Katrina

Hurricane Katrina is targeting the Gulf Coast of the US, exactly where we drove along it, six weeks ago. We visited Mobile, Alabama, and New Orleans, both of which are suffering heavy hurricane damage, and drove through Biloxi, a casino beach resort which looks as if it's going to be flattened. I had no idea, before we went there, just how low-lying NO was, or how it sits on its island in the middle of Lake Ponchetrain (which looks like a sea, to my eyes), connected to the mainland only by three bridges and some swamp. It's beautiful, but all too easy to imagine it getting buried under 20 feet waves. It looks as if the damage could have been worse, mercifully - I can't begin to imagine what it must be like trying to recover from such a disaster. Thank goodness most people evacuated in plenty of time - modern technology is amazing.