Early in life many children become fascinated with bathtub drains. Pull the plug and in a mini tornado of water, all of the fun splashy water will amazingly disappear &8212; vanished until the water faucets are spun again.

It doesn&8217;t take long before our tiny heads realize the importance of the plug that holds everything together &8212;a simple piece that makes everything else possible.

But water, at least in our part of the world, is plentiful, so refilling that tub isn&8217;t difficult.

But when other kinds of &8220;plugs&8221; are pulled and other things lost, our ability to recover can become increasingly difficult.

The state of Louisiana is still searching for the &8220;plug&8221; that&8217;s caused a staggering drain of people from the state.

A recent report by the U.S. Census Bureau shows the state of Louisiana has experienced a devastating drain of people. Approximately 220,000 people, or some 5 percent of its population, have moved out of the state since the previous year.

Obviously, the biggest bulk of this exodus came as result of Hurricane Katrina in late 2005. But state demographers say the state was losing population before the devastating storm ripped the plug out.

Somehow, some way, Louisiana must figure out how to get its &8220;plug&8221; back in place and begin luring people back into the state.

An empty bathtub can be quickly remedied. An empty state is much more difficult to fix.