It may be weeks before even reasonable estimates of the death toll can be made. Recovering bodies of the dead is a lower priority to the desperate effort of rescuing the living.

The destruction of Katrina has been compared to that of the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 26, 2004. Katrina's death toll would have been much higher if we didn't have our present-day, advanced warning systems. Part of the tragedy is that many residents would not or could not evacuate even when passionately warned.

For a long time, storm analysts have considered the worst-case scenario for the U.S. to be an intense hurricane hitting New Orleans, a strategic coastal city which lies largely below sea level. That nightmare has happened.

Many areas are flooded. New Orleans may have standing water for weeks, polluted with sewage, garbage, chemicals, and snakes—a cesspool for breeding mosquitoes and disease. Remaining residents of New Orleans are being evacuated, the first time a major U.S. city has been completely evacuated since Atlanta and Richmond during the Civil War.

Modern high-tech civilization is wonderful when all the complex interdependent services and infrastructure are functioning. But when they fail, citizens dependent on these things are trapped, largely unprepared and helpless to survive. They suffer from the loss of communication, transportation, mail services and medical care. Physical and mental suffering increases significantly.

No water for drinking and washing and flushing toilets! No food! No electricity, which means no way to preserve perishable food, power gasoline pumps, get relief from the heat and humidity or recharge cell phone batteries! No schools! No jobs! No income! These are but a few of the ways in which we are highly vulnerable to both natural disasters and terrorism.

Disasters usually bring out the best and worst in people, revealing the true character of each individual. Countless caring people, both the professional emergency-personnel and volunteers, rush to help their neighbors. We can thank God for all the generous people who are willing to donate, sacrifice, and even suffer hardship and danger to rescue or give aid to the victims. They are true heroes, showing compassion for the suffering as did Jesus Christ during His earthly ministry.

Sadly, we also see sickening examples—people taking advantage of others and of opportunities for crime. When hungry people loot for food, though wrong, it is understandable. But much of the looting has been for non-essentials. How much lawlessness, violence, and anarchy will we see? Time will tell.

With each world disaster, we can't help but wonder if God had a part in it? Hours before landfall, Katrina took a sudden unexpected turn to the east from its projected course so that it did not hit New Orleans directly. Just before landfall, it was also unexplainably reduced in intensity from a Category 5 to a Category 4 hurricane.

Did God intervene to mute the storms devastating impact on those who had not heeded the many warnings and pleas to evacuate the entire coastal region? Perhaps so!

Though God allows disasters to occur, He also is very merciful. The Bible is full of promises that those who call on God sincerely, especially those who seek to do His will, may be the beneficiaries of His miraculous care and blessings even when danger and disaster is all around them.

As ancient king David said, "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me …" (Psalm 23:4, NIV, compare Psalm 91). No doubt there will be countless stories of prayers answered during the fury of Katrina and additional reports of miraculous deliverance.

Yet it is good to remember that the end of any person's life can come unexpectedly. We all would be wise to live each day as if it were the last.

The great lesson we can learn from the "Katrina" disaster is that we should not be taking the life and blessings that God has given us for granted (James 4:13-15). It is good to constantly remind ourselves that "... the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers; but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil" (1 Peter 3:12).