Please accept my apology

GULFPORT, Miss. - Dear Katrina survivors:

I'm sorry. So sorry. Please accept my apology.

I simply didn't know how brutally your world was gut punched by Hurricane Katrina. Of course, from afar I was watching on TV like everyone else, perhaps subconsciously hoping that maybe - just maybe - a flying telephone pole might impale a TV weather stud or two, live and in color. That's must-see reality TV.

And, yes, I knew there would be significant property damage; there always is. It's what hurricanes do. And I truly felt sympathy for those who suffered losses.

But you know, deep inside I probably was also thinking that blowing away some of those garish aluminum signs and tacky shops might not be such a bad thing - nature's way of urban renewal.

I was wrong. Oh, so wrong.

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