Churchgoers Mark Christmas in New Orleans

AP reports:

The congregation of First Emmanuel Baptist Church drove from Baton Rouge, Houston and other points far and wide on Christmas, then walked past collapsed buildings and piles of storm wreckage to worship in their old church for the first time since Hurricane Katrina.

“This means everything. We’ve come home,” said Lila Southall, the minister’s wife. “My house is gone but I’m still home for Christmas.”

Incidentally, tomorrow is the one year anniversary of the much deadlier Indian Ocean tsunami.

Update: “Asia marks one year to the day since tsunami hit, sweeping away 216,000 lives”.