Hard Times in Haiti

Haitians piled bodies along the devastated streets of their capital Wednesday after the strongest earthquake hit the poor Caribbean nation in more than 200 years crushed thousands of structures, from schools and shacks to the National Palace and the U.N. peacekeeping headquarters. Untold numbers were still trapped.

The devastation was so complete that it seemed likely the death toll from Tuesday afternoon's magnitude-7.0 quake would run into the thousands. France's foreign minister said the head of the U.N. peacekeeping mission was apparently among the dead.

International Red Cross spokesman Paul Conneally said an estimated 3 million people may have been affected by the quake and that it would take a day or two for a clear picture of the damage to emerge.

Yahoo News

I have a number of Haitian friends who have family members that live in Haiti. My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone being affected by this tragedy. It must be nerve racking to not hear from loved ones who reside in an area hit by a natural disaster. The only thing worse is getting a call that says your loved one(s) didn't survive the cataclysmic event. I want to contact those friends to show that I empathize with their situation, but I don't want to over step my bounds or create an awkward situation. I know that some people prefer to be left alone to deal with tough situations. Hopefully, I can help them in some way, shape, or form.

A large percentage of the Haitian residents live in poverty. I am thankful that I have most of the things I need and some of the things I want.

You may not have a car at all
But remember brothers and sisters
You can still stand tall
Just be thankful for what you've got

The Rain is Insane in Atlanta

Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue asked President Obama to declare 17 counties in his state a federal disaster area as flood waters start to recede today. Some locations in the northern and central part of the state, including parts of metro Atlanta, received up to 20 inches of rain in 36 hours causing massive flooding not seen here in at least 16 years.

Eight people died in the flood waters, one a two year old boy who was ripped from his mothers arms in West Georgia. Trees weakened from the soaked grounds fell, taking down power lines and leaving up to 50,000 homes in the dark. School districts ordered students to stay home as many roads and freeways remained impassable this morning.

Source

When I first heard some folk describing the rain in Atlanta, I thought they were being dramatic. I immediately changed my mind when I turned on the television and saw the flood damage. The weather people in the Atlanta area knew that strong storms were coming, but I don't think any of them predicted what actually happened.

My internal hard drive was "accidentally" erased by some ass hole technicians at Comp USA a few years ago. I did a little jig of joy when the company filed for bankruptcy. Anyway, I was emotionally distraught for almost a week. I lost a good 200 gigabytes worth of music, pictures, and p0rn. I bring this story up because my loss pales in comparison to the losses of the flood victims. It's sad that it took a natural disaster for me to put my loss into perspective.

Creedence Clearwater Revival sings my favorite rain song. I know the rain in the song is metaphorical, but it still serves a purpose on this blog post.

I want to know
Have you ever seen the rain
I want to know
Have you ever seen the rain
Coming down on a sunny day