Immediately following the storms passing, Internet communities began outreach to determine what help could be offered. Despite the savage storm, the Internet never went down and e-mails were the only lifebuoys that victims could cling to if they could find a place that had power and an available computer.

Our larger New Orleans community has proven to be a savvy Internet haven. Many sites went up overnight with links for storm victims. Group e-mail lists on Google Groups were created by this writer at http://groups.google.com/group/Jewish-New-Orleans and by the New Orleans Jewish Federation http://groups.google.com/group/JewishNOLA as a form of outreach to the dispersed Jewish community.

Individuals continue to send pictures of storm damage to each other by e-mails and finding relatives and missing friends has been made easier by membership in these groups. Several others have provided hot links for assistance to the victims of this tragedy.

So, Cleveland, ready or not, I am here. As a victim of the worst natural disaster that this country has ever experienced, I am luckier than most. I was spared the indignity of having to try to survive the powerful storm and deciding which nearby town to which to relocate. The Cleveland Jewish community has already extended its welcoming arms to me and I am grateful. I give thanks to the Almighty for seeing me through this travail as he truly watched over my family members.

New Orleans will never be the same again. In one flash I became homeless and destitute, my business and clients also hapless victims. I thank G-d I am alive and I have tried to be as optimistic as possible.

This past Friday evening, Rabbi Matt Eisenberg of Temple Israel Ner Tamid closed Shabbat services with the singing of “Hatikvah.” I, too, hold onto “the hope” that is expressed so well in that song that my Jewish community will reunite in our once-blessed land and that we will be able to practice our religious freedom with other survivors there.

Alan Smason is 51 year-old widower. Until Katrina, he worked as a computer consultant for businesses in the New Orleans metropolitan area (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer, Cisco Certified Network Associate, CompTIA A+, Network+, and i-Net+ Certified Professional). He was the Chairman of the Southeast Louisiana Jewish Committee and a member of the National Jewish Committee on Scouting. As the Entertainment Editor of the Jewish Civic Press, he wrote for a paper published in four editions: New Orleans, Houston, Atlanta, and the Alabama and Mississippi "Dixie" paper.