Katrina: The worst is yet to come
Now that Hurricane Katrina has left Florida behind, it is taking aim on the City of New Orleans. New Orleans hasn't suffered a direct hit from a storm in many, many years, and Ol' B2 is afraid that the Crescent City, one of my favorite fun towns, is in for a rough time.
The Big Easy is also facing one of the most powerful storms any area must endure. Katrina has gulped in the shallow, warm Gulf of Mexico waters like an athlete using steroids to strengthen into a monster Category 4 hurricane -- hovering near the Category 5 range. It's perfectly-formed eye is generating sustained winds of 150 miles per hour and will sometime today slam into the Louisiana Delta.
This may sound callous but it's one thing for a smaller metropolitan area, say the size of Pensacola, Florida, to receive the brunt of such a storm. There simply is not as much critical infrastructure to rebuild. It's quite another, however, for a city the size of New Orleans. That is why of all the damage costs associated with hurricanes, the 1992 devastation of Hurricane Andrew in the metro Miami area still tops the list at $43 billion dollars. New Orleans may be as costly -- and costly in human life as well. And don't forget that one-quarter of all national oil refinery production is smack dab in the middle of Katrina's path.
Ol' B2 has experience dealing with these storms and has helped in their recovery efforts too many times to feel good about this one. Katrina is a killer; God protect our fellow citizens in the Gulf.