The news is filled with the terrible tragedy in New Jersey and New York from hurricane Sandy. Many of us have suffered similar events from tornados and ice storms. Politicians came out and told them, “we will do all we can” but that is never enough in the case of a huge disaster.
Take a look at the electricity restoration. They ran out of utility poles. I can imagine that there are thousands and thousands of them needing replaced. Do they think pole companies keep that many on hand? All these politicians blame the utility companies. There are more utility crews there than ever assembled. Many must drive over two hours to get to work each day because all the hotel rooms are full.
There are a lot more problems. They refused non-union utility crews. Don’t cry to me if you don’t take help. Many rural coops have non-union workers that could come help. All this talk about utility companies not getting the power up is ridiculous when the entire system was flattened.
A reporter asked the governor of Virginia why not put it all underground? He calmly and frankly said, “That would triple people’s utility bills. Maybe even more. They can’t afford that.”
But utilities remain a whipping boy. The same thing could be answered about generators. Several TV news people who had them could not start theirs. If you have a generator, you need to start and run it for an hour every six months or you won’t have power when you need it. Stale fuel along with corrosion can all stop it from starting.
One news report said all the portable generators in 10 surrounding states were sold out. But you need fuel to run them. The small ones require gas and that is rationed with long lines. If you could get gas, where would you park your car when you got downtown? Parking is like $40 a day in New York.
No electricity, no water, no sewer and no heat with winter in the wings. The early snow was only a hindrance to their problems.
Houses deemed unlivable only make it worse. People concerned about looters are trying to protect their belongings but are not allowed to take their children inside such structures or they will be prosecuted for endangering them and risk having their children taken away.
I am kind of glad the only things I have to worry about are leaves in the house gutters and a few repairs I have to fix. Actually, my grandson does the maintenance and he’s good. Rebuilding all those houses and businesses should help the unemployed in that region.
I heard some retired people couldn’t afford to pay their home insurance and won’t be able to rebuild. Others didn’t have flood insurance to cover their losses. Living on the ocean shore and not having enough insurance is inexcusable. I am just glad I don’t live there, even before this disaster occurred.
Let’s keep all those people in our prayers. It was a horrific crash for them and will not be easy or smooth to get straightened. God bless all of you and America.
Western novelist Dusty Richards and his wife Pat live on Beaver Lake in northwest Arkansas. For more information about his books you can email Dusty by visiting ozarksfn.com and clicking on ‘Contact Us’ or call 1-866-532-1960.
