The Perfect Storm

Life in South Florida is never boring, that's for sure. Recently, I was kind of reminded of that old Humphrey Bogart movie about the people shut in a hotel during a nasty squall in Key West (does anyone remember the name of that movie?) Well, let me tell you that no sooner had I brought the wife and kids here and shipped my cars and household goods from the Bay Area, when all of a sudden - HURRICANE KATRINA!! Literally two days after we moved into the Embassy Suites at Boca Raton, Hurricane Katrina came barreling towards Florida like the hot kiss at the end of a wet fist. My office closed early on Thursday, my younger son's middle school let out early on Thursday and was closed on Friday, and my older son's college shut down on Thursday and Friday. I was one of the last hold-outs at the office, and my young son kept calling me every 15 minutes asking me when would I get to the hotel because he was scared. My wife and two older kids were holding down the fort, but my young son was frightened, I could hear it in his voice and pleadings for me to come home. I finally got to the hotel and we huddled around the TV for a while watching the storm news, then went into the atrium lobby and restaurant where we watched seas of people from farther south who had lost their electricity and/or their homes start checking into the hotel. Everyone was glued to their TV sets trying to get updates on the hurricane's ferocity and location. Thankfully, Boca Raton was spared any major damage, but just 30 minutes to the south in Fort Lauderdale was where Hurricane Katrina made landfall. We drove through there a couple of days afterwards, and there were clean-up crews on the beach and in the streets taken care of downed powerlines and felled trees. Sadly, 5 Floridians lost their lives. Worse, a few days later the storm headed up the Gulf Coast and nailed Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama before dissappating and heading up the continent. I've been watching the news about New Orleans in abject horror. My heart goes out to the unfortunate masses who are in such dire straights - the looting, the armed robberies, the depravity, the lawlessness. Literally speaking, this is a disaster of biblical proportions!! I saw an interview of a middle-aged man talking through tears as he explained he had to let go of this wife's hand as the flood waters tore him away from their house, and he hasn't been able to find her since. Tragic, horrific, terrible, simply overwhelming. Watching the news yesterday looked like a re-run of some B-movie zombie flick, it looks that hopeless and bad. I hope and pray that the government, charitable groupos and civic organizations will mercifully help all these people get their lives back together. Search your hearts, and send your donations through your favorite charity now....... Meanwhile, as life slowly settles back into what passes for normalcy around South Florida, we adapt to our environs, and life goes on. Work continues going well, my wife and kids make friends and learn the neighborhood, the Perfect Storm recedes into a memory of the past......