Editor’s Note: A Loss Greater than We Can Imagine

There has been great sadness in my heart over the past two weeks as we’ve all witnessed the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and her aftermath.

All along the Gulf Coast, Katrina took out homes, buildings, lives … the impact is the most substantial I’ve seen in my lifetime, in the United States.

As an insurance professional, it’s likely that you’ve attended a conference in New Orleans-a long-standing favorite for conventions among all industries. In fact, my very first visit to New Orleans was for the Big I convention back in 2002. Since then, I’ve returned whenever it has been possible-sometimes for days, sometimes for weeks. For me, it has become a refuge. And my refuge has now been destroyed.

In conditions many of us could never even fathom, storm survivors spent days at the Superdome and the Convention Center waiting to be evacuated. For five days, they waited with no food, no water, no facilities to relieve themselves or bathe. Violence increased and the government dragged its feet. Help finally arrived but was it too little, too late?

The socioeconomic divide of New Orleans was clearly defined on the television, in the newspapers, on the Internet. The far majority of evacuees at the Superdome and Convention Center were African American, and likely poor. Could it have been, on a subconscious level, that the government did respond quickly enough because of their socioeconomic status?

On Friday, Sept. 2, when the government finally came in to evacuate those still stranded with no food or water, they first evacuated those stuck in the Ritz Carlton. Afterwards, they evacuated Charity Hospital, whose doctors, nurses and patients had been living in deplorable conditions for days, with the health of all declining rapidly. Finally, they passed out some food and water to those standing outside in the hot New Orleans sun at the Superdome and the Convention Center. They bussed out a handful of refugees, but thousands remained until Saturday, even Sunday before they too were evacuated.

This disaster is not just physical damage from Katrina-but instead, is about a city that will not only face physical rebuilding, but emotional as well. The entire city’s livelihood has been threatened by the government’s lack of responsiveness to this disaster. Old wounds have been reopened, and new ones created. I only hope that the city-and our country-can be strong enough to overcome them and move on into a brighter future. One that includes a beautiful, proud New Orleans as we have always known it.

Topics Profit Loss