Please, if you haven’t donated to the Red Cross or other relief agencies, consider doing so. I’ve been working so hard that I’ve had little time to read the news beyond what I hear in the background on CNN while at work. Today, I had a chance to take a long break and read news stories and reports from CNN and other news sources. The stories coming out of New Orleans are heartbreaking. Dead bodies lying in the streets, looting being the only source for food and water, and an enormous amount of damage that’s impossible for me to comprehend. New Orleans is in dire straits, one of our major and most beautiful cities. The images and reports make it seem like a third world city and the slow response by authorities seems hard to understand.

I’d also encourage people to contact their representatives and senators and encourage them to support measures to ease the burden on the affected citizens. There’s a move right now to shield affected residents of Louisiana and Mississippi from the recently passed bankruptcy bill. The school districts taking on refuge students need extra funding, too. Congress also needs to evaluate seriously whether we’re planning and staffing key agencies correctly. The head of FEMA and disaster investigators should not be political appointees but career staffers with expertise in disaster recovery. Four years after 9/11 and we still seem slow to react to a disaster like this. It’s disappointing to say the least.