I flew over Gulfport, Miss. a week after Hurricane Katrina hit. I was in a Mooney and landed in the middle of "ground zero." New Orleans may get the lion's share of the press, but please don't forget the Miss. Gulf shore in your prayers. It was like an atom bomb had gone off down there. On the way down, everything seemed leveled - huge trees, even, with their entire root system ripped up out of the ground! The fly-in community where I landed had all the homes destroyed. Many brick homes, even, were just piles of rubble. Planes and cars were ripped apart and thrown into the woods. The stain from the receded water line was 18 feet high on the walls of the (once) hangars.

Taking off again, I flew over the coast just three miles away. The bridge was washed out, and nearly every building totaled. Turning back north, we circled 500 feet over Alex's boat and shot pictures for his insurance company. The boat was upside down and in the woods with about a dozen others. A memorable flight, but sad that it was occasioned by such devastation.