A personal reflection on this catastrophe...

[ALhurricane]

As a person who works with and for the public on a daily basis, I have all sorts of emotions flowing through me right now.

As a meteorologist, I am furious. All the hard work that fellow mets, EMAs, etc. put in to alert people and to tell them to get out. The result? A death toll likely to exceed that of Camille. Don't take it the wrong way...but until you put out that forecast that somebody didn't listen to, you really don't know what it feels like. All I can say is that the NWS, NHC, local emergency managers did their job, I just wish the unfortunate would have done theirs. That way they would have been with us today.

Taking the met out of me and I am just heartbroken. A native of south Alabama, I frequently visited the MS Gulf Coast. I felt it was part of me and part of my home. My grandparents are laid to rest at the Veteran's cemetary in Biloxi (I have no idea what condition it is in) so I have a deep emotional connection to the area. After seeing the pictures today, there are no words for me to accurately describe the emotions I feel. I have a best friend who doesn't know if he still has a home in Bay St. Louis. Some of my wife's relatives were in Picayune, MS and we have heard nothing. The silence is maddening and deafening. It leaves a giant void inside.

This is a catastrophe of epic proportions and one the scope of it is still not fully realized. For all those on the message boards who either expressed disappointment for the storm's 'weakening' or said it wasn't going to be that bad, I hope you have learned your lesson and will never speak that way again. Quite honestly, you have made me sick.

For those on the Storm2k that were affected or whose families have been affected, you have all of my thoughts and prayers with you.

I know this wasn't a weather post, but thank you for allowing me to 'vent' a little. May God be with all who are suffering at this time.

[Brent]

I agree with what you said... it's so sad that in 2005 with 24/7 weather info on TV and the internet... with the excellent forecasts and warnings from the NWS/NHC/EMA on how bad it was going be, that the death toll is going to be so high... so preventable.

[weatherSnoop]

The silence is maddening and deafening. It leaves a giant void inside.

AL,

I cannot imagine the impact of not knowing....Thank you for sharing your personal aingst. My prayers and well-wishes are being sent to your friend, your wife and her family and God rest the souls of your Grandparents.
I wish I could do more for you during these trying times, as you have provided so much to us through the seasons.

Lee

[wwicko]

There is a limit to any one person's power to affect events, especially when other human beings are involved. I am thankful that meteorologists such as yourself were able to save the thousands and thousands of lives that you have saved.

[jaxfladude]

As a person who works with and for the public on a daily basis, I have all sorts of emotions flowing through me right now.

As a meteorologist, I am furious. All the hard work that fellow mets, EMAs, etc. put in to alert people and to tell them to get out. The result? A death toll likely to exceed that of Camille. Don't take it the wrong way...but until you put out that forecast that somebody didn't listen to, you really don't know what it feels like. All I can say is that the NWS, NHC, local emergency managers did their job, I just wish the unfortunate would have done theirs. That way they would have been with us today.

Taking the met out of me and I am just heartbroken. A native of south Alabama, I frequently visited the MS Gulf Coast. I felt it was part of me and part of my home. My grandparents are laid to rest at the Veteran's cemetary in Biloxi (I have no idea what condition it is in) so I have a deep emotional connection to the area. After seeing the pictures today, there are no words for me to accurately describe the emotions I feel. I have a best friend who doesn't know if he still has a home in Bay St. Louis. Some of my wife's relatives were in Picayune, MS and we have heard nothing. The silence is maddening and deafening. It leaves a giant void inside.

This is a catastrophe of epic proportions and one the scope of it is still not fully realized. For all those on the message boards who either expressed disappointment for the storm's 'weakening' or said it wasn't going to be that bad, I hope you have learned your lesson and will never speak that way again. Quite honestly, you have made me sick.

For those on the Storm2k that were affected or whose families have been affected, you have all of my thoughts and prayers with you.

I know this wasn't a weather post, but thank you for allowing me to 'vent' a little. May God be with all who are suffering at this time.

May GOD give you His Love and Will to Live and ease your pain...

[crazycajuncane]

Yes I agree with everything you have said. Also as a met you should be disappointed in the way the media made it out to look like New Orleans spared the big one. The media plays a big role in what the nation thinks and believes. Over the years they have scared people into evacuations and the storms missed. People have become lax, because every storm was a big storm and like Dennis... failed to perform.

I'm not saying all media, especially not local media... but the national media and the hype of these "Killer Canes"

Hurricane Katrina shouldn't have been an "eye opener". People should have never played around with mother nature.

I agree with much of what you said. I just have been an emotional wreck all day. I have friends (nurses) that work in New Orleans that I can't reach. I'm very worried. I can't hardly sleep at night. May god bless all the survivors.