Katrina Joins Us in Pennsylvania

It's 2:45 a.m. and lightning flashes outside my window. Overnight thunderstorms are rare in Pennsylvania. I get an email alert from our email alerting service that there has been a Severe Thunderstorm Warning issued for our county. Then a Tornado Watch. My cell phone beeps with the advisories from RadarPlus: Heavy Rain & Lightning Approaching. Inevitably, I hear the rain pounding outside.

It appears that "Katrina" is here. Still, our taste of the hurricane is tame by comparison.

Further south, in the storm-ravaged Gulf Coast states, 2.8 million are without power and 1 million people are homeless.

80% of Mississippi is without power, but 80% of New Orleans is under water, as is the city of Gulfport, Mississippi.

Over 1,200 people were rescued from their rooftops in New Orleans alone yesterday.

The estimated death toll has surpassed 100 for one county in Mississippi, totals are approaching "hundreds", and the nation continues to mourn their deaths.