People act differently there.
On April 25, 1908, a tornado touched down in Griffin, GA. This was part of an event that is called the 1908 Dixie Tornado outbreak where 29 tornados across 15 States killed over 300 people. I blame Climate Change ...
In Griffin, 7 people died (plus another one in neighboring Locust Grove). It also damaged the Mill, where most people in town worked. The Mill, the town, and most of its people faced financial ruin. And so the townspeople worked together to repair the mill and get it running again.
They didn't wait for the town to be declared a Disaster Area, or for the National Guard to come in and sort things out. They picked up their tools and got to work.
This country has lost a lot in the last 50 years.
Or 150 years.
ReplyDeleteNow they'd sit and wait for FEMA.
ReplyDeleteYou still have that attitude in small town middle America.my town of 5000 had a tornado (2009) that destroyed untold houses and buildings.It came thru during the night by the next morning people were everywhere looking for someone to help.
ReplyDeleteHey Borepatch;
ReplyDeleteI live in that area, it is still there, when natural disasters happen, the chainsaws come out and people get to work cleaning things up, the churches kick into high gear the county starts doing their thing and finally when the state shows up things are already sorted out until the FEDS get there and FUBAR everything.
Amen.
ReplyDeleteThen there was this one which I am sure is within living memory of a lot of your readers...
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1974_Super_Outbreak
Back then, America was still mostly white and Christian. Of course, the neighborhoods that still are generally don't don't wait for FEMA.
ReplyDeleteMother's Day 2015 a tornado ripped through my town just after sunset. It caused an incredible amount of damage. The next day we (local citizens) got to work cleaning up and rebuilding.
ReplyDeleteEverything went very well until control of the efforts was ceded to outside organizations and government agencies. In order to volunteer to help your neighbors you had to submit to a background check and abstain from tobacco use... Not willing to? Be prepared to be arrested if you were helping someone through unofficial channels.
That's when I got the 18" drop (from head knowledge to heart knowledge) about the scariest words being "I'm from the government and I'm here to help"
The government and 'charitable' organizations really soured me on disaster recovery. It's best done by the local residents. If someone wants to donate materials that's fine. Otherwise stay away and let thelocals sort it out.