Katrina—Worst National Disaster in U.S. History
A commentary by Don Hooser
United Church of God pastor, Sedro-Woolley, WA
When Hurricane Katrina slammed
into the Gulf coast on the morning of August 29, 2005, its grim domino
aftermath caused catastrophic devastation, especially in the heavily
populated coastal areas of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. 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).
 For
a much more thorough explanation of why God permits so much human suffering
in so many different ways, please request or download now your own free
copy of our helpful and enlightening booklet: Why Does God
Allow Suffering?
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