Being at a meeting in a hotel can be like entering a bubble free from the rest of the world, and that’s what Tuesday and Wednesday were like for me. Especially since my laptop refused to connect to the Internet, and my cell phone ran out of juice.

So the full impact of Katrina didn’t register with me until today, when I started reading blogs and online news again.

The pictures have been blowing my mind. It looks like pictures from the Tsunami, only with more debris. I keep reading stories about people who got out, who couldn’t get out, who don’t know if their family members got out.

Laura links to some great race and class analyses on who is still stuck, suffering, or maybe wasn’t able to even make it to the shelters, and also to legitimate aid organizations if you want alternatives to the Red Cross.

Sean raised an interesting point wondering where our international allies were with aid for us. I’m inclined to think that the US can afford to pay for whatever we might need — granted, it might take raising taxes, but we certainly have plenty of money. On the other hand, volunteer medical personnel and other people experienced in disaster relief efforts would probably make a huge difference.

I’m still reeling from the scale of the devastation. Like it took time after September 11 before I was able to think about the politics and way of the world that created that level of hatred, I need time to just get the horror and destruction of Katrina before I can focus on the how and why of who has been the hardest hit, or mad about how and from whom we should get help.