Hurricane Ike Aftermath
[Guest post by DRJ]
I don’t know if it’s a reflection on the storm, the people, the local media, or all three but the stories I’ve seen on TV and in the media after Hurricane Ike are more positive than negative:
“Jeannine Burks stood outside her Houston home Sunday and surveyed the damage from Hurricane Ike: Tree limbs, debris and standing water everywhere. She had no power, no phones, and had only just back got her water pressure.
In other words, she got lucky.
“I have a roof over my house. I’ve got windows, and a cool front coming tomorrow,” said Burks, who lives in the city’s Sharpstown neighborhood. “Anytime you go through one of these with just broken trees and no power, you’re doing good.”
Some in America’s fourth-largest city fared worse, others better, but the consensus among residents was that Houston, unlike its hard-hit coastal suburbs, was more inconvenienced than devastated.”
I know there are a lot of people hurting in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and elsewhere but there are also stories of people handling adversity. Fox News reported that Clear Channel brought in five 18-wheelers with dry and wet ice to give away to Houstonians who are without power. Dozens and dozens of people volunteered to hand out ice to cars that were waiting for hours to get 1 bag of ice. Like Jeannine Burks, the mood seemed to be patient and grateful.
I’m sure there are stories of great hardship from Ike but there are also people all over America like my 84- and 88-year old Houston aunts who, after their power was restored, promptly made cookies and cakes and delivered them to area police and fire stations. They know what we should all remember: Every day is a blessing.
— DRJ
My daughter lives in Houston and said the power is coming back in some areas faster than expected. She was without water and power but has friends with water and a generator. She gets a shower tonight and seemed happy about it. She’s okay on water and food. Take the niceties of civilization away and it’s amazing how the little things will make you happy. Yes, I asked her to leave before and she said she would be all right.
Bill M (6f634b) — 9/14/2008 @ 6:56 pmIn calamity after calamity, the true American spirit and values are revealed.
paul from fl (4dd8c4) — 9/14/2008 @ 7:36 pmTeamwork, compassion, tenacity, hope and kindness.
These are the values of America. Not the nonsense we see in the Media. It is in the darkest hours when my pride for this country shines it’s brightest.
It is in these darkest hours in which Americans revert to their root values and beliefs of self-sufficency, Freely given aid to the truly weakened and dedication to the rebuilding of their lives.
God Bless America.
Texans taking care of their neighbors…no matter what the situation, a neighbor is always their to help out (got to see it first-hand when my mother-in-law passed away in 2000).
fmfnavydoc (0dd45c) — 9/14/2008 @ 7:37 pmExcellent post. Texans are good role models for the rest of the country.
I’m hopeful we can see a resurgence of the Texas worldview — more self-reliance and optimism. Maybe if we get the right leadership in Washington we can tap into the America many of us grew up with and reverse the trend toward the complete whinification of America.
capitano (211a15) — 9/14/2008 @ 7:47 pmThere isn’t any plausible way to use this to discredit Bush, so the press has no incentive to slant the news negative.
Steven Den Beste (99cfa1) — 9/14/2008 @ 8:01 pmWe awoke without power this morning in rural Louisiana, so I made the 30 mile drive to buy more gasoline for the generator. The local gas station was out of power and out of gas.
On the drive, I saw 43 (plus a few before I started counting) electric repair trucks in a row heading towards our neck of the woods. The power was back on by noon.
Don’t believe the hype. We’ve got a fantastic repair infrastructure in America. It’s truly awesome once it gets mobilized.
Kevin (5ac156) — 9/14/2008 @ 9:42 pmWe’ll be alright. Don’t worry about us.
Ricky in Houston (3fe308) — 9/14/2008 @ 10:08 pmAmen, DRJ. What a country!
Good luck, Southern friends. Glad to see you are all right.
Patricia (ee5c9d) — 9/14/2008 @ 10:21 pmThe every day person gets it. It seems to be the politicians who have a problem with getting things right.
http://www.star-telegram.com/804/story/908377.html
According to this story, there were 300 National Guard at a stadium who were without food. So the Congressman blames FEMA. These people are a state resource deployed by the Governor. Why is it FEMA’s fault that they were deployed without adequate rations?
I am quite sure that the residents of Houston have taken care of these first responders needs as midwesterners always seem to do. But the politicians, having dropped the ball, seem intent on passing the buck for their gaffe to the federal aganecy.
U.S. Rep. John Culberson, you can do better than this.
Jay Curtis (8f6541) — 9/15/2008 @ 7:50 amRed State = Personal Responsibilty
rudytbone (339e21) — 9/15/2008 @ 1:50 pmFrom my perspective in southwest Houston, there’s some whining, but not much. No power yet on either side of my block, but almost every yard has been raked up, with fallen limbs and such deposited curbside for pickup (whenever that comes). Water pressure is back to almost normal. School kids are going to be bored silly, but HISD doesn’t want to resume classes until most of the city has power back.
The watchword for the weekend, during the storm, was “hunkered down.” Now it’s “hangin’ in.” Today was a beautiful day, clear skies and temperatures only in the high 60s.
Houston will be fine, overall, pretty soon. Galveston’s another story, as is also true in some other coastal areas that were very hard hit by storm surge.
My main problem is that I have this gnawing feeling that someone out there in the unaffected parts of the country is telling lies about Sarah Palin, and I don’t have adequate internet access to track ’em down and refute ’em! Grrrr.
Beldar (cbb4e2) — 9/15/2008 @ 8:06 pmGood to hear you are in good shape yourself, Beldar.
As for your last, I have a list for you when you want it 😉
SPQR (26be8b) — 9/15/2008 @ 8:14 pmGlad you’re ok, Beldar.
We got your rain, thankfully without the winds, up where I am. One third of our village is accessible only by boat. Our schools are closed because police and fire do not think that they could adequately respond to an emergency.
nk (189a81) — 9/15/2008 @ 8:17 pm