We all share in nightmare of New Orleans

Bodies are scattered outside the New Orleans convention center. An old man in a chaise lounge lays dead in a grassy median while hungry babies wail around him. Around the corner, an elderly woman lays dead in her wheelchair, covered with a blanket, while another body lays nearby, wrapped in a sheet.

The Big Easy is living a nightmare.

This morning, residents who could get some sleep were jolted awake by an explosion at a chemical depot, and hundreds of National Guardsmen are returning from Iraq only to train their guns on looters in the South.

When a military helicopter tried to land at the convention center, it had instead to drop supplies into the crowd from 10 feet off the ground.

When a tourist asked a police officer for help, his response was "go to hell -- it's every man for himself." The Louisiana State Police chief said he has heard of numerous instances of New Orleans police officers turning in their badges rather than lose their lives taking fire from looters.

Staff members at some hospitals are nearing panic as they struggle to keep alive the most critically ill patients without power, while running out of basic supplies. Helicopters trying to evacuate patients are shot at by other residents who think they should be taken out first.

But these are only the worst of the stories. We know there are even more stories of heroism and self-sacrifice that will take more time to be told.

Mayor Ray Nagin is understandably frustrated and angry over the slow pace of response from federal officials. "I have no idea what they're doing, but I will tell you this: God is looking down on all this and if they're not doing everything in their power to save people, they are going to pay the price because every day that we delay, people are dying, and they're dying by the hundreds," Nagin said.

The truth is, no one believed how bad damage from Hurricane Katrina could turn out, and even if someone in authority had known, it is extremely doubtful the area could have been evacuated in time.

The disaster was a double-whammy -- first the storm surge, then the collapse of the levees that kept the water out of a precariously located city. Congress is rushing through $10.5 billion in early relief aid, and more will be on the way. That money will almost certainly come at the expense of a deeper federal deficit, but we'll all pay in other ways. To see one example, just check the gasoline prices, which climbed above $3.15 a gallon today in McCook.

But Americans are generous, and there are many ways we can help. For a list, check out the Gazette's Web page at http://mccookgazette.com.

Ultimately, and certainly, however, it will be the people of New Orleans and Mississippi who rebuild their lives for the future.