In literary terms, tragedy is when the main character experiences ruin or extreme sorrow as a consequence of a character flaw or inability to deal with difficult circumstances.

It was with sorrow that I first read about the destruction that Katrina was creating as she tore through the south. It is amazing what Mother Nature can do and our impotence in the face of natural disasters. As stories continued to flow from New Orleans, sorrow is now mixed with horror as I read about the conditions that people are in and what desperation is driving people to do. The physical destruction and deaths due to that destruction are tragic; crimes of human against human take that tragedy literally to epic proportions.

My heart goes out to those dealing with the aftermath. It will take years to recover, and scars will likely be permanent. While there are ways to donate money for food and supplies, what can we do to reduce the chance that people will ever be in this situation again? How can this happen in the United States of America in the 21st century?

For now, the only thing I can think to do is to support oranizations like these:

www.redcross.org
www.salvationarmyusa.org/USNSAHome.htm
www.uwkc.org
www.nwmedicalteams.org