This morning’s Washington Post reports that 1 million are now homeless because of Hurricane Katrina. I can’t help thinking the swamping of New Orleans, a pivotal cultural Mecca for Americans, the birthplace of jazz and everything that very singular and long-lasting music represents, will never be what it was.
New Orleans may be rebuilt, but its people and their heritage are now spreading across the country. They will make new lives and many, perhaps most, may not return. The city now enters a greater mythology alongside Atlantis.

The vast scope of the calamity triggered by the storm was still emerging. Officials estimated that more than 1 million people — many of whom fled with only the clothes on their back and a few prized possessions stuffed in a bag — have been forced from their homes, most likely for many months.

I fear it may be many years.