It is not the "mega-storm." It was not a gigantic super-category-five, and it did not portend to cause the more than 25,000 casualties emergency officials long had predicted with an intense hurricane hit on New Orleans (those same officials have done a miraculous job of evacuating people, much better prepared than when they had made their predictions).

But Katrina is still an historic event that will have huge lasting effects, one in a series of huge storms that have been falling into place with what has been prophesied. We won't know the full picture for days.

As it said in Sent To Earth, "at the most vulnerable part of the coast was New Orleans, and this was truly a special case; this was enough to raise goose bumps. This was worthy of special consideration. For New Orleans had a long history of violent hurricanes, had been escaping them for an inordinate length of time, was thus overdue, and was not only low to the water but below sea level."

But Katrina weakened somewhat and while causing huge problems did not send its worst winds to the Big Easy. It hit Grand Isle and headed north with winds of about 145 to 150 miles per hour -- down from the 175 miles-per-hour sustained winds that caused a near-panic Sunday. This weakening was the result of prayer among the extensive Catholic and general Christian community.

Still, a major storm has now hit, there will be severe damage along the Gulf Coast, and there are the prophetic signals.

It is a fascinating storm. It passed directly over the National Hurricane Center in Florida when it hit Florida -- near where the mega-storm is predicted -- and now affected Kessler Air Force Base from which hurricane reconnaissance planes take flight. What was the message here? It affected the flow of oil, disrupting both refineries and oil rigs. It pummeled a huge stretch of chemical plants -- among the most toxic settings in the U.S. outside of Baton Rouge (with one area of famous pollution known as "Devil's Swamp").

What are we to make of a storm that means "pure" (that's the meaning of the name "Katrina") in a city not only of voodoo but also of endless partying and strip clubs and the high-pagan-style Mardi Gras?

What are we to make of the Gulf Coast casinos that are taking a hit?

What are we to make of the fact that just last week, a man claimed to see an image of the Blessed Mother on a billboard above the barrooms in the 5100 block of Canal Boulevard.

This was seen by Mark Kleindorf, who was painting a nearby herbal shop when he glanced up at the billboard depicting a funeral home and saw an image of Mary in the doorway.

"The billboard and the herb shop sit at the bustling intersection of Canal Boulevard, Canal Street and City Park Avenue," noted the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "The wall Kleindorf was painting runs along the edge of Odd Fellows Rest Cemetery, one of several burial grounds at the spot that once marked the city limits. Kleindorf was peering over vaults of yellow fever victims when he noticed a white blotch on the left side of the sign, part of the original funeral home photograph that could be described as sunlight, appeared to him as the profile of Mary, standing in the archway with her back to the ticking clock on the right side of the sign."

Last week in Florida Katrina slammed into an area famous for the occult practice of Santeria (a melding of voodoo with Catholic devotions), and its second landfall was near Houma, Louisiana. Witch websites accent the small town about 90 miles south of New Orleans as a new pagan stronghold and the many good Christians (Louisiana is loaded with these) have been fighting it.

Just last Halloween, Renee Monette, pastor of one of the largest churches in Houma, said about the arrival of a major witch coven there, "The Wiccan Church is against everything we stand for as a Christian nation and as a Christian faith. And we want to stand up and say no in our community. We don't want that atmosphere here in Houma; they may have it in the French quarter, that's fine. But we don't want it here. We feel like a lot of baggage is going to come with all that stuff."

Baggage indeed. We have long warned this area about the ramifications of occultism and hedonism. This is spiritual warfare territory. At the Royal Sonesta Hotel on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans, one reporter noted that people were still drinking and gambling at video-game machines as the hurricane was approaching. In the French quarter, psychics continued their "readings."

Leading up to this storm, many were those who wrote to us expressing an unease. That unease was in part due to what we will see this week in dismal post-storm television images.

The pre-warnings continue their intensification. We remain in the preliminary warning stage. One day there will be huge warnings. Hurricanes like Charley, Frances, Ivan, and now Katrina are precursors to larger events (if we don't pray).

Fortunately, New Orleans is tremendous Catholic territory. It is the home of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos, who is up for canonization -- and was associated with hurricanes. They are fighting valiantly here. They need our prayer assistance. Despite the paganism, there is no more Catholic a place. It is a true center of spiritual warfare. Has anyone noted that New Orleans is home to the famous statue of Our Lady of Prompt Succor that has been linked to the mitigation of many past disasters?

Has anyone noted how many hurricanes suddenly lessen as they approach Catholic-laden New Orleans -- despite the warm Gulf waters that should cause them to gain strength?

In 2002, two separate hurricanes heading straight for New Orleans suddenly lost potency and veered off course as a result of intercession. "I thought you would like to know that the people of Louisiana prayed to Our Lady of Prompt Succor and invoked her intercession for help with Hurricane Lili," noted one reader, Kathy R. Madere of Baton Rouge. "It was not long after that the circulating winds dropped down five miles per hour and eventually before landfall went from category-four to category-two."

Though there will be massive damage, Katrina is not the mega-storm -- but it is one of the scenarios that has been warned about and portends larger ones.

"The idea that the 'Big Easy,' with its flourish of jazz and history and culinary splendor, could find itself under two stories of water was not to be taken lightly," warned Sent To Earth. "Something was going to hit here. It might not be the mega-storm and it might not send a surge to the feared extent, but something would materialize and gain strength in those warm Gulf waters if New Orleans didn't purge itself of an evil that was now engrained in the culture."

10/9/05

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