It's like the Apocalypse down there.

I've been keeping up with all the developments along the Gulf Coast post-Katrina and I have to say I am both fascinated and horrified. It's like a real-life Lord of the Flies except on a much, much bigger and more devastating scale. People don't know what to do with themselves - and it seems like it's getting scarier by the minute. There have been shots fired at rescue helicopters! There are reports of sniper fire! It's tumbling toward anarchy and that is terrifying. I've been watching video on CNN documenting what is going on down there and it's so hard to believe that I'm watching footage of a major, iconic American city. People are wandering around in a daze. I can't even begin to imagine the fear and frustration they must be feeling. Not only are they shut off from water, electricity, food and other necessities, but many of them are shut off from friends and family. I saw one interview of a woman who was certain her family thought she was dead because she had no way to contact anyone. In other video, a woman told of how she started having contractions while swimming to get help for her five-year-old who was having an asthma attack. She, luckily, was airlifted to a hospital where she had her baby - she has no idea where her five-year-old is.

The photos of the devastation are just incredible. I was looking through an online album of "after" photos and at first glance, one of them looked like a picture of a lake. Upon looking more closely, I could just barely make out the roofs of hundreds of homes and the tops of hundreds of trees! It's all underwater! I can just imagine in a couple hundreds years children learning about "the old city of New Orleans. You can still see the foundations of the homes and the remnants of roads, children, at the bottom of Lake New Orleans!"

On top of all of this, I can't help but be astounded at the rising gas prices. My "cheap" gas station by the office jumped from being a $2.81/gallon at nine this morning to being $2.97 at noon! That's almost a 6% increase in three hours!! And from what I read, it's only going to get worse. Yesterday, I spent over $30 filling my tank - and I drive a Honda Civic! One woman I work with drives a Chevy Suburban and spends over $70 filling up. That is just mind-boggling to me. To think I used to complain about having to spend 20!

I pray for the day when this is all over. When we're no longer fighting a meaningless war, when gas prices are back to normal and when those poor people have returned to their homes and their lives - or at least have had the opportunity to begin new ones.