Praying For A Miracle

It's hard to imagine a situation in New Orleans worse than Katrina, but apparently that is exactly what is potentially bearing down on the Crescent City.

Right now Hurricane Gustav is a category four hurricane and about 900 miles in diameter. Katrina was a category 3 and about 400 miles in diameter.

First off, let me ask for your prayers and thoughts for a miracle. I was born in New Orleans and still have family, friends and property there.

Right now, some folks are on the road: my college roommate Jill, her husband and their one-year-old daughter Skyla are on the interstate heading anywhere north where they can find a hotel room.

My best friend Katie--who's pregnant--her husband Scott and son Michael - 15 months --- are en route to New Roads, LA, on the other side of Baton Rouge.

Both families have spent three years rebuilding, repairing and fighting back against what Katrina took away: jobs, parts of their homes, security, friends, the area's economy and amenities. Lowe's, Burge King and Target were still closing at 7 p-m a year after Katrina because there was no one available to staff them.

As Jill and Katie head out tonight, they have no idea what - if anything- they'll come home to find.

Jill's husband Kevin holds an MBA - she's an occupational therapist. When I say they fought to stay in New Orleans after Katrina, I mean that most literally.

His job transferred him to Texas post-Katrina.

She stayed in New Orleans to try to work her way back into her job at a local hospital and begin putting their home back together. Katrina and Rita didn't ruin everything, but looters sure tried to finish the job.

This is the house they bought while they were engaged. They spent a year, every weekend and every night after work, renovating it themselves before they were married and actually moved in. After a few months of long distance living, Kevin's job offered him a permanent position.... if they would relocate to Texas.

Being tried and true New Orleans residents, they said no. He moved home to New Orleans and they struggled and budgeted and fought to make ends meet until finally, her job was back to full time and the city's economy picked up enough to where he could find a full time job. At this moment, they're still driving....or rather crawling....down the interstate.

Tonight, my friend Finis informed me he will ride Gustav out. He's packed coolers full of food, stock-piled non-perishables and has his camera ready.

Finis is one of the most interesting people I've ever met. He's doesn't own a car, rarely leaves the French Quarter, is realtor extraordinare and his ex-wife is Gennifer Flowers...Bill Clinton's Gennifer Flowers. He spent the days following Katrina grilling out in front of his building in the French Quarter, serving anyone and everyone who was hungry, thirtsy or just needed the re-assurance of human contact.

Tonight when I asked him to reconsider leaving (I already knew the answer), he told me he's seen a lot in this world and this might be his only chance to ever witness a hurricane of this magnitude. And besides, if he doesn't make it, there's no better way to go. Also, the New York Times reporter he met during Katrina and several emergancy workers have already called to make sure he'll be grilling when it's all over with Monday. They'll be hungry.

Before we hung up tonight, in true Finis-fashion, he asked me if I'd like to wager a bet or a drink that he'd make it through just fine. He promised me he never loses.

My friend Tom is in tears tonight. Tom has served in both state and local government. He's now on the Jefferson Parish Council. I don't think I was really afraid until I heard him cry tonight: for all that could be lost, for all the heart and spirit that's gone into rebuilding, for the disappointment, for the feeling of defeat many residents are now battling, for the families who stand to be permanently seperated and the communities that may never be the same.

Yes, some have gotten and abused charity and federal aid. But so many more have lived on sheer determination and love for a city and a community and a cullture. They've pinched pennies, helped each other rebuild and encouraged each other through.

But now tonight, Tom questions whether that never-give-up spirit can live through another storm of the century, a second mac-daddy punch just three years later.

He'll be riding the storm out in a Jefferson Parish Government building. He too refuses to leave, although his wife and two small daughters are thankfully out of harm's way.

So tonight I ask for your thoughts and prayers for a miracle that Gustav will stall, as well as for the spirits and hearts and minds of so many that may soon be tested again, even more than before.