On Monday morning, the Gulf Coast of the United States was hit with one of the most fierce, devastating – and powerful hurricanes in our country’s history. The size of Rhode Island, Katrina hit the region with 150 mile per hour winds – and rainfall in some areas reaching a staggering eighteen inches per hour. After the hurricane finally passed, hundreds of people were dead, tens of thousands of people were left without power, millions are displaced and/or homeless – and eighty percent of the City of New Orleans is currently under water.

As I sit in front of my television and watch the pictures of the destruction left by Katrina, I am stunned. To see people standing on their roofs waiting to be airlifted to safety, others wading through potentially contaminated water to find dry land, and most of New Orleans’ residents seeking shelter in the City’s Superdome to simply get some food and shelter is very disheartening. As I always say, no matter how smart, savvy, technologically advanced, or prepared we are as humans – we must still bow to the power of Mother Nature. Despite all that we have accomplished – all it takes is one storm to destroy it all – and force us to rebuild from the ground up.

Speaking of rebuilding, insurance estimators now believe that Katrina’s path of destruction could cost insurance companies over $25 billion – making Katrina the costliest hurricane in American history, easily surpassing Hurricane Andrew, which destroyed much of Florida in 1992, and caused $15.5 billion in insured losses. Yesterday, President Bush declared Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama as disaster areas, making their residents eligible for federal assistance if they don’t have insurance, or have damages that exceed their insurance coverage. In addition, the American Red Cross, the U.S. Military as well as volunteers from all over the country are pouring into the region to do whatever they can to help bring the battered states back to normalcy.

Unfortunately, while the Red Cross and other volunteers are able to help provide relief for the victims of Katrina, most of the National Guard has to deal with looters – who are traipsing through downtown New Orleans doing much of what Katrina did – taking whatever crosses their path. Looters of any kind make me sick, but to only think to steal from stores that have already suffered irreparable damage instead of helping to repair the City they live in proves that they are as diseased as the water that currently runs through their City. One particular New Orleans store owner actually stood his ground within his store and put a sign in the window that said, “You Loot: I’ll Shoot.” Good for him.

My prayers of course go out to the victims of this terrible tragedy. President Bush said it would take years to rebuild the damage done by Hurricane Katrina, and Lord knows how long it will take for the residents of the effected areas to return to their homes. I can’t imagine losing all of my belongings in a natural disaster and being displaced for an undetermined amount of time. I pray that each and every person currently suffering from this catastrophic event maintain their health and sanity as they try and rebuild their lives. And I hope that all of us try and send whatever we can to the Red Cross to allow them to do the phenomenal job they always do – to offer support, prayer and much needed assistance to our fellow Americans.

If you would like to donate to the Red Cross, please call 1-800-HELP-NOW or log onto www.redcross.org.