First FEMA trailer rolls into Central Florida
Just kidding, DHS, JUST KIDDING!
heh-heh
The humor may not be so obvious to anyone who hasn't been through disaster-recovery efforts, but I had a paroxysm of laughter when I spotted this trailer and thought of the tag line.
The Equalizer
But I'm getting a little punchy, with 14-hour days covering recovery, angering **certain** officials with my questions, going through more devastated areas and such.
I took this photo in a neighborhood near the river:
While the Christmas-Day tornado victims were almost exclusively mobile-home dwellers, the Feb. 2 monster was an equal-opportunity destroyer. It took out comfy river homes with the same casual aplomb with which it ripped apart mobile homes and low-budget apartments. I saw virtually empty lots where a few of these houses stood.
They'll Know We Are Christians by Our Love
The most heartening thing I've seen in these storms is the response from the community of faith. Just about every church around was involved in some way.
Some of these churches ran mission trips to the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina, and they've gotten a lot of practice at home, too, with the 2004 hurricanes, last year's fires, this year's tornadoes. They were out within a couple of hours of the tornado touchdown, serving hot breakfasts to shell-shocked survivors and rescuers, helping clear debris and making emergency repairs. They're terrific.
I was talking to one of these pastors Tuesday, and he said they've had more people wanting to volunteer than they've been able to place, though by the first of the coming week they may need more, when the first wave takes off to rest or go back to work.
Amazing.
Thank you Lord, for bringing this good out of disaster. Thank you for these servants who are so willing to serve you, and showing us how we as a faith community can come together. Help us preserve this unity after the crisis passes. Amen.
4 comments:
Now you know, Pat, how the folks in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast feel. I'm sure there will be many more "you laugh or you cry" moments. Bush has destroyed many federal government institutions. He's worse than hurricanes, floods, and tornadoes.
It really looks bad around there. My prayers.
Yes. Emotionally and spiritually, we're still recovering from the 2004 hurricanes, which weren't as devastating as Katrina, but were plenty devastating.
So many people (including me) slip and use the word "hurricane" instead of tornado, because the damage, physical and psychic, is so deja vu of Hurricanes Charley, Frances and Jeanne.
Bush is a force of chaos and destruction, one who won't listen to those who are trying to give him good counsel. He doesn't care, about advice or all the people who die because of his actions and policies. They seem to be just "collateral damage."
Pat, you and your communities are in my prayers and love as you continue the recovery process.
And, I agree with Mimi that Bush has done so much harm to the US. A friend just returned from Spain, where she said everyone hated Bush. Maybe some of the animosity towards the US will lessen if we elect a decent decision-maker as president - it will go away attached to former president george w bush.
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