Hurricane Memories

As I watch the coverage of the destruction of New Orleans and Mississippi I am reminded of two journeys I made to Florida in the wake of Hurricane Andrew. I went to provide Crisis Intervention for the Air Force Reserve unit at Homestead, Florida. I went to Florida twice. The first time we arrived just a week after the hurricane went through. It was our judgment that folk were not ready at that point to process the event. Since that experience I have had training with Lutheran Disaster Response and have learned that a disaster has two parts, rescue and recovery. Rescue has to do with establishing a viable conditions for life. When we went to Homestead the first time the Reserve community was in the rescue mode. When we returned a couple of weeks later they were ordered to attend our debriefing sessions. Were heard some astonishing stories. Here's just one picture of the damage.

The feeling that is returning to me as I watch the Rescue and Recovery Operations for Hurricane Katrina is a feeling of overwhelming sadness at the loss that has been sustained by the thousands of people living in the path of the wrath of nature. It is a feeling that seems embedded in the environment itself, it is so pervasive. God bless all the people who have been affected by this disaster. Bless all who rescue and all who help. Let a new birth emerge from the rubble of flood and wind. In the name of Jesus who is present always. Amen