The only time I visited New Orleans was long before Hurricane Katrina, and it was a decadent visit. I overindulged in Bourbon Street pastimes and my memories of the city are hazy but delicious. I’ve yearned to go back ever since.
This weekend marks a horrific anniversary for the cradle of jazz, and three years later almost to the day, there’s a carefully planned city wide evacuation in the face of the category-four Hurricane Gustav. The news report I just saw on ABC indicated that Gustav could be a category five by Sunday.
I know how we here in Miami feel when our city is threatened by a hurricane — the frantic lines at the grocery store and the gas station, the pressure to safeguard your home and your worldly possessions, and to protect your family and pets. I can just imagine the fear and panic and emotion swirling in the hearts of Nawlins natives today, for whom the devastation of Katrina is a recent nightmare. I just wanted to offer support to everyone in New Orleans and up the coast all the way to Alabama. Be smart, stay safe, and our prayers are with you.
** photo courtesy Stereohyped.
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