World News
Archbishop calls hurricane's timing, on Katrina's anniversary, 'eerie'
Published: August 30, 2012
NEW ORLEANS (CNS) -- On the seventh anniversary of Hurricane Katrina Aug. 29, Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond offered prayers for people in the Archdiocese of New Orleans impacted by slow-moving Hurricane Isaac. The storm dumped more than 15 inches of rain on southeast Louisiana and caused widespread flooding but spared New Orleans from major damage. In a conference call with the leadership team of Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans the archbishop acknowledged the suffering of thousands of people in south Louisiana from flooding. "We consciously place ourselves in God's presence and ask him to give us his protection," he said in an opening prayer. "God has always promised to protect us in challenging times, and we ask that God does that now, especially with those who are struggling." Retired New Orleans Archbishop Alfred C. Hughes, who was archbishop of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, rode out Isaac at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans. He called the timing of Isaac, on the same day, seven years later, from Hurricane Katrina, "rather eerie. We have to be grateful that it was only a Category 1," Archbishop Hughes told The Clarion Herald, archdiocesan newspaper of New Orleans. "The pumps seem to be working, although we've had some flash flooding. But there's no serious flooding (in the city) that I'm aware of." Seven years ago on Aug. 29, Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans by blowing holes in the city's levee system, filling more than 80 percent of the city with water.
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