Is there such a thing as "Hurricane guilt?" Can a person feel extra bad for an area that should never have received any affects of a hurricane? Can our brains compute the reality of watching videos of entire towns being swept away and lives destroyed, of communities being devastated and the lack of communication only makes it worse? Many of us know these areas, have visited these beautiful areas and or have loved ones and friends in these towns. Where do we start to help? So many local businesses and citizens have heard the call and are hauling supplies to community distribution centers. People are sending heavy equipment, chainsaws, gasoline and generators. Over 1,000 people are missing and the number of dead is climbing each day.
A dear friend told me that each day he and his wife walk along the river bank where his cabin once stood, pulling items out of the water, mostly parts of peoples homes or vehicles and dreading the idea that they may find a deceased person. At first he was angry. He built with concrete pilings and bolted everything together. He had no idea a neighbor's house would be swept into the raging waters and would collide with his. How can anyone ever prepare for that? How long will it take restore any sign of normalcy? How many people lost everything?
Insurance companies don't cover land. If your land was washed away, including your home and vehicle and you didn't have flood insurance (which many did not), what do you do? What happens to your mortgage? What happens to your car payments? What happens if a river bed now resides in what was once your yard? How do you prove what you lost?
When homes, hospitals, schools, shopping centers, restaurants and distribution and manufacturing centers are destroyed, how do you rebuild?
After experiencing some major hurricanes myself, one of the things you worry about is that people may begin to forget about the destruction and carry on with their lives like nothing ever happened. No one should ever forget about this horrific event. We should show our support, knowing it will be needed for months. This is not a quick fix. People will need a lot of things. Could you image losing everything without warning? Your home, clothes, vehicles, farming equipment, electronics, furniture, photo albums, family recipes. So many items that can never be replaced are gone for ever.
Interstate I-40 was damaged from the raging waters on the Tennessee / North Carolina boarder. It is estimated that it will take a year to repair. For anyone who has ever traveled that highway, you know how many big trucks use it on a daily basis to transport goods. For those of you familiar with that stretch of roadway, it wasn't too long ago that it was closed down for months due to a rock slide.
Knowledge is power but compassion is essential.