My sympathies and sincere hopes for a safe outcome for all those folks in the path of Hurricane Katrina. While not quite as powerful as at first feared, there is nothing predictable about a Category Four storm.

My family suffered damage to their home during several floods when I was a child, back in Norwich, Connecticut. Twice most of our furniture was a total loss. We were only a few hundred feet from the Shetucket River which had a tendency to flood every few years, especially where we were since it joined with the Quinnipiac River to become the Thames a few miles further south.

While serving in the U.S. Navy I had the opportunity to be stationed in several southern cities. I spent about half a year in Mobile, AL in 1985 –’86 and found the city was to be lovely and the people, for the most part, couldn’t have been nicer to this Yankee boy. The images I’ve seen of the storm so far have me hoping for the best.

I also spent a couple of months in Meridian, MS, so I’m also keeping my fingers crossed for those folks, as well as all those in New Orleans and the surrounding area. I had the chance to visit New Orleans for Mardi Gras and had hoped to return one day. Let’s hope that the damage I’ve heard of isn’t as bad as the TV talking heads would have us believe.