost certainly, thousands are dead. No one knows, because now the rescuers are bypassing the bodies in search of those still living. The bodies are left for the sharks and gators. One Homeland Security officer called this “about 100 times worse than 9/11.”

I only today grasped that this isn’t about a hurricane; the hurricane is gone. No, it is about a flood. A flood that is almost certainly biblical in scope to the poor souls who stayed in town. (Indeed I am sure that Robertson and Falwell will take the opportunity to call this God’s wrath for the city’s decadence. These people are the lowest form of smarm-mongers.)

I have nothing to say except how horrible this is. Donate here, or here, or here, or here.

Labels: The politics