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We won’t see 'normal' for quite some time
Published September 15, 2008
First came the dread, then the gripping fear, followed a shaky 24 hours later by collective relief.
Now, in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike, after the exhale most in Brazoria County had at being spared the worst of its rage, comes a realization that life won’t be back to normal for a long time.
Most of us expected that life for folks who live in the coastal area never would be the same. But when it seemed downed limbs and power outages would be the biggest problems for the rest of us, the thought was that we’d be back home, and back to our lives, in no time.
That was Saturday. Sunday brought the reality that recovery after a massive storm, even if your house didn’t bear the brunt, doesn’t happen overnight.
Crews worked on clearing city streets and electricians started to restore power in spots, but tempers began to rise as ice melted, water supplies depleted and gas tanks teetered toward E.
Reporters in Freeport and Lake Jackson called, as did Facts Publisher Bill Cornwell, reporting people searching for gas and showing up at City Hall looking for ice. Even stations that had gasoline quickly ran out.
FEMA set up distribution sites, and a gas truck was rumored to be en route.
And down near the beach, Quintana residents counted their blessings at finding homes intact. Others on the coast, on Surfside Beach, had “XXX” sprayed on their homes in green spray paint, a signal that fire officials had deemed the structure in danger of falling.
That we can feel miserable, sad, frustrated, scared and yet lucky all at the same time is a lot for anyone to process. Add the fact that many folks also are exhausted makes for some serious mood swings.
Yet in the middle of it all, the thing I find myself focusing on, besides the awesome power electricity has over us, is the community of people who are looking out for each other.
Most of our staffers on the ground in Brazoria County have no power to their homes, so they’re sleeping in the office that does. There is very little open and they are coping with tons of problems just to get information to us to funnel through the paper and onto the Web. Yet they’re helping each other through. And thankfully, they have people there watching out for them.
When the troops checked in, I asked them each if they had somewhere to sleep, if they had enough to eat and the status of their gas tanks. Each of our three reporters there was grateful for the generosity of the police, fire and emergency management officials with whom they were stationed.
“I don’t take this good care of myself,” John Lowman said. “These are some real good people, and this is a real good place.”
These first responders and city officials are the people who are putting our towns back in order. There will be tough times, and things might not be “normal” for weeks, but their leadership will help.
That and the power company trucks.
Yvonne Mintz is managing editor of The Facts. Contact her at yvonne.mintz(at)thefacts.com.
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