Katrina's Devastation -- God's Punishment for New Orleans' Wildness?
by Allie Martin and Jody Brown
September 1, 2005
(AgapePress) - While relief agencies continue to reach out to the victims of Hurricane Katrina in the Southeast, violence and looting in the areas struck by the storm has National Guardsmen and law enforcement changing their priorities.
Hundreds of National Guard troops have entered New Orleans as they attempt to quell the violence and chaos that has erupted in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Looting has been commonplace throughout the flooded city, and the looters have become increasingly more hostile -- causing New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin to order virtually his entire police force to abandon search-and-rescue efforts and instead focus their efforts on stopping thieves. And rescue efforts at the water-surrounded Superdome were interrupted briefly today when a shot was reportedly fired at a helicopter above the stadium.
Meanwhile, Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour has acknowledged that while tragedies like Katrina often bring out the best in people, they also can bring out the worst. Speaking on NBC earlier today about looters, Barbour stated "We're trying to deal with looters as ruthlessly as we can get our hands on them."
The nation's third-largest disaster relief operation is feeding and providing assistance to tens of thousands of victims of Hurricane Katrina. More than 24 units from Disaster Relief Services of the Southern Baptist Convention are in Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, and Georgia. Jim Burton, director of volunteer mobilization for the SBC's North American Mission Board, says the relief efforts are monumental -- and the concerns are many.
"Our first [concern], of course, is we want to be able to provide hot, balanced meals to the victims," Burton says. "But we also are going in with shower trailers because we know many of these people haven't even had the comfort of a hot shower yet.
"And then, of course, we will go on with cleanup and recovery teams. In the areas where we can start removing debris from homes, we'll do that -- and eventually we will be involved in probably doing some mud-out in some of the homes that can be salvaged."
Katrina, he says, is perhaps the most devastating natural disaster to hit the U.S. in recent years. "The conditions are just horrific," the relief coordinator says. "The images on TV [and] in the newspapers are accurate. I don't think anything's being exploited whatsoever."
Even the weather is factor in the relief efforts, he says. "The situation is difficult; you add to that the heat and the humidity that you have this time of year in the South, and our volunteers are facing a huge, huge challenge in the days ahead."
Burton estimates volunteer crews will be busy in hurricane-affected areas for at least the next four months.
'Payback' to the Big Easy?
Major George Hood, a spokesman for The Salvation Army, says the devastation from Hurricane Katrina is worse than that following September 11, 2001. Hood explains in an Associated Press report that Salvation Army teams are helping feed rescue workers, and will mobilize to assist tens of thousands of evacuees who are being moved into Houston churches and the Astrodome.
As both an evangelical church and a charity, the Salvation Army offers disaster assistance in Jesus' name -- but with compassion and sensitivity, says Hood.
The spokesman for The Salvation Army also tells AP he does not know if God was punishing New Orleans. "People are going to start saying this is payback to New Orleans for all of their raucous lifestyle," he offers. "Well, I'm not sure I buy into that. It's part of the master plan; I don't fully understand the master plan. But I put my faith into Him and allow Him to be in control of my life."
But one Christian activist in Pennsylvania has a different take on that topic. Michael Marcavage of Repent America notes that two days after Katrina struck New Orleans, that city was scheduled to begin hosting the 34th annual homosexual celebration known as "Southern Decadence," a gala that draws thousands of homosexuals to New Orleans. But Katrina, says Marcavage, "has put an end to the annual celebration of sin."
"New Orleans was a city that had its doors wide open to the public celebration of sin," the Repent American director says in a press release. "Although the loss of lives is deeply saddening, this act of God destroyed a wicked city. Let us pray for those ravaged by this disaster, [but] we must not forget that the citizens of New Orleans tolerated and welcomed the wickedness in their city for so long."
Marcavage hopes Hurricane Katrina causes all American citizens to "think about what we tolerate in our city limits" and brings people "trembling before the throne of Almighty God."
