Have been following the devastation by Katrina. Awful stuff. I continue to pray for the people who were unable to get out. I understand how terrifying living through something like that can be.

As the next few days unfold, it sounds like things are only going to get worse. I've heard that gas is going to skyrocket in price. Guess the oil companies are immune to prosecution for price gouging.

Last year, I inquired my supervisor about the possibility of going to serve as a disaster mental health counselor through the Red Cross down in Florida after they got battered by all the hurricanes last year. The answer I got was that I could go, but only if I was willing to use vacation time and/or leave without pay. I was further told that if the governor were to direct it, I could go without losing anything in terms of vacation time.

I'm guessing that the American Red Cross and American Counseling Association will do what they did last year: Take anyone in the MH field that is licensed, ship them to a location, give them the Disaster MH training, and move them out to the areas affected.

We'll see. With as big as this is, there could be some directives from the Governor. Kind of doubt it at this point. We didn't see anything like that after 9/11. Of course, that didn't wreak havoc over several states and almost wipe out an entire city. They were still taking groups of people trained in Critical Incident Stress Debriefing for over a year after 9/11. We'll see what happens.

Please contact your local Red Cross chapter to see what you can do to help. I heard an estimate tonight of 120 million is the estimated amount to respond to this disaster. That amount is sure to grow. Every dollar will help. If you're not comfortable with the Red Cross, I'm guessing there are other organizations that are helping people effected by Katrina.