2017--This Year is Our Year!!!
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Pam - yes, I know about irritable DH's. Mine has so many chronic problems and I hear about them all the time. I'm glad you're okay and hope your SIL in Houston stays okay. It sounds like Houston is going to take as long to come back as New Orleans did after Katrina. I try not to think about the animals. I see video of people with animals being rescued and know they probably won't be allowed in the shelters with them so wonder what everyone will do. Someone on my cat board had to leave her cats in her house after Katrina and they perished. I started thinking about where we'd go. Right now we could go to the family home but that won't always be there. I guess my baby brother's since he's squarely in the middle of PA - quite landlocked.0
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Maryanne, my SIL said the shelters in Houston were allowing people to bring their pets, so at least they weren't forced to make the decision to leave them. I know a lot of animals were brought up here from the shelters in advance of the storm, so our animal shelters are at capacity now and more are expected. I think you are right about how long recovery will take. It's still raining and now they are having to release water from the reservoirs, which will increase the flooding in many areas. As of this morning, my SIL and MIL are still dry and have power. They are very fortunate.0
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Your SIL and MIL are very lucky! That's great that the animals can go to the shelters. A step in the right direction!
I don't think I could leave my animals. I think we'd live or die together. Of course you don't know what you'd do unless you were faced with it.
DH already suggested CROM make a donation. I wouldn't do that but I certainly will donate personally once I identify the right organizations.
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The Salvation Army and Red Cross seem to be the agencies that most donors are being directed to, but area food banks and animal rescue organizations are also accepting donations. People are also being encouraged to donate blood, as a shortage is expected. Let me know if you'd like information on any local organizations that I know to be assisting.0
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The ASPCA is apparently gearing up to help. https://secure.aspca.org/donate/2017-web-har-bre1-T1-P1?ms=em_eap_har-bre1-nd-p1-20170828&initialms=em_eap_har-bre1-nd-p1-20170828&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=eappeal&utm_source=bre1-nd-p1-20170828&pcode=AHWEBP1&lpcode=AHWEBP2&eml_name=2017.08.29 August Breaking News Harvey 1 Non-Donor
I'd love any information you have about local organizations that are assisting. I can also share with my CROM volunteers.0 -
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My SIL didn't come up with anything specific for donations other than Red Cross and ASPCA. The fund established by football player JJ Watt is getting good marks as well if that appeals to you. My SIL did report that the sun came out for a little while today, which was very welcome. She was able to get out and drive over to check on her son's home and found that it was in good shape. She thinks she may be able to go to work on Thursday, possibly. She is an RN case manager for a hospital about ten miles from her home. She's been able to work some from home while this was going on, so at least she should still get paid. All in all, she was extremely fortunate.0
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It's nice that lessons on saving pets from the storm were learned during Katrina. Some of the people that dies did so because they couldn't take their pets to the shelters so they refused to evacuate and lost their lives. Now it looks like provisions were made to house the pets at animal shelters so everybody could be safe. It's sad that anyone perished but it seems like the death toll is lower than Katrina because more people evacuated when they could still do so. The rescue pictures coming out of Houston are heartbreaking. It's wonderful so many citizens are pitching in for the rescues since thousands didn't leave when they should have. I guess there will always be those who feel they can shelter in place and ride it out. I'm not in that group. if my area was told to go, I'd be heading west while the storm was days away. We have two bridges off the Cape, built in the 30s. They have 2 lanes on, 2 lanes off. Even if they changes it to 4 lanes off, it would take days to get everyone off the Cape.0
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I also meant to say I'm glad Pam's SIL is okay and that her son's home survived.0
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Helene, the situation in Houston was so complicated. During the last major hurricane an evacuation order was issued and hundreds of people died in their cars due to flooding because they couldn't get out of town in time. This time the order was given to shelter in place by the mayor of Houston, although the governor of the state was advising people to evacuate but not ordering it. Also, the storm intensified very rapidly from a category 2 to a category 4 in a day's time, which meant that at that point it was too late to try to evacuate a city of over 6 million people, many of whom would not have had their own transportation. Either way, people would have died and there was no clear answer as to which was the better choice. I believe that in the days and weeks to come they will find the death toll rising significantly due to the many people who weren't rescued in time or refused to leave.
The rescue efforts have been and continue to be amazing. Last year when Baton Rouge, LA experienced flooding, an organization grew that was called the Cajun Navy, made up of ordinary individuals who owned watercraft of any variety. They sprang into action rescuing their neighbors, as well as strangers during that flood. As soon as it became apparent how serious the devastation in Houston was, they loaded up their boats and hit the road to come and help out in Houston. Additionally, people from all over Texas and Oklahoma have come with their boats and probably other states as well. These people are using their own money, time, equipment, and courage to risk their lives for complete strangers. As horrible as this event is, it is truly heartwarming to read the countless stories like this.0 -
Fascinating op ed piece on CNN about how this was no surprise and why it was allowed to happen (think greedy businesses):
http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/29/opinions/dutch-america-storms-opinion-ghitis/index.html0 -
Fascinating op ed pieces on CNN about this being foreseeable, how it could have been prevent and why it was allowed to happen (think greed):
http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/29/opinions/dutch-america-storms-opinion-ghitis/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/29/opinions/hurricane-harvey-abbott-needs-to-resign-sachs/index.html0 -
I agree that ordinary citizens have been extraordinary in their response to Total strangers needing help. With all the negativity since the election, it's nice to see stories of kindness and generosity.0
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Helene--If there has been one positive thing to come out of this huge negative for Texas is the replacement of Facebook political negativity with the stories of people coming together to help.0
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And on the diet front, this is my new plan.
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That's so true about the FB posts letting go of the negative during crisis's. One of the most touching stories was about the furniture store owner who opened his stores and warehouses and made them into shelters. The people lucky enough to shelter there have beds, chairs, food and whatever they need to make it through this. One poor woman was crying, saying Monday was her 83rd birthday and everything she had was gone. He told her he'd give her a mattress as a birthday gift. I bought mattresses last year for FL so I know they can be pricey. What a sweet man. On the other hand, they had a story abut some stores jacking up the price of cases of water. Too bad everyone didn't get the kindness gene but the gougers seem to be few. Pam, I like that graphic. I guess it might work!0
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Pam--Love the new diet plan.
Helene--That is a great story about the furniture store owner.0 -
I gathered he's a very big dealer in TX and he said it was no time t worry about money. They asked if he'd sell the furniture later and he laughed and said he'd maybe have a special storm markdown sale. he didn't call it that but I've forgotten the term he used. They had tables f food that restaurants sent in s the folks were eating prime ribs and fixings instead of MRE's.0
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Contrast that furniture store story to the Osteen church story. Sad!
We're dealing with a very strange cat situation this week (cat skinny, desperately needs vet care, but has microchip - we're hoping the people don't respond so we can help it and so far they haven't but it's been harrowing - a cat having a microchip shouldn't be a bad thing but so far we've yet to have it ever be a good thing) which along with the presidential antics and the Harvey stories just has me totally on edge. Having given up my Benadryl I already wasn't sleeping great and all this isn't helping. Trying to convince myself to get back on track diet-wise hasn't been going real well.
We set up for a flea market today. When I get home I have to do billing for work (I'm sure they're going to be upset I'm not doing it this morning but if they want me to hold a day open I need more than a few days notice).0 -
Mattress Mack, as the furniture store owner is known locally, has been in business for over 30 years and is known for being very generous in the community. And I learned yesterday that he ships furniture anywhere in the US, so if anyone needs furniture ...
Maryanne, I gave up Benadryl as a sleep aid last year and now I take 10 mg of Melatonin instead. It works well for me, maybe better than the Benadryl did. The recommendation is to start with the lowest dose then increase if necessary. It comes in 3 and 5 mg tablets. I started with 3, then took 2 of those, then tried 5 mg, then tried 3 and 5 for a total of 8 mg. That worked pretty well but I didn't want to keep buying two different bottles, so I just bought the 5 mg and take 2 of them.0
