It was 36 years ago that Hurricane Camille hit the MississippiGulf Coast before moving northward into southwest Mississippi,continuing her destruction in Brookhaven, Lincoln County and thesurrounding areas. I remember it well. My family, huddled in ourhome, watched in awe as the winds downed trees and electrical powerwas lost.

I do not remember the exact time frame, but life wasuncomfortable for many days as power and emergency crews struggledto restore the area. Television news was still in its infancy, andwhat TV coverage we received was black-and-white tape that wasdriven back to Jackson from the coast and usually 24 to 48 hoursold.

Throughout the afternoon Monday, as Katrina bore down on thearea, thanks to a generator and the marvels of a DirecTV satellite- which continued to work despite the storm – my family againhuddled in our home watching in awe as the 24-hour news channelskept us updated. During the week, the same channels kept usinformed and informed and informed. More information than we neededto know, but rarely did we turn it off.

In the past few days, we have all witnessed the long lines forgasoline and, earlier in the week, for food. As I write this onSaturday morning, I am sitting in my first gas line – waiting. Thevehicle in front of me is from Rankin County. The stench of thecarcass of a dead dog lying in a ditch next to my car forces me toclose my windows. Trying to preserve precious fuel, the ignition isturned off along with my air conditioning. It is getting hot.

Thus is life following the wake of Katrina.

Thinking back on Hurricane Camille, I do not remember the gaslines or the grocery store lines. I do not remember the tension inthe air I have witnessed over the past few days – although I havealso witnessed tremendous generosity of many people trying to makethe best of a very bad situation. Human nature as it is, negativenews tends to overshadow good news and there is nothing like a goodrumor to stir the pot.

What is the difference with Katrina as compared to Camille? In1969 the Vietnam war was raging. The anit-war movement wasescalating. Tensions across the nation were high in the late ’60s.Today, we are again engaged in an unpopular war in Iraq and and theanit-war movement is again escalating, but tensions seem muchhigher. Why?

I place the blame on the news media and an information overload.Fueled by the 24-hour news channels’ policy of anything-goesreporting, anxiety and tension are turned into rumor and fear.

As Gov. Haley Barbour put it earlier this week, “… tragedybrings out the best in most people and the worst is some people.”As I have visited several of the shelters here in Brookhaven overthe past few days and spoken with individuals in other places, Ihave seen the smiles and deep care of concern. I have seen the bestin many people. On the other side, I have received a few phonecalls and comments that showed the worst in people, but like thelooters in New Orleans, they are the vast minority.

Katrina has struck a blow the likes of which have never beenseen before in this nation, and weaknesses in the nationalemergency preparedness efforts have surfaced as the enormity of thestorm has overwhelmed the system. Unfortunately, opportunistic andsocial politicians are taking every opportunity to find fault andenrich their personal cause, which further creates tension.

After waiting for more than an hour in the hot morning sunsmelling the stench of the dog, our line was informed that the gasstation would not open until Tuesday.

Remarkably, no one voiced any anger. We all just moved on withour lives. With the stench of the dog’s remains, I did get a smalldose of what those poor people in New Orleans are living through.It helped me realize how blessed we are up here in southwestMississippi.

Tonight, an old movie is in the plans for my household, leavingthe 24-hour news channels turned off. Our thoughts and prayers willbe for those so less fortunate.