3,200 +

Five months ago, Hurricane Katrina was in New Orleans, and we were waiting to see just how much destruction it would cause. By now that destruction has been well documented, but if you want a reminder, you can check out special sections in both The New York Times and The Washington Post (and take special note of today's Post editorial "New Orleans Betrayed").

If you see photos of the devastation, it looks like one of those post-apocalyptic movies from the '70s or '80s. You might get a vague idea of what it's like to live in that area and have to rebuild your life from almost nothing. But I came across a fact in the last couple of days (that I missed when it was originally reported a week and a half ago) that's brought it home to me in a much more dramatic way. As of last week, there were still more than 3,200 people still missing in Louisiana after Katrina and Rita. 3,200. The AP story points out, "Some of those still listed as missing likely have been found already by relatives but the center hasn't been notified of their status, the call center said. Others may not want to be found because of criminal or legal problems." But some are still probably in the rubble of destroyed houses and buildings that has still not been thoroughly searched.

The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals has a site on the subject, including a link to a complete list of the missing (that page was too big for my home computer to handle, and I couldn't get all the information to load--I'll try it again tomorrow with a stronger computer).

The personal devastation that list represents is overwhelming to me and brings home the gravity of what happened and is still happening on the Gulf Coast. Our reaction as a nation so far is disgraceful. I've thought that I've had a reasonable intellectual grasp of the situation, but this just reminds me that emotionally, I have no idea.