Thursday, November 1, 2012

Ready or Not?

There are a lot of rough areas in New York.  Several years ago my sister and one of her daughters went there and in touring they went to Hoboken.  She said it felt safe because it was the home of legendary singer/crooner, Frank Sinatra, and the mob (so it goes) kept Frankie's hometown safe.  This little town is one square mile!

The entire concept of New York is so different anyhow...Islands connected by bridges and then lots of transportation underground.  I visited downtown New York  a little over 16 years ago and went to Les Miserable on Broadway.  It was exciting, thrilling and a dream come true to share such a time with my daughter!  I was a duck out of water and felt like I was in a cement jungle.  Like a maze.

Downtown, most people don't own cars and apartments are many times twin-bed wide.

As I follow the storm and the aftermath I think of gratitude for the practical aspect of the Gospel.  I think of being taught and teaching that in cases of disaster...if you can't get out?--then others can't get in.   It may take up to a week for help to arrive so be prepared.  Two days is nothing to get riled about.

I remember the night I woke up from a dead sleep, after being called as RSP, and was hyperventilating over the fact that I did not know if the families were prepared with foodstuffs and water and etc.  We started a big push, a big Ward campaign, to get yourself comfortable with what you have on hand.  We had all sorts of drives and goals and then called a sister to conduct a monthly class to get everyone on target and to keep us all moving ahead.  We did that for a long time and eventually it was dropped.  I felt that everyone was prepared for a minimal time with 3 months being the goal.

I read that a person could survive sheltering in place if they were prepared with water and food.  To be able to just close your door and stay home.  Even pandemic events could be survived if a person were prepared to stay home.  For the authorities to tell 20,000 people to shelter in place when they aren't prepared in advanced, can't get commodities now because they can't even leave their homes, doesn't make much sense.

It's sort of a 10 virgin story.  The hour is past for readiness and they will just have to wait it out and hope for the best.

I am no longer the RSP but I still care and still hope that all the women that I know, and that includes you that are reading this, will check your cupboards and get a little something each week, or whenever you shop, so that you are always ready for any situation that requires you to shelter in place.

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Here are a few snippets that made me really thing about realistic expectations and having sensible adequate information.  
HOBOKEN, N.J. (AP) — National Guard troops delivered food and supplies to residents in this heavily flooded city across from Manhattan on Wednesday as officials sent out a plea for boats, generators and volunteers.
Superstorm Sandy sent the raging Hudson River waters from one side of the one-square-mile city to the other Monday. Two days later, at least 25 percent of the community remained flooded, leaving many residents anxious about whether they could get out and municipal leaders struggling to get assistance to all those who needed it.
Tempers flared Wednesday at a staging area outside City Hall, where a man screamed at emergency officials about why food and water had not been delivered to residents just a few blocks away. The man, who would not give his name, said he blew up an air mattress to float over to a staging area.
City officials defended their response.
"The dimension and scope of this situation is enormous," Public Safety Director Jon Tooke said. "You have emergency operations at all levels — from local to federal — spread too thin across the city and the state, but we're working on it."
Tooke said the estimated 20,000 people still stranded in their homes were being encouraged to shelter in place, and that high-water vehicles would get supplies to them. He said people with medical and other special needs were being taken out by trucks.


At the Elliott-Chelsea Houses, a New York City Housing Authority complex, residents are without running water as well as power.
"Every day, I'm just going out looking for food and water," said Magaly Perez, a single mother clutching the hand of her 5-year-old daughter, Jade.
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Cornish said the storm itself was initially a bonding period with neighbors he once only nodded hello to.
But now that residents have been able to get outside their homes and see a bit of dry sidewalk for the first time in days, they are realizing the full scope of the damage and are getting antsy.
Cornish was deciding Wednesday whether to go to his parents' house in Summit, which had no power.
"I'm debating, no power and a colder house in Summit, or stick it out here with some auxiliary power that will only last until the building runs out of diesel," he said.
In Cornish's building, the generators powered only the hallways. He said doors were open and neighbors were sharing; some had refrigerators plugged in hallway outlets or worked on laptops.

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