You, at least, still have electricity. My elderly 70yr+ parents went 5 weeks with no power, no phone (landline OR cellular) and no water post katrina. They were 150+ miles from the coast. On the ‘clean’ side of Katrina. She went 60m or so to their east. Even IF my elderly dad had had a heart attack there was no way to *get* him to the hospital for a week due to 100+yr old trees down on their road. My parents had a generator, their own well and a wood burning stove for cooking. My mom did needlework in a rocking chair on the front porch during the day and at night they went to bed right after dark. It was 90+ during the day and muggy as all heck after dark. Not unlike conditions in 1900 before all modern convenieces.
Yes, it’s a big deal if you’re not prepared for it or unwilling to accept it as a fact of life.
Until you lose power though, and are affected for more than a week with *no* modern conveniences (which means you won’t be posting to complain about your travails) you aren’t going to get a lot of sympathy from anyone within 100m of the Gulf Coast. Sorry. (Rita, Katrina, Ivan, Ike, etc). It’s a way of life down here. And for the most part, ninth ward notwithstanding, we prepare for these situations.
Until then, use the electricity your computing device is using right now to boil some water. And, in the future, either put solar and/or hand pump on your well, or be prepared to deal with sanitizing the city/county water yourself. Get clorox at the very least, or pool shock and keep it with your prepper stuff. Get board games and books for the kids. And oil burning lamps.
At least the flooding in your neck of the woods didn’t scare up whole nests of poisonous snakes, alligators and fire ants. You *only* have the water and mud and inconvenience. Unlikely you’ll wake up next to a displaced moccasin or rattlesnake. Or lose a pet to displaced fireants.
So, in the nicest voice possible, ‘deal with it’.
Carry on.
Well said. Need to leave it at that lest I say something that this site will not let me retract.
> which means you won’t be posting to complain about your
> travails
Look, we’re not complaining. Most of us were just reporting our status, when we were barraged with all this “we have it worse than you” crap.
Not only do we feel bad for your parents and all the people who suffered that storm, but we put our bloody money where our mouth is and contributed to reconstruction efforts. Many of us went down there to help with their hands. There wasn’t a church in our area that didn’t send people to help in MO and LA.
And thee are some folks up here who have it as bad as your folks did.
So, enough already.
If all you can do is send prayers and concern, we welcome that. But if you want to ride a high horse and condemn us as whining weaklings, then get lost.
I have an aunt and 2nd cousin who were elderly and went without electricy for over 3 weeks post Rita in East TExas. They did not have generators.
Oh brother....you Katrina people are such spoiled brats. You get all the attention and then complain when another state had an incident. Louisiana is one of the worst states in the nation and you prove it everyday. Most can’t read down there because your education sucks. You cry all day long about Katrina three years later. Grow up. Plus you complaining about people posting to Free Republic and were part of the hurricane is just plain ignorant because cell phones allow for posting quick things on the internet....but since Louisiana is a very poor stupid state, I forgive your ignorance.
Points well taken.
I think the media did everyone a disservice by hyping the “hurricane” (wind) aspect of this storm. After all, it makes for better video than an extended period of heavy rain. The slow, inexorable march of tons of water isn’t dramatic enough (maybe if they used jiggly handhelds or flash-cut every few seconds, it would satisfy their short-attention-span mania).
This storm is a wake-up call for millions who didn’t have the slightest idea of how to be self-reliant. I’d venture to say too many are “addicted” to electricity - they’re going through severe withdrawal. Of course, I don’t mean the life-and-death elements of it (food, cooking, health). But the lack of tv, facebook, texting, etc. has people on edge.
Schools are closed around here for the second day in a row. Trees down, sporadic power outages.
Prayers up for everyone’s safety.