After Ian; what we got right, and what we got wrong

There is nothing quite like a natural disaster when it comes to things that make the brain spin. Living through one causes you to toggle back and forth between every emotion known to humankind. Emotions that are in constant conflict with each other. You feel happy and guilty. Privileged and forgotten. You feel loved and loathed. No one emotion comes alone and none of them solidify for more than a second. That is all likely common in high stress situation like these.

The first thing I noticed was the immediate cleanup efforts. I suspect it is cathartic for most. You want all evidence of the horror removed from sight. The practical side is being able to move people, traffic, and supplies, and that really is essential to recovery. So clean up makes the list of things we get right.

The power companies started work the instant the wind slowed below 45 mph and have worked sun up till sun down ever since. Power runs stop lights, credit card machines, refrigerators, communications, oxygen concentrators and dialysis machines. We need power for water and sewer processing. They staged crews before it ever hit. Power restoration efforts get an A+.

People step up to help starting as the storm hits. So many stories of one person rescuing another from raging flood currents, ropes tied to people while fighting to keep their heads above the water, placing pets on their backs to try and swim to an upstairs window …..When the wind dies and the sun comes up people hit the ground running doing a million things for others. I see people who lost everything but the clothes on their backs, helping recover the few things a friend or neighbor has left. I see food, water and phones being shared. People from a thousand miles away start drives to collect necessities to send. No one asks political or religious affiliation before helping. Unification makes the list of things we do right.

Within 24 hours places start popping up that supply much needed food, water, and clothing. Without these essentials, people get sick and die. Within three days there is an abundance of these items available to all who have a means to get to the locations. We do a good job on these immediate essentials, but not a great job. As I mentioned many of the those with the greatest need have no way to get to the free food and water, so it doesn’t do them a bit of good. The improvement we need here is to stage food delivery vehicles, just like the light company. We should set up a staging ground, fill the food delivery trucks , and then literally drive around like an ice cream truck broadcasting it’s arrival to the neighborhood. I see a food truck followed by a water truck. Clothes are not life or death for those first few days.

We are starting to get to the list of things we do wrong, which sadly, is longer. In my humble opinion delivery services are equally as important as the food and water needs. It does no good whatsoever to have 3000 meals available if people can’t get to them. In addition , instructions are given to people to drive all over town to find and get these resources, while simultaneously screaming people must stay off the roads.

Staying off the roads is excellent advice. Traffic lights don’t work, debris is everywhere, and emergency and recovery vehicles can go faster if you haven’t cluttered up the roads driving around. Gas is in short supply, so I find it highly illogical to have every individual household use gas chasing supplies. One delivery vehicle per area would reduce all that unnecessary madness. In addition to the delivery vehicles, we need communal transport for people to get to doctors, pick up prescriptions, get to shelter etc. A web site for requests should accompany this service.

There is a plethora of things people need desperately immediately after a disaster. It isn’t just food, water, ice, gas and power. I want to talk about the forgotten necessities. First aid supplies top the list, but other essentials include solar lighting, battery powered lighting, solar or battery operated fans and ice chests. Other things are bug spray and sun screen. Pop up shade/ screen tents and camp stoves with fuel. Everyone needs external power packs to charge their phones. These should be charged and swappable when depleted. They should go on the delivery trucks.

Next, I want to address the people helping from a long distance away. Shipping costs are extremely high and as much as your help is appreciated, it is illogical an inefficient for you to ship things, particularly large bulky items like clothing, but most things in reality. I suggest you have a community yard sale of those donations and buy money cards with the proceeds. As much as people like giving, they are oddly reluctant to just give cash. If you give cash some person may buy booze or cigarettes with it. While that is true, most just desperately need to pay for a prescription, a vet bill for an injured animal or buy gas to chase around after food and water. Please, the very best thing you can do is send money cards. Where would they be sent and how would they be distributed is a challenging task. My personal observation has been that a trusted local business or two always take charge and do the most good for the most needy. I would like to see a registry that could be checked for residents’ addresses to assure distribution goes to the ones actually affected.

My little island of Fort Myers Beach has “Beach Talk Radio”. From the first minute on they have been far and beyond the greatest resource we have had. They have given us the only info we get, and organized a fund raising effort from the get go. They arranged a building for staging supplies and filled it to the brim. Find a place like that and donate money to them. It gets directly into the hands of the people who lost their jobs and homes. Give money!! The car insurance company could not care less if you just lost everything, they want their money!! If you want to find free food you need your cell phone but cell phone companies won’t take your free water for payment, they want money!! Give money. Pay for someone to replace their dentures. Send money to a local vet to be used for a disaster victim’s pet. Send money to an optometrist so some one can get glasses. Thank you, thank you, thank you, but SEND MONEY!!

I have a lot more to say about this issue but there are homeless, jobless people in need of assistance and daylight is burning. I hope you all will forgive me for not doing a good edit job but I really do have bigger fish to fry right now. I do want to thank all that read what I write and to those of you that pledge and tip, there are no words to explain the depth of my gratitude. I swear it effects me to the core of my soul but that is a different story.