A Nation Shrugs

More debris to throw on the pile, apparently.

In New Orleans' Pontchartrain Park neighborhood, an 85-year-old woman was pulled from the rubble and taken to University Hospital, where she died, city emergency operation officials said. Witnesses said the woman's FEMA trailer, where she lived because her home in the 5800 block of Pauline Drive was flooded during Hurricane Katrina, was picked up and thrown by the tornado.

Neighbors and family members identified the woman as Stella Chambers, a longtime resident of the close-knit neighborhood. Her daughter, who was in the trailer with her, was seriously injured. The Chambers' flood-damaged home was destroyed.

The National Weather Service said 25 people in Orleans Parish and nine on the West Bank were injured. West Jefferson Medical Center spokeswoman Jennifer Steel said 13 people were brought there. Twelve were treated and released before noon, she said.

Col. Terry Ebert, director of New Orleans' Office of Homeland Security, said 116 structures, almost all of them residences, were severely damaged or destroyed in Orleans Parish. Jefferson Parish officials said 101 homes in Westwego sustained damage. Fourteen were destroyed, Mayor Robert Billiot said.

"We've gone through a lot. I guess we've got to go through a little more. New Orleanians are tough," Mayor Ray Nagin said, after viewing the area from the air and calling the damage "surreal."

And that last line is indeed coming from an established authority on surrealism. Let's see that's over 200 properties badly damaged or destroyed, over 30 injured and one woman.. who it is reported was one utility hook-up away from getting back into her flood damaged home.. killed. Like David, I'm a bit wary of sounding thin-skinned, but were it not for the catastrophe of 2005, this would be the major story of the past five years in New Orleans and would certainly warrant greater attention from the national media instead of the shrugged-off buried headlines it received. So I think some grousing is appropriate.

But, to keep it in perspective, the tragedy itself is enough to make us shake our heads as our fellow citizens brace for yet another round of clearing debris, fighting with insurers, and putting lives back together.. many for a second time in 18 months.