Getting a bit carried away?

It's risky to question the wisdom of government aid in the face of disaster, but it's even riskier not to | Joel Belz

Those roaring, splashing, gurgling sounds you hear are the giant diesel engines in New Orleans pumping not just water but a grisly mix of lead, benzene, and fecal bacteria up a few feet into Lake Pontchartrain. The lake's beaches were to be opened to the public next summer. But all that is off, of course. Instead of bathing suits, look for three-piece business suits, worn by class-action lawyers.

All of which may or may not have been figured into the current estimates that Hurricane Katrina's final invoice will exceed $100 billion, making it—by a factor of three or four—the worst natural disaster ever inflicted on the United States. But no one really has the foggiest idea what the real cost will be. The imponderables, like lawsuits, are way too unwieldy.