Hurricane Katrina: American Tsunami

New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin proclaimed that his city has just gone their own tsunami after ordering a mandatory evacuation of the metropolitan area. It is believed that hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people died in the hurricane, making it the nation's worst natural disaster since the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

While the aftermath of the hurricane may not equate to the monstrosity of the Asian tsunami last December, the initial estimated damages are $26 billion, more than the cost of September 11 clean up.

President Bush has declared the Gulf coast area a national disaster area. There is growing concern that the prolonged flooding will lead to an outbreak of health problems for those who remain in hurricane-affected areas. In addition to dehydration and food poisoning, there is also a potential for hepatitis A, cholera and typhoid fever, all related to the growing contamination of food and drinking water supplies in the area. The longer these people are stranded in the searing heat the more will perish from the aforementioned causes.

However the biggest problem right now is the deteriorating law enforcement conditions as a large number of looting is being reported.New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin ordered 1,500 New Orleans police officers to abandon the search and rescue effort Wednesday evening to address the increasingly violent looting occurring in New Orleans. The order effectively redirects all New Orleans officers away from the search and rescue efforts. An Associated Press report quotes Ray Nagin as saying, "[The looters] are starting to get closer to heavily populated areas — hotels, hospitals, and we're going to stop it right now." Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco said she was "furious" about the looting. "What angers me the most is disasters tend to bring out the best in everybody, and that's what we expected to see", Governor Blanco said at a news conference. "Instead, it brought out the worst".

On September 1, following an incident when a military helicopter was shot at, evacuation of the Superdome has been suspended, until the area around the Superdome is under control

At this time more help is going to be needed from everyone. To find out what you can do, please contact the American Red Cross, www.redcross.org.