When Disasters Have Names
By James Bowden (10/02/03)
Every disaster has a name. A disaster has many names when you know the faces of its casualties. You know who suffered what. You know how people are doing. You care and you contribute – just like everybody else. Hurricane Isabel is the name of the disaster you see on TV. Everyone in my town - Poquoson, Virginia - knows the names of some of the 50 families who lost their homes and the 2000 with damage to their houses out of 4360 plus residences. Isabel means the many names for neighbors we know and care about.
One week after, most people still do not have power. Many will do without for another week or so. Yet, there is praise that no one was killed. Doesn’t that speak to our values – sacred life, injury, then property? Among property there are memories like photos/videos, sentimental values and then stuff – no matter the price.
The emergency center in the ruined Middle School Gym is full of items freely donated for those who lost the most. The government didn’t stock the long tables, the people did. Volunteers operate the center.
We have much to applaud in our civil servants. The police, fire fighters and emergency medical personnel left their loved ones to serve us all and the most dangerous time. City/County, Commonwealth and Federal Governments all do their part to help in the recovery. Their roles are clearly defined. It’s the earnestness and dedication of their performance of duty of the officials that makes them so appreciated. Again, we have much to be grateful.
One good that comes from this devastation is the sense of good will among citizens. There is the realization that we don’t live in a cruel or heartless community. Our officials, our bureaucrats, are our neighbors and they care – and some of them had losses. Our public servants serve. The workers in companies that provide us power - under government regulations – and other utilities like cable – make personal sacrifices to bring our services back.
There was no looting on our peninsula on The Peninsula. There are only two roads in and out and one was under water. Besides, the homeowner guns per capita in this Conservative community would make looting more fatal than foolish.
The Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) headquarters is set up in the Christian Outreach Center (our gym) of my Baptist church home. Funny, no one is concerned about the separation of church and state. Food distribution is made at other churches in town. This suggests what safety nets we should have in Virginia and in what order.
Individuals have a personal responsibility to carry insurance. For those who don’t or don’t have enough, the General Assembly should create communities of common interests as multiple safety nets - before you get to a government agency.
First, every extended family should be able to share their resources and discount every penny they provide for relief from their taxes. Dollar for dollar it’s more efficient by a factor of 5 than going through government.
Second, church families, community of faith, should be the second safety net – and they are already for many folks.
Third, communities of co-workers – like credit unions with new capabilities – and (Fourth) neighborhoods organized into credit union-like legal entities should be able to operate tax-free to pool resources and provide relief, loans, etc. for individual members. These should be the third and fourth safety nets.
If a person has none of these – in the future after the legal entities are created - then a welfare agency of the Commonwealth or a Federal agency – for a loan, etc. - should be the fifth safety net.
But, this is a vision for the future. For today, we must deal with the helping agencies as they are. Our churches are stepping up to provide real assistance.
We should be thankful for all that is good in our government – our neighbors who share our burdens and our joy - who represents the best in us – today. Yet, we need to be certain that no government gets too powerful, because sooner or later it will represent the worst of us. Power will be abused.
Here’s to our common cause on high ground indeed. We will recover and rebuild – even better than before Isabel. We will not forget the many names of this disaster. Yet, storms don’t defeat my proud Virginian neighbors, they just set folks back a spell.
Our material losses remind me of what New York City feels after 9-11-01. Think what families across the country suffer when the flag-draped coffin comes home from WW IV. Let’s honor their loved ones and their loss with courage of conviction. Let’s pray for them. Let’s cry with them. Let us never give up.
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