This post is to honor all of those who lost their lives, homes, friends, families, pets, and/or any thing else that was precious, to one of the greatest natural disasters to ever hit our nation. One year ago, today, at 6:10am, hurricane Katrina made landfall on the eastern shore of Louisiana as a category 4 storm. The storm brought walls of water so high and winds so damaging that over 1800 people died and hundreds of thousands of people became displaced. We should never forget what happened on this date in 2005, nor should we ever forget the following weeks of bureaucratic idiocy that, to this day, continue to leave people homeless and without the basic needs in life. FEMA, I hope your ears are ringing.

To those of you who stayed in the hospitals, nursing centers, zoos, biomedical animal facilities, public works facilities, volunteer organization shelters, and rescue squad vehicles; and went without sleep for days at a time in order to help those who could not help themselves, know that you are all heroes.

To those of you who spent days on your rooftops waiting for help to arrive, know that you are all survivors and are the strongest of people.

To those of you who endured too many days of dehydration, hunger and death in public shelters that were crammed with too many people only to finally be placed on buses to be taken far away from your home into yet another too cramped place, know that you are both strong and heroic in your own right for making it through the most horrid chapter of your life and for moving forward following that nightmare. You are true inspirations.

To those that traveled to the torn regions following the storms and lived in tents to help the survivors, both human and animal alike - thank you.

And finally, to those of who have returned to the Gulf Coast to rebuild, I want you to know that I have always found those of you in the Gulf Region to be some of the most amazing, yet stubborn folks alive. My Uncle was in the military and trained in Biloxi and I worked for a brief time for the military along the Gulf Shores of Alabama, so a little part of my family does remain in your region. The I-10 corridor is filled with people and culture that I feel our nation simply cannot do without. It's not just the Jazz and Creole, but the way of life. The slower, kinder, live today like tomorrow's never gonna come attitude. This is something I cannot imagine the area without. So thank you and keep the perserverance going - from the French Quarter, to the Blow Fly Inn, to the community of Bayou, La Batre. I know that you're all going to make it come alive again.

My thanks to the United States Geological Survey. The pictures below were obtained from their website.

In memorandum...

Biloxi, Mississippi

Waveland, Mississippi

Dauphine Island, Alabama

And finally, thanks to the National Alliance to Restore Opportunity to the Gulf Coast and Displaced Persons for this last picture. As the physical and emotional damage to the city of New Orleans was so wide spread, I thought it best to remember them in a more public manner. In honor of that great city, I give you a branch of the New Orleans Public Library; located in the Lower Ninth Ward, and named after one of the strongest men of our time...

New Orleans, Louisiana