The poster said:
"The more I read, the more I think this hurricane was a cleansing rather than a disaster."
You said:
"All of God's rebukes are intended to bring us to our senses and bring us back to Him. To bring home to us that sin has consequences, contrary to prevailing wisdom that says we can sin with impunity."
I'm willing to bet that the majority of those dead bodies floating around New Orleans are of elderly blacks. Exactly what crime did those dead blacks commit for which their "cleansing" was necessary - other than being poor and black in America? I'm sure they are the ones who feared God the most.
What is the "lesson" that God wants to impart by "cleansing" this segment of the population?
You also said:
"Don't make the mistake of thinking that this means all Christians believe it's wonderful when a disaster like this comes along. "
By no means do I think that any TRUE Christian would believe this disaster is wonderful. But I do think that more than a couple of posters on this website who may claim Christ as their savior do think just that.
Who knows? In this world, the just and unjust live side-by-side and die side-by-side. The suffering of the just is a mystery known to God alone. There are seldom surgical lightning strikes which remove miscreants and leave the just untouched.
The best I can do is to indicate the passage in the Gospels which deals with this and to point out that "bad" things happening to "good" people was a question which obviously troubled the first apostles and disciples.
In Luke's Gospel (13: 1-5) we read:
There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? 3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
Jesus says plainly that those who suffered and died in these disasters were not being punished because they were sinners. Probably in response to being asked by those present why they were killed in such a manner. Which raises the question of why they died so violently if they were not great sinners. Jesus doesn't say. However, He does issue a warning. Specifically, that similar disasters await the unrepentant.
This seems to me to indicate that it is known to God alone why these things occur but that both the guilty and just can perish in this way. Sometimes at the same time.
All we can do is to prepare as best we can, for we know not the day nor the hour.