Rita's Three Pronged Attack, '26 Cane Remembered

These pictures of the 1926 Miami Hurricane were submitted by a viewer who wanted to remain anonymous. His father lived through this storm and vividly remembers a wrecked store that was open to the public. Residents would take what they needed, and either leave cash in a can or a IOU note. One of these pictures shows that kind of treatment at another store. "If your (sic) destitute its FREE." You should be able to click on these pictures for a larger view. Many thanks for these very interesting scans from a Channel 3 viewer who survived a number of Florida hurricanes including "Donna".
I still think Rita is devastating on three fronts. Heavy rainfall, possibly flooding of various levels for parts of the hard hit "Katrina" areas of Louisiana.
A catastrophic blow to the immediate coastal areas and inland from Galveston to Southwest Louisiana.
And finally a major flood and wind event with tornadoes from Fort Worth, TX along and east of I-45. This would also include SE Oklahoma, SW Arkansas, and a large part of East Texas and West Louisiana.
Unfortunately "Rita" and "Katrina" are dark chapters in American history being written before our eyes.
But let me try to re-state a discussion Jeff, J.R., Kevin, and I got into this morning on Talk 102.3 FM. Which is simply this. Throughout U.S. history people have pulled together to help each other. And I know this will happen again. Every city that has been devastated by hurricane, flood, fire, or earthquake has come back. It takes years and a lot of agony getting there, but there is always a rebound. And I think we'll see the generosity we saw after "Katrina" repeated again soon. (The pictures above should re-inforce the idea that there are always neighbors who reach out to those in need.)