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The past week has brought about another major flood in the Susquehanna River Valley in New York and Pennsylvania. Just five years ago, we had what "old-timers" called "a hundred-year flood." In some parts, this week's flood was worse than that of the summer of '06.
I've read that over 100,000 people were evacuated from their homes. Two of my siblings, who both reside in the community that we grew up in, were among those forced to leave their homes. For both of them, there were other relatives who took them in. But for many people, the past several days have been spent in evacuation centers. And no matter how hard people try, after 48 hours, stress and anxiety and depression take hold.
My wife is one of our county's top emergency management responders. She is in charge of the mental health response; coordinating efforts with area police departments; and helping to coordinate things such as emergency housing or shelter, and access to much needed prescription medication. When the pharmacies in the larger communities are flooded, electricity is off, and almost every road is closed, getting people the medicines they need is no small task.
There are many good and dedicated people involved in the emergency response coordination. There are also far too many lazy, worthless shits, who invest more effort in avoiding doing their job, than it would require to do it correctly. These people complain that they "had plans" for the weekend, and pull petty crap such as only having their home phone numbers on the list for contact, rather than their cell phones.
I'm not objective, but I am mighty proud of my wife. Though we "had plans," she has been busy for long hours each day. Part of that has been as "simple" as doing work over the phone at home, very early in the morning and very late at night. It also involves traveling around from community to community, which is rather difficult when bridges are under water or washed out.
In June, most of the towns in our three-county area were either almost out, or totally beyond budget, for road repair. This is because a series of relatively minor spring floods did significant damage to the roads and highways. Our area is -- like most everywhere today -- hurting financially. And now, due to this flood, more and more businesses will be keeping their doors closed. It happened in 2006, and other industry spokespersons had said "never again."
Our nation, of course, is on the verge of economic ruin. Politicians continue to invest billions of dollars in foreign wars. Corporate snakes continue to try to crush unions, and close shop domestically so they can make maximum profits overseas. There is the push to use hydro-fracking for gas in our state, which includes gross lies about how many jobs might be created. Some desperate people fall for these cruel lies. I've spoken several times on DU about the very real distinctions between man's laws and natural law; this flood should serve as evidence that water has zero respect for man's laws.
Later this morning, I'll be driving my daughters and some of their friends to a community not far from here, where they are volunteering to help assist elderly residents effected by the flood. There is still a heck of a lot of good in this country. It's a shame that there is so little good to be found in the government -- which includes corporate "leadership" (if it can be called that) and the ethically-bankrupt politicians.
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