Thursday, September 18, 2008

Yay Team

I lived in Houston when Hurricane Alicia came in. We followed all the instructions. Filled buckets and pitchers and bottles with water. Had enough food to eat for about a week. Had two coolers and bags of ice stored in our freezer in case the power went out. Lots of batteries, flashlights and emergency jar candles. Washed all the laundry before the storm came in. Washed all the dishes. Made sure we had fuel for the camp stove. Bought a large stack of paper plates.

The storm arrived in the middle of the night with sound and fury. Afterwards, the skies were blue, the sun came out, and we baked. Because of course the power went out. Two houses down, a neighbor fired up his huge grill (a converted fifty-five gallon drum) and offered to cook any meat anyone wanted to bring by.

People started preparing foods that were perishable so that they would be eaten rather than thrown out. Neighbors opened their garage doors and played cards or board games in the shade. A couple people put up tarps and set up tables so that we could arrange the potluck dishes the neighbors brought by.

A couple of guys went from house to house assessing the damage, making a list of things that needed to be replaced. Others cleaned up debris from the yards.

We were blessed. We lived far enough inland that we had limited consequences from the storm. But we also pulled together to make things better. Everyone did something. Everyone participated. Disaster relief isn't just the responsibility of the government. WE are the government. WE are the people.

anny

PS: Today my granddaughter is eleven years old! Happy birthday, kid!

6 comments:

  1. You also did as you were instructed and were as prepared as possible. Makes a difference when YOU collectively participate both before and after a storm.

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  2. Hey, isn't it amazing how people can deal with difficulty if they pull together?

    Happy Birthday to the kiddo!

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  3. We were in Alicia too. We waited the storm out and lost power, all that. Then we left town and headed north until the power came back on. Storms like that are scary but I don't know how we'd make it without help from our friends and neighbors.

    Happy Birthday to the little one!

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  4. Teamwork rockz.

    Happy birthday to the kiddo!

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  5. That is such a cool story. I wish people would pull together like that all the time.

    Happy Birthday to the cutie-pie!

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  6. What a wonderful story. Power to the people.

    Happy Birthday to your granddaughter.

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