Gustav Ashore, Hannah Coming, Ike Too

Our thoughts and prayers go out tonight to the folks in Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi tonight as Gustav moves inland producing flooding, wind damage and death. Some 7 people have died so far as of 10 PM Monday night; that toll may or may not go up depending on search and rescue efforts that are to begin in earnest on Tuesday. Thankfully Gustav lost a bit of punch right before it hit land but with winds of 115 mph as it hit land, Gustav was no Katrina certainly, but he was not a push over either. As we wrote in our previous blog the timing of this storm, as well as two other storms looming in the Atlantic, is just days after our Secretary of State Condi Rice has been in Jerusalem pressuring Israel to divide Jerusalem. Draw what conclusions you will but this same basic thing was going on days prior to Katrina in 2005. It was God’s mercy today to the city of New Orleans once again that caused the storm to jog a bit more west and its winds decrease right before landfall that may have spared the city the fate it suffered in 2005. In addition to Gustav not being as severe a storm as Katrina, the government on all levels, state, federal and local, worked much better together this go around without a doubt. Republican governors Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Haley Barbour of Mississippi, Charlie Crist of Florida, Rick Perry of Texas should all be commended on their mobilization of evacuations in their respective states ahead of the storm that certainly saved lives as well. Gustav will move west tommorow and produce flooding rains in Texas without a doubt but Gustav will be a distant memory in a few days as our attention will turn to Hannah. Hannah, a Category 1 storm in the SE Bahammas tonight is expected to turn NW, strengthen into monster status and become a Hugo-like storm to hit the Carolinas sometime later this week into the early part of the weekend. One forecaster said late tonight forecast models are once again predicting a Category 3 or 4 storm by Wednesday and quoting the forecaster from Accuweather, “Hannah has the potential to be a historically strong storm like we used to see in the 1940s and 1950s.” Another storm IKE, is right behind Hannah churning westward that is likely to hit the U.S. next week as well; Ike’s path is more uncertain but once again predicted to become a major hurricane before it makes landfall next week. Why are we seeing such convulsions in the Earth? New Orleans was spared, thank God, and we can only hope this space of mercy will cause those living in the Big Easy to look upward; what Gustav did not produce, Hannah might in terms of distruction; If America continues to press Israel to divide Jerusalem trust me, the response from heaven will not be one we will want to hear. Gustav was a warning; Hannah may be more. Continue to pray for America, the peace of Jerusalem and the entire Middle East situation in days ahead. More on this as the week plays out.