Disasters

8/29/2017

In a word, disasters are just that, disasters.  There are hurricanes and tornadoes that cause major damage when they hit land.

I was working at Marriott headquarters in Labor and Benefits when Katrina hit New Orleans.  We had employees that were displaced, their houses underwater and possessions ruined. I have never personally experienced a disaster since the earthquake in California in 1971.

At Marriott, we printed out forms for the employees in New Orleans, where they could tell us what they had lost and what they needed now.  When the forms came back, sent to us by local hotels, they were grim.  We sorted through literally hundreds of these forms, to determine the need(s) of each employee.  It was a daunting task as well as being depressing.

A few years later, Jeff and I flew to New Orleans and we took a Katrina tour, which was sobering, even after years had gone by.  Houses marked with an "x" or sometimes they were marked with numbers, indicating how many people had been in that particular house.  

And new there's Harvey who has blown through Houston and has caused major damage to the city and the people.  I saw pictures of nursing home patients sitting waist deep in water.  That picture conjured up images in my mind, of Katrina.  I hope that Jeff and I never have to go through a major disaster.  It would be devastating to us, as it is with the people in Houston, to lose everything we own.  Our hearts go out to the people in Houston and I'm hoping that FEMA will be able to find places for people to stay.  Jeff and I also worry about the pets.  There is a picture on the Web which shows a dog that has been tied up to a telephone pole.  The photographer was kind enough to rescue this dog as well as another dog also tied up.  What are people thinking when they tie up their dogs.  If the water had continued to rise, these dogs would have drowned.  I don't know anybody who would want that for their pet.  It would have been kinder to free their pets, if they couldn't carry them, and hope that the dogs could swim to safety or to a rescue boat.

Houston's weather calls for more rain in the next few days.  I'm hoping that the city will be able to dry out after the rain comes through again.  I Goggled and they are Houston dogs up for adoption, because they are not microchipped, and the animal shelters can't locate their owners.  This is very sad.

It's raining lightly here today, and there is no danger in our immediate area for flooding.  The good news, and we all could use some, is I KNOW when the girls have gone outside.  If they come upstairs and their paws are dry, then I know they thought the basement floor was an indoor potty spot!

P