If you’re looking for something to pray about, look no further than the Gulf Coast. With Gustav furiously approaching the United States after ravaging Cuba over the weekend, cities up and down the coast have been evacuated.

That is, those with the means to leave have evacuated.

As always, situations like this seem to hurt the low-income and the working poor the most. This CNN article describes the plight of several NOLA residents who are either too broke or too stubborn to vacate. This quote by Jeremiah O’Farrell pretty well sums up the article:

“If I left, I’ll probably lose my job,” said Jeremiah O’Farrell, another dishwasher who is staying put. “I really don’t have anywhere to go if I could leave. I could go home, but that doesn’t seem like the thing to try. Too far, I guess.”

Thankfully our government seems to be better prepared this time around. Maybe Katrina taught us something. Maybe our officials simply don’t want to be caught sitting on their hands again. Whatever the case, there seems to be ample motivation not to repeat the mistakes of three years ago.

Even so, you know this will be the end for some.

Like I said, if you need something to pray about, this is it.