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Take a drive to Interstate 10 between Houston, Texas and New Orleans, Louisiana. You can see the signs are everywhere. Especially braid broke in two. They all directions. In some places there are houses that still have blue roofs - tarps that protect the interior against the elements, sometimes bad. Some places have houses or businesses and to rebuild damaged forever. Others have simply not trying. They are exhausted.Eight hurricanes and five tropical storms over the past five seasons - six hurricanes over the past three seasons, including Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Rita, Hurricane Gustav and Hurricane Gustav - will do for you. Houston and New Orleans have seen some of the worst of Ike and Katrina, respectively. But this does not include small communities such as Galveston, Lake Charles, Morgan City and Baton Rouge. Not to mention Sidell. They all had their share. And they would love a break. A personal tragedy has taken Me Down this six-hour trip in February which ended in New Orleans, Louisiana.It was the first time I did this trip. It will not last.

As a passenger east on I-10, I can not help looking out the window. I see trees pointing eastward and quiz myself. These trees do not fall in Hurricane Katrina. They have been reported in the south. "I 'm in Lake Charles," I said to myself. Yes, these trees have been felled in Gustav. It was last year. September 1, 2008. And the story strikes me. To you it May seem like nothing unusual or worthy of consideration. To me, that's all there is to think.What happened that night on this piece of highway in Louisiana? Did cars travel here then? Have they seen these trees snap? Did they fear for their lives. I could not help thinking that I saw the devastation that natural later in the evening with the sun still up, but hidden by rain clouds and turbulent Gustav who ignored warnings and dared their way to this lonely stretch of highway near Lafayette - did they know what would happen? Did they care? Did they hide? The marshy shoulders lent no way to peace. Grin and Bear it - if you dare.How could anyone go through this dark night, wondering, like the eye of Gustav passed over, something other than death?...

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