This is a day Louisianans will never forget. It’s the day in 2005 when Category 5 Atlantic Hurricane Katrina1 slammed into a small town called Buras, beginning its fury on the Gulf coast states. Initially, the hurricane had weakened to a tropical storm and hit Hallandale Beach, FL. As the storm headed into the Gulf of Mexico, it rapidly intensified, becoming a major hurricane.
Located on a southern peninsula of Louisiana, Buras is home for fisherman, especially oyster haulers. As Katrina hit, it brought great devastation upon the area with 100-140 mph sustained winds (highest winds were 175 mph) and stretched 400 miles in diameter. Buras was a town of less than 1,000 people. Just 60 miles NW is New Orleans with a population of nearly half a million people.
The storm had already brought flooding to the New Orleans area. New Orleans was protected by levees and floodwalls. “An hour before the storm struck land, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which administers the system of levees and floodwalls in and around New Orleans, received a report that the levees of the 17th Street Canal, the city’s largest drainage canal, had been breached. East of the city, massive storm surges sent torrents of water over the levees along the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet (MRGO) and into St. Bernard Parish, located just southeast of New Orleans.
“In all, levees and floodwalls in New Orleans and surrounding areas fell in more than 50 locations during Hurricane Katrina, flooding 80 percent of the city and fully 95 percent of St. Bernard Parish.”2
Warnings had been given that the storm was coming and would be deadly. A day before the storm came, Mayor Ray Nagin issued an evacuation order. A day to evacuate half a million people! Over 100,000 were left in the city, some by choice, others who could not get out. The New Orleans Superdome was designated as an emergency shelter area, prepared for 800 stranded individuals. Thirty-thousand sought refuge there. After the first night, the roof of the Superdome failed, forcing the evacuation from the refuge.
Over 1,800 people were killed as either a direct or indirect result of the hurricane. The number of missing is 135. “Hurricane Katrina caused at least $125 billion in economic damage and could cost the insurance industry up to $60 billion in claims, a leading risk assessment firm said in updated estimates released Friday.”3 That was in 2006. As of June 2024, that number has risen to $187 billion.4
Many questions come to mind that those of us who were not there cannot speak about in judgment or with any form of firsthand knowledge. Still, the questions are there. Why did the mayor only give a day’s notice for evacuation? Why did some people refuse to leave? There had been concerns about the levees years earlier. Why wasn’t something done about it? Why was there such a deficiency in planning with the Superdome? Why did the Superdome roof fail when it was originally thought to be safe?
In the wake of the storm, plenty of blame was handed out for a failure to respond adequately. The mayor, FEMA, other federal and state agencies, as well as President Bush were blamed. In a response to critics, President Bush stated, “This government will learn the lessons of Hurricane Katrina. We are going to review every action and make necessary changes so that we are better prepared for any challenge of nature, or act of evil men, that could threaten our people.”5
In the government’s investigation as to what went wrong, it stated that one of the reasons for the delayed response was that “active duty military and National Guard operations were not coordinated and served two different bosses, one the President and the other the Governor.”6 This perfectly sets up a spiritual application.
Matthew 6:24 says, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”
Israel tried to follow multiple masters. Hosea 10:1-2 says, “Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself: according to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased the altars; according to the goodness of his land they have made goodly images. (2) Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty: he shall break down their altars, he shall spoil their images.” Following two leaders never works.
The Lord rightfully deserves to lead us, and He should be the only leader to give us direction. It is up to the individual Christian to tune out the voices of others pulling us in different directions. If we try to “serve two different bosses,” we will see the truth of James 1:8 played out in our lives. “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”
1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina
2https://www.history.com/news/hurricane-katrina-levee-failures
3https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna9269627
4https://www.foxweather.com/weather-news/new-orleans-2024-hurricane-season
5https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/reports/katrina-lessons-learned/chapter5.html
6Ibid.
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