A better day in NOLA

A better day in NOLA

Most probably wouldn’t know it, but the tide literally turns in New Orleans tonight.  Much like a neophyte driver, the media tends to over correct as it swerves through a story, too optimistic, too pessimistic, too understated and too much hyperbole.

Remember as Katrina was bearing down on New Orleans? “Category 5, the worst nightmare of the century,” became “New Orleans survived a scare with just a minor brush up as the storm missed,” which became “the worst natural disaster in recorded history of our country.”

No doubt it is bad. But the flow of water through the breaches in the levies has either stopped or reversed.  The water stops rising, and it seems as I circulate between CNN, FOX and other news networks, that organization is beginning to develop.  Buses are hauling the weary and bedraggled to shelters in Houston, Baton Rouge and other places where there will be medical attention, electricity, air conditioning, fresh water and working plumbing.

The painful decision of complete evacuation has been made, and though it will take time to implement, the decision itself is a solid sign of progress. Looting will subside, and security will be restored.  

Further east on the gulf coast, the heavy equipment is already moving debris.  Chain saws will be buzzing, and the residents will reclaim their community.

Sometimes it is easier to break the really hard projects into a series of smaller tasks which you dispatch one at a time.  It is the only way you can see the progress. For NOLA the next few years will be a very hard project.

Like a gawker at a car wreck, I can’t pull myself from the television, even though I actually have work to do.  There’s an irony that I, and just about everyone else in the world knows more about what is happening in NOLA right now, than those still sitting in the muck just trying to survive.

One certain way to ensure that the progress can continue is to contribute to that effort, through one of many organizations that are valiantly putting the pieces back together:

Red Cross

Salvation Army

Soldier's Angels

Operation Blessing

FEMA list of Charitable Organizations