The Right Side of Hurricane Katrina

The right side of a hurricane is the wrong side to be on.

You could take that sailor's warning to the bank after Katrina – if there had been one after Katrina.

The weather wizards say "ground zero" is where the eye of a hurricane makes landfall.

Katrina's eye passed just to the right of the Louisiana-Mississippi state line in Hancock County, Mississippi. We're the orange spot on the map.

Of course, it didn't take the wisdom of a wizard for any of us to figure out we were "ground zero". All we had to do was take a look around and see nothing - "zero" - on the "ground" escaped Katrina's wrath.

There's still more nothing than something down here, rebuilding is stalled in the court, the economy is heading further south, and some are starting to wondering if we haven't hit "Ground Zero for Hope".

The right side of an insurance claim is the wrong side on after a hurricane.

When you purchase a homeowner's policy with hurricane coverage, you expect the insurance provider to know what a hurricane is and what it does. If they don't, you'd sure expect them to look it up and not make it up. Nonetheless, make it up appears to be exactly what some did.

All 82 Mississippi counties were included in the disaster declaration and 60% (49) were eligible for full federal disaster assistance. The insurance folks north of the Coast didn't seem to have a problem understanding that water damage is covered if the wind blows a hole in your roof and water gets in your house.

Most of us didn't even have a roof after Katrina blew through here. You would think, then, it wouldn't be hard for the ones they sent down here to figure that water damage was done before the surge followed Katrina inland. Actually, it appears they did figure it out – probably right about the time they started trying to figure out ways to get by without paying when all that Katrina left behind was a slab.

The wrong side of a hurricane to be on is the one it takes a lawyer to make right.