By Mitch Holt, Opinion Editor

The news can’t possibly successfully cover the damage done by Katrina—there is simply too much going on for mere news watchers to understand in a few thirty-minute broadcasts. . Thousands of people are estimated dead, but officials in the area believe it will be much higher when it is all said and done, according to CNN.com. The number of injured individuals is much higher as well.

Katrina, with such a lovely name, inflicted no lovely affection upon New Orleans; rather it destroyed, turned-over, killed, pillaged and exterminated in a span of just a few hours. People were torn from their homes, children lost parents, parents lost children—it was probably the most deadly event to take place in the U.S. since Sept. 11.

This catastrophe deserves special attention and prayer as the consequences of the hurricane are still unfolding. Monday was truly a day from hell as natural disaster took on a new meaning.

Hopefully, this will bring your attention to those in need on the Gulf Coast and then to stretch your attention back to those in need in Abilene. It shouldn’t take a monumental disaster like this one to turn your eye upon service to others.

Catastrophes happen every day. A man leaves his family unannounced, a mom can’t support her family and her drug addiction, so she gives up on her children and leaves, a teenaged high school student walks up to the car window of a peer and shoots him in the head—things like this happen more than you would think in Abilene.

It’s so important to look around the world at what injustices or attacks or disasters are tearing families apart or killing people because there is so much going on while we sit here at our exceptional university, engaging in an exceptional education.

But, one thing that should be just as high or higher on your priority list is serving those in need here in Abilene. It’s wonderful to care about world issues and send money to Sri Lanka and Indonesia for tsunami support or sponsor a child in Africa (by all means, continue), but, you must be careful of overlooking problems in your own neighborhood.

Open your eyes to the service possibilities around you. So many times, we subconsciously close our eyes to those in the community who truly need nurturing because we pull excuses from our list on why we can’t volunteer somewhere or give a few extra dollars to a guy on the street.

I am as guilty as the next guy…maybe more. However, problems in Abilene aren’t going to fix themselves.

In the future, as you turn your eye to those who are frequently in need around the world, also keep a fixed eye on your city.