I agree with your post 100%. I'm from SWLA where Rita hit and the story is the same. The media doesn't want to report on all of the good things that come out of the storms. The truth is most people were prepared and most got out of the way. It's just not as dramatic to report on neighbors helping neighbors or neighborhood cookouts in order to salvage the contents in the freezer.
Glad you all are safe, and thanks to the Mrs. for writing this.
Thank you for the first hand report. Brian Kilmeade mentioned the week long warning this morning on Fox & Friends 1st. He couldn't believe so many folks had done so little for themselves.
Wouldn't it be something if the journalists who have managed to interview the moaners would actually pitch in a help clean up a neighborhood?
God Bless you and yours. Thanks for the update.
Great article! Wouldn't I love to see it reprinted in letters to the editor around the country!
The lines are full of democrats who want to blame Bush for everything!
Well God bless you guys. We were without power for six days after Frances last year. But this idea that the goverment needs to supply such simple necessities as water and ice when you can go to any mini mart and buy this stuff days in advance if you want too.
I guess some either refuse to believe a hurricane will effect them, or they just "assume" the government teet is the only way to survive. I just don't know.
But that wouldn't fit the "Bush doesn't care" media template. I don't remember all this whining after Charlie/Francis/Jeanne last year. Must be a post-Katrina thing.
I was w/o power twice after last years storms for a total of 8 days. I never thought it was the governments "fault".
My parents live in Naples and took appropriate steps to prepare for the storm. They had some trees down, and a few missing shingles, but they, along with some neighbors, cleared the debris and are getting things back together. My Dad went to the Lowe's yesterday and bought another generator (my parents have three refrigerators...Dad likes to cook:)He remarked that he was surprised how many stores were open.
I just got off the phone with my brother who is in one of the hardest hit areas of Dade county. I hadn't heard from him since before the storm hit and was very happy to hear he was ok and safe. I asked him if he had enough food and supplies (if not, I was going to drive some down to him this weekend) and he said he and his neighbors were prepared, sharing, taking care of one another, cleaning up debris and had been eating like kings! As a matter of fact, his neighbor woke up at 4 a.m., went 2 doors down where he (my brother) lives to wake him up to tell him to get up they were going to go to another friend's house to ride out the storm because the winds had picked up. They all live in a trailer park except the other friend's house that they went to.
Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to loot freely.
I know we have sent crews of linemen from NC to south Florida (ours are in Boca Raton), so if you see any NC trucks honk and say hi for me.
Excellent report. Thanks for taking the time to post this story.
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We had the same thing happen here in the Charleston area after Hugo.
Thank you for taking the time to write this.
A friend of mine wrote this to a TV reporter:
I would like to tell you something about the coastal regions in America. Our family for years lived in the north, but for the last 26 years, we have lived in the south coastal region (Houston/Galveston). We have seen tropical storms, flooding, and hurricanes. I would like to tell you as gently as I can...because you are a very caring person - that it take days and days - sometimes weeks or a little longer to restore everything in an area hit by these natural disasters. It usually does not take just two or three days - even in the best situations.
In the aftermath, there are trees that need to be cut down off of roads and flood water that needs to recede so that first responders (the fireman, police, and utility workers) can safely make their way to the places that need to be first restored. Some are more critical than others because of their importance as far as running government or hospitals, etc. In places like here in Houston, we have had outer limits of the city that take longer to reconnect. And if after a hurricane (which levels buildings and homes) there is flooding, it just complicates the situation.
I believe that Katrina was an especially unique hurricane because it was of such a great magnitude - as far as intensity, damage, and coverage of a great land area. And New Orleans was also unique. There the leadership failed to take leadership. If you will look at all the hurricanes in the past you will see the difference in the way that people responded had a great deal to do with how their leaders responded. We know that if our children see us panic, they too will panic. And so I ask that you please review all the clips of past aftermaths of these hurricanes...you will not see people looting, panicking, or doing all the accusations they did in NO. That was an aberration - to be quite frank.
We are a society that has to have instant everything - instant internet, microwaves, instant checking and banking, etc. But natural disasters are unpredictable and the best we can do is rise above the situation as Rudy Giuliani did on 9/11 and the countless nameless first responders (unsung heroes) in the days after a disaster.
As I said earlier, I have personally gone through hurricanes (category 2 and 3), floods, and tropical storms. We can either stand strong - or wobble in indecision - and I ask you Kyra - who would you rather follow? Please see how other people in Mississippi have responded to Katrina besides how people reacted in NO. I think you will see everything I have written you is true - it does take days and sometimes weeks to restore a community - and leadership is the key to it all!
This ain't as much fun as when we were kids!!