The tragedy of Katrina alone should have been a wake up call to everyone. Even in February of 2006 we were all still guessing about the total number dead. And this wasn't even the 1920s where lack of emergency management would have justified such a death toll. This was 2005 when state of the art prediction and warning should have saved nearly everyone. To realize there are over 1000 dead from that storm is simply inexcusable.

Number of bodies found offers only partial indicator of deaths, experts say (click here)

NEW ORLEANS - Nearly six months after Hurricane Katrina, more than 1,300 bodies have been found, but the real death toll is clearly higher. How much higher, no one can say with any certainty.
Hundreds of people are still unaccounted for, and some of them — again, no one is sure how many — were probably washed into the Gulf of Mexico, drowned when their fishing boats sank, swept into Lake Pontchartrain or alligator-infested swamps, or buried under crushed homes, said Dr. Louis Cataldie, Louisiana medical examiner.
Cataldie noted that coffins, disgorged from the earth by the floodwaters, have been found great distances from their graveyards, and “if we have coffins that have washed 30 miles away, I can assure you there are people who have.”...

Hundreds fast to benefit hurricane victims* (click here)
Thomas Himes
Media Credit: Mustafa Al-amar
MSA members and other attendees break their fast with dates at a sundown dinner. Funds from the evening will be spent on hurricane relief.[Click to enlarge]

Corrections appended

Hundreds of students went hungry for a day to experience a popular Muslim ritual and raise money for charity.

Over 400 participants fasted from sunrise to sundown on Saturday at the annual Muslim Student Association Fast-a-Thon to benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina, concluding with an end-of-fast banquet held in Houston Hall.

Filing in to The Hall of Flags, attendees were asked to donate money, receiving one raffle ticket for each dollar they donated in return; various local businesses sponsored the event by donating gift certificates for the raffle.

Following an end-of-fast prayer by practicing Muslims, participants were treated to an array of Middle-Eastern styled plates, including tandoori chicken, curry and papri chat, a combination of chickpeas and vegetables."

Our goal was to raise money for Hurricane Katrina victims, especially in Mississippi, and share awarness of our religion," said MSA board member Amanda El-Dakhakhni.

"We'll be donating all of the $1,100 raised to a health clinic in Biloxi, Miss.," that recently replaced the clinic wiped out by Hurricane Katrina, she added.

According to MSA figures, 350 out of the 400 people who attended this year's banquet were non-Muslim....