I posted the following in my blog on Aug. 28, 2005, the day Katrina bore down on the Gulf Coast:\r\n\r\nPlease pray for the people of Louisiana and Mississippi. Say a prayer for the elderly, poor and plain old crazies that live in New Orleans. Having lived there, I can’t figure out how over a million people can evacuate the bowl-like terrain.\r\n\r\nLuckily, New Orleans has back roads galore, unlike the Florida panhandle. But there\'s a big difference between well over a million people vs. a scant tens of thousands trying to get out of town.\r\n\r\nI\'ve rode out my share of storms, once even in the back of my parent\'s old Impala, but there hasn\'t been a storm like this since the 60s. This one scares me and I\'m a good five hours away.\r\n\r\nSo pray. Even if it\'s not something you normally do, pray for these people. These are not the rich ones with houses practically tipping over into the Gulf who whine about the color of the sand their counties use to replace the dunes. These are not the people who believe the beachfront is their private backyard. Not this time. The Louisiana and Mississippi coastlines are not conducive to vacations unless one enjoys spending the day in a casino. The few beachfront homes that still exist in Mississippi are mostly the old family kind with graceful oaktrees in the front yard.\r\n\r\nSo pray. Many will not be able to leave. Some won\'t have transportation and even those who do won\'t be able to get fuel. (Hundreds of miles away, the gas stations here started running out two days ago.) These people will be lucky to get to the Superdome where they\'ll sit in the dark while hundreds of babies wail and adults bicker. With no ventilation, they\'ll be hot, afraid and so very tired, wondering if they\'ll have a home to go back to. Their pets won\'t be allowed in the shelters; many will be locked inside houses, others will roam streets lost.\r\n\r\nSo pray. Just because they knew it was coming doesn\'t mean they could do anything about it.\r\n\r\n----\r\nEven though I live far down the coast from Katrina\'s landfall, the winds and surf were frightening here. My 73 year old father was living on the Mississippi coast at the time and was missing for a week after.