As I write this, the eye of hurricane Katrina is inexorably moving towards New Orleans with a force that will probably destroy the city. That which the wind does not destroy, the flood waters will. Most of the population has evacuated, but as many as 100,000 persons are trapped in the city with no means of transportation to get out and with very few options for shelter. People are crowding into the Superdome, which should afford some safety as long as the roof does not blow off.

New Orleans, being largely below sea-level, depends upon large pumps to keep the water at bay. It is a virtual certainty that the pumps will fail this evening because of either flooding or power failure. The city and its remaining inhabitants wait unprotected in the night, hoping to survive until the storm passes over. Many of them will not survive. Most of the dead will be the poor who did not have automobiles or who stayed to work. They are trapped.

The heart of this nation goes out to those unfortunate persons. We hope for a miracle--that the hurricane veers away from New Orleans, that its fury abates before making landfall, that the damage and loss of life will not be a great as predicted, or that the floodwaters do not carry away too much. It will indeed take a miracle.

God watch over you. You have done what you could and now it's in His hands. As for our part, let us resolve to prepare our nation for future disasters so that when and where another one strikes, hundreds of thousands of persons -- usually the least fortunate of our citizens -- are not left to the mercy of the elements.