Hurricane Katrina has blazed a trail of devastation throughout Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Across the Gulf Coast, Katrina engulfed thousands of homes and decimated the landscape in what could become the most destructive storm in U.S. history. Victims are stranded and in need of immediate medical care, food and water, and tens of thousands of people will need temporary housing for months.

Help people affected by this storm by making a donation today.

NEW ORLEANS - With thousands feared drowned in what could be America’s deadliest natural disaster in a century, New Orleans’ leaders all but surrendered the streets to floodwaters Wednesday and began turning out the lights on the ruined city — perhaps for months.

Looting spiraled so out of control that Mayor Ray Nagin ordered virtually the entire police force to abandon search-and-rescue efforts and focus on the brazen packs of thieves who have turned increasingly hostile.

If the mayor’s death-toll estimate holds true, it would make Katrina the worst natural disaster in the United States since at least the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire, which have blamed for anywhere from about 500 to 6,000 deaths. Katrina would also be the nation’s deadliest hurricane since 1900, when a storm in Galveston, Texas, killed between 6,000 and 12,000 people.

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NEW ORLEANS - Hurricane Katrina plowed into this below-sea-level city Monday with howling, 145-mph winds and blinding rain that ripped away pieces of the roof of the Superdome, knocked out power and flooded some homes to the ceilings. Katrina weakened overnight to a Category 4 storm and turned slightly eastward before hitting land about 6:10 a.m. CDT east of Grand Isle near the bayou town of Buras, providing some hope that this vulnerable city would be spared the storm’s full fury.
But National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield warned that New Orleans would be pounded throughout the day and that Katrina’s potential 15-foot storm surge, down from a feared 28 feet, was still enough to cause extensive flooding.

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Floodwaters surround a car in downtown New Orleans
(AP Photo/Bill Haber)

Early this morning I posted about Hurricane Katrina being a Catagory 4….now it’s up to a Catagory 5. New Orleans, being as much as 10 feet below sea level in places, has been evacuated. Those who can’t leave the city are taking up shelter in the Superdome and high rise hotels. If the storm gets as bad as predicted, New Orleans could be flooded.
My thoughts are with the people left in the city and all those in surrounding areas that could get hit by the hurricane. Stay safe.

NEW ORLEANS - Monstrous Hurricane Katrina barreled toward the Big Easy on Sunday with 165-mph wind and a threat of a 28-foot storm surge, forcing a mandatory evacuation, a last-ditch Superdome shelter and prayers for those left to face the doomsday scenario this below-sea-level city has long dreaded.

“Have God on your side, definitely have God on your side,” Nancy Noble said as she sat with her puppy and three friends in six lanes of one-way traffic on gridlocked Interstate 10. “It’s very frightening.”

Katrina intensified into a Category 5 giant over the warm water of the Gulf of Mexico on a path to make landfall at sunrise Monday in the heart of New Orleans. That would make it the city’s first direct hit in 40 years and the most powerful storm ever to slam the city. It eased slightly during the day, with top sustained wind down from 175 mph, but forecasters said fluctuations were likely.

But forecasters warned that Mississippi was also in danger because Katrina was such a big storm — with hurricane-force winds extending up to 105 miles from the center — that even areas far from the landfall could be devastated.

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Traffic along highway 90 leaving Morgan City, La.
(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Hurricane season is in full swing in the Atlantic. Katrina started out as a Catagory 1 on Thursday when it hit southern Florida. It has since been upgraded to a Catagory 4 when it passed over the Gulf of Mexico early today.

NEW ORLEANS - Coastal residents jammed freeways and gas stations as they rushed to get out of the way of Hurricane Katrina, which grew into a dangerous Category 4 storm early Sunday as it headed for New Orleans and the Louisiana coast.

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is not a test. This is the real deal,” New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin said at a news conference. “Board up your homes, make sure you have enough medicine, make sure the car has enough gas. Do all things you normally do for a hurricane but treat this one differently because it is pointed towards New Orleans.”

Katrina gained strength overnight, become a Category 4 monster with 145 mph sustained winds as it moved over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico early Sunday.

The storm formed in the Bahamas and ripped across South Florida on Thursday, causing nine deaths, before moving into the Gulf of Mexico.

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Katrina on Friday - AP Photo

John Roberts is not one to be appointed to the empty Supreme Court seat. If positioned to the seat, Roberts will work hard to overturn Roe vs. Wade, as he has stated that it was wrongly decided.
I personally disagree with abortion except in extreme cases, but a woman should always have the right to choose. If Roe vs. Wade is oveturned, we will go back to back-alley abortions that will put women’s lives in danger.
Roberts Targeted in New Commercial

Please sign the following petition to keep Roberts out of the Supreme Court seat.
Help Stop Bush’s Anti-Choice Supreme Court Nominee – John Roberts

I can’t even think about the starving childen without my eyes tearing up and my sinuses clogging. Niger is in the midst of a famine that kills hundreds of thousands of people, especially children under 5 years.

Children, gaunt and sick and too weak to lift their heads, are dying all over the country. There are no available estimates of how many have died this year–in the wake of a drought and locusts that decimated last year’s crop–but Doctors Without Borders, the international relief agency, has treated nearly 15,000 starving children this year. Many could not be saved.

Some of the charities bringing aid to Niger, please help if you can:

The U.S. Fund for UNICEF: 333 E. 38th St., New York, N.Y., 10016; 800-4UNICEF; http://www.unicefusa.org

Doctors Without Borders USA: P.O. Box 1856, Merrifield, Va., 22116-8056; 888-392-0392; http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org

CARE: Gift Center, P.O. Box 1871, Merrifield, Va., 22116-9753; 800-521-CARE, ext. 999; http://www.careusa.org

UN World Food Program: U.S. Friends of the WFP, 1819 L St. NW, Suite 400, Washington, D.C., 20036; 202-530-1694; http://www.friendsofwfp.org

Onesome - Drop: Have you ever dropped something that you can’t believe you did? Was it a priceless item or that big secret?
Yep, many times. Can’t remember anything specific, though.

Twosome - Gas Prices: How much is a gallon of gas going for where you are?
Today, my hubby said it was $2.80!!

Threesome - Please Read: What’s that latest item you’re reading? Is it for pleasure or are you required to read it?
I’ve been reading the 5th Harry Potter book - The Order of the Phoenix. I’m one book behind…lol. Most definitely reading for pleasure.

Thursday Threesome

I’ve been blogging since January of this year and I have never looked into using plugins for my blog. I don’t know why…I use tons of plugins for my graphics program and I love ‘em! So anyway, I’ve been looking at all sorts of plugins for my blog and have added a few. So far I’ve been getting them from here: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/. If you know of anymore places I can find some, please let me know! I’ve become addicted!

Your Knowledge

Do you keep a journal or some other archive to keep track of what you learn, rituals you attend, etc?
I was writting them in a notebook journal, but I find it hard to keep up with it that way. I’m a techie Pagan…lol. I gotta do it all computer. So I use my blog as my journal. Makes it much easier and I tend to keep up on it better.

Would you ever want to share all the knowledge you’ve gained on your path? Or would you prefer to keep it personal, only to those close to you?
Well, since I put it all in my blog, which is public, I am sharing it!

How do you plan to pass down what you know to your children?
When they get older and get more interested (if they get interested…lol), I’ll explain my beliefs more in-depth and if they really want to participate, I’ll let them. For now, I just sort of incorporate the Sabbats in with the Christian holidays…since that’s what we’ve always celebrated (in a secular way). I bake goodies and give a brief explaination of the occasion. I’m also sure to leave the way open for all beliefs. ‘G’ (my 9 year old) asks spiritual/religious questions once in a while and I answer the best I can…keeping all beliefs open.

Witches Weekly

I’ve been wanting to give my blog a new look for a while now. I got down to business today and created the graphics for it and I’m getting everything changed around. I decided to go with an autumnish theme since it’s just around the corner. I’m also merging this blog with my Blog of Shadows - my Pagan blog - because I don’t really update the other all that often. So all topics will be covered here now…general news, family stuff, Pagan stuff…all on one site. I’ll be adding all my past posts from the other blog as well…though I’m not sure if I can add the comments.
Let me know what you think!