In a way the damage looks worse than Hurricane Andrew, mostly because Andrew was all wind damage from the hurricane and associated tornadoes. And Andrew cut a narrow swath.

This damage on the Panhandle seems much more widespread and has the added factor of all the water damage from surge and waves.

As with any disaster, lots of people feel as though they should go there and help -- but it looks like it is difficult to get there at all right now because of the roads and bridges that are out. And as of this morning they were not even letting residents back in.

One interesting thing about damage to coast areas is there are not a lot of trees out there on the beaches, so that's one less factor to deal with for cleanup. Although, I'm sure it is more of a problem farther inland.

It's nice to say, "Our thoughts and prayers are with you," but somehow it seems that it would be even nicer to show up there with a shovel and a generator and lots of extra gas, and get to work.

Anybody have any ideas what people can do to help?