Thursday, September 01, 2005
The Hurricane Inside...
So I am supposed to be cleaning my house, my beautiful new townhouse, in anticipation of the arrival of my mom and sister for Labor Day weekend. The weather is supposed to be beautiful and we are supposed to be out and about enjoying our rights and freedoms as Americans...
But...
On Sunday, I heard the news that Hurricane Katrina was headed towards New Orleans, Louisiana. My reaction was a bit different than in years past.
In 2003, San Diego County was threatened by a series of wildfires that ravaged the area for two days. I awoke, the day after my 30th birthday to a crisp Sunday morning in October. As I sat on my balcony, taking in the ocean air and looking down on my view of the city, I started to notice the dark orange and grey cloud that was stretching across the horizon... soon I realized that black soot and ash was falling from these clouds down on me... Before long, I realized that a rash series of fires had been set and were burning in and around San Diego County, including within three miles of my home. Although we were never in immediate danger, we did heed to the voluntary evacuation for my neighborhood under the dark clouds and raining ash. As my, then girlfriend, began shoving prized possessions into the back of my car in our anticipated drive away from the fires and towards the water I took a look around at what I would take. When had moved into this house that was built for us from the ground up a little more than a year ago. We had been busily decorating it and filling with furniture and such that young couples in love do. There were plenty of favorite possessions within every reach... what did I need? What should I take? As my girlfriend loaded in pictures, family possessions and childhood memories into the car I had made my decision on exactly what I was going to take... myself and my girlfriend and that was it. Nothing else was important. I came to a stark realization then that these fond possessions that remained were just material objects that could certainly always be replaced, often helped by an insurance policy claim.
Over the next three days, I spent time with a few other Cox employees deep in the neighborhoods of San Diego that were mostly poor and completely destroyed by fire. We stood in the back of pick up truck beds and offered the help that Cox Communications was offering to the many dozens, sometimes hundreds of people who had recently lost most or parts of everything they had. We took down names and addresses of people who had only a cell phone and the clothes on their back to their name. We set up laptop computers so people could email friends and family to tell them that they were okay. We handed out phones, calling cards and whatever else we could to offer assistance. I was learning very quickly about what things were and were not important to me as a human and how little I thought about how grateful that I should be for the things I do have in my life.
Later that weekend, I took my girlfriend up through the same mountain communities where I had toiled over the last week to show her the devastation. We saw people wandering around community parks that had been setup as make shift shelters. We saw people sifting through burnt embers of their homes picking up pieces of their lives. It was an amazing lesson to learn about the power of the earth and it's element known as fire.
The next year, 2004, several hurricanes ran ashore the gulf communities of Pensacola and Ft. Walton Beach, where Cox Communications systems are located. News and reports showed continual and equal devastation to what I had experienced the fall previous. I was busy in my own life. How quickly I forgot about shedding myself of materialistic possessions as I had just spent great deal of money on landscaping my backyard to the "nines". The disasters that took place just 1500 miles away from me meant very little besides casual curiousity.
In Julyof 2005, I spent the weekend at home in my new city of Atlanta watching Hurricane Dennis on television. Although landfall for this hurricane was several hundreds of miles away, I took a bit more engaging of an interest, because as I sat watching the news coverage, I also felt the raindrops from the same hurricane. It was amazing how the principal of "out of sight, out of mind" applied here. I had not even noticed the prior hurricanes, but somehow, felt closer to this one. Luckily damage and impact was minimal despite the force of it.
So when I sat in Newport, Rhode Island watching the news of another oncoming hurricane I had a different feeling then in the past. I wanted desparately to get back to Atlanta so I could find out what was going on with what had been named Hurricane Katrina. Reports were not looking good. A category five doozy headed straight for New Orleans. Because we had a cable system in New Orleans, I had spent a bit of time in this city. Not nearly enough to be proficient in the city, but enough to recognize landmarks as they were talked about on the news, the French Quarter, Lake Ponchitrain, Ninth Ward.
On Monday morning, the hurricane hit full force as we worked in our offices. Not much information had come out, which was not a good sign... communications must be knocked out. That night, I stayed up till four in the morning watching recaps of the days events, learning about levees and how New Orleans was built like a bowl under sea level between two major bodies of water. I heard slowly about the reports of knocked out power, stranded people and destroyed homes. None of this sounded good and I worried.
The subsequent days became even worse. As the city of New Orleans filled with water, the state of Mississippi emptied from water... and all that it had destroyed. The loss of homes, cars, places of work was hard to hear about, however hearing about the loss of lives was chilling... but nothing... nothing compared to hearing about the deadly destruction of humanity that was on the verge of happening in New Orleans as people sat without power and other basic necessities for days in the summer sun.
I held a heavy heart as conversations at work and with friends consistently swirled around the topics at hand. I thought deeply about what my obligation is to all of this. What is my role, a person who makes a decently salary, lives in a decent home and works a pretty peaceful life? I came home to start my cleaning and turned on Anderson Cooper who was in the midst of shredding Lousiana State Senator Mary Lindrieu for spending too much time thanking other high ranking officials for their assistance in this tragedy instead of actually providing help to the now dying hundreds and soon thousands of people stranded at the Superdome. As I listened to the fervor in Anderson's voice I thought once again, about what I should do. Soon, Anderson was onto another story of a baby who had been lost and since recovered. The parents were speaking of the incident to Anderson as all three people wept in sadness and joy. I sat down in front of my widescreen television with my mouth agap and put my head into my hands and cried.
I still struggle with the question of what should I be doing about all of this. I claim to have a heart for humanity and claim to have left the need for material possessions behind, but I still struggle with how to provide assistance in times when they are needed most. I know that many outreach efforts are forming in and around the city of Atlanta. I know that with my mom and sister in town, perhaps the three of us can provide altruistic goodwill and value with our time over this long weekend. I don't know what the answer is or if I can get there, but I am going to keep trying and keep reminding myself to do so.
But...
On Sunday, I heard the news that Hurricane Katrina was headed towards New Orleans, Louisiana. My reaction was a bit different than in years past.
In 2003, San Diego County was threatened by a series of wildfires that ravaged the area for two days. I awoke, the day after my 30th birthday to a crisp Sunday morning in October. As I sat on my balcony, taking in the ocean air and looking down on my view of the city, I started to notice the dark orange and grey cloud that was stretching across the horizon... soon I realized that black soot and ash was falling from these clouds down on me... Before long, I realized that a rash series of fires had been set and were burning in and around San Diego County, including within three miles of my home. Although we were never in immediate danger, we did heed to the voluntary evacuation for my neighborhood under the dark clouds and raining ash. As my, then girlfriend, began shoving prized possessions into the back of my car in our anticipated drive away from the fires and towards the water I took a look around at what I would take. When had moved into this house that was built for us from the ground up a little more than a year ago. We had been busily decorating it and filling with furniture and such that young couples in love do. There were plenty of favorite possessions within every reach... what did I need? What should I take? As my girlfriend loaded in pictures, family possessions and childhood memories into the car I had made my decision on exactly what I was going to take... myself and my girlfriend and that was it. Nothing else was important. I came to a stark realization then that these fond possessions that remained were just material objects that could certainly always be replaced, often helped by an insurance policy claim.
Over the next three days, I spent time with a few other Cox employees deep in the neighborhoods of San Diego that were mostly poor and completely destroyed by fire. We stood in the back of pick up truck beds and offered the help that Cox Communications was offering to the many dozens, sometimes hundreds of people who had recently lost most or parts of everything they had. We took down names and addresses of people who had only a cell phone and the clothes on their back to their name. We set up laptop computers so people could email friends and family to tell them that they were okay. We handed out phones, calling cards and whatever else we could to offer assistance. I was learning very quickly about what things were and were not important to me as a human and how little I thought about how grateful that I should be for the things I do have in my life.
Later that weekend, I took my girlfriend up through the same mountain communities where I had toiled over the last week to show her the devastation. We saw people wandering around community parks that had been setup as make shift shelters. We saw people sifting through burnt embers of their homes picking up pieces of their lives. It was an amazing lesson to learn about the power of the earth and it's element known as fire.
The next year, 2004, several hurricanes ran ashore the gulf communities of Pensacola and Ft. Walton Beach, where Cox Communications systems are located. News and reports showed continual and equal devastation to what I had experienced the fall previous. I was busy in my own life. How quickly I forgot about shedding myself of materialistic possessions as I had just spent great deal of money on landscaping my backyard to the "nines". The disasters that took place just 1500 miles away from me meant very little besides casual curiousity.
In Julyof 2005, I spent the weekend at home in my new city of Atlanta watching Hurricane Dennis on television. Although landfall for this hurricane was several hundreds of miles away, I took a bit more engaging of an interest, because as I sat watching the news coverage, I also felt the raindrops from the same hurricane. It was amazing how the principal of "out of sight, out of mind" applied here. I had not even noticed the prior hurricanes, but somehow, felt closer to this one. Luckily damage and impact was minimal despite the force of it.
So when I sat in Newport, Rhode Island watching the news of another oncoming hurricane I had a different feeling then in the past. I wanted desparately to get back to Atlanta so I could find out what was going on with what had been named Hurricane Katrina. Reports were not looking good. A category five doozy headed straight for New Orleans. Because we had a cable system in New Orleans, I had spent a bit of time in this city. Not nearly enough to be proficient in the city, but enough to recognize landmarks as they were talked about on the news, the French Quarter, Lake Ponchitrain, Ninth Ward.
On Monday morning, the hurricane hit full force as we worked in our offices. Not much information had come out, which was not a good sign... communications must be knocked out. That night, I stayed up till four in the morning watching recaps of the days events, learning about levees and how New Orleans was built like a bowl under sea level between two major bodies of water. I heard slowly about the reports of knocked out power, stranded people and destroyed homes. None of this sounded good and I worried.
The subsequent days became even worse. As the city of New Orleans filled with water, the state of Mississippi emptied from water... and all that it had destroyed. The loss of homes, cars, places of work was hard to hear about, however hearing about the loss of lives was chilling... but nothing... nothing compared to hearing about the deadly destruction of humanity that was on the verge of happening in New Orleans as people sat without power and other basic necessities for days in the summer sun.
I held a heavy heart as conversations at work and with friends consistently swirled around the topics at hand. I thought deeply about what my obligation is to all of this. What is my role, a person who makes a decently salary, lives in a decent home and works a pretty peaceful life? I came home to start my cleaning and turned on Anderson Cooper who was in the midst of shredding Lousiana State Senator Mary Lindrieu for spending too much time thanking other high ranking officials for their assistance in this tragedy instead of actually providing help to the now dying hundreds and soon thousands of people stranded at the Superdome. As I listened to the fervor in Anderson's voice I thought once again, about what I should do. Soon, Anderson was onto another story of a baby who had been lost and since recovered. The parents were speaking of the incident to Anderson as all three people wept in sadness and joy. I sat down in front of my widescreen television with my mouth agap and put my head into my hands and cried.
I still struggle with the question of what should I be doing about all of this. I claim to have a heart for humanity and claim to have left the need for material possessions behind, but I still struggle with how to provide assistance in times when they are needed most. I know that many outreach efforts are forming in and around the city of Atlanta. I know that with my mom and sister in town, perhaps the three of us can provide altruistic goodwill and value with our time over this long weekend. I don't know what the answer is or if I can get there, but I am going to keep trying and keep reminding myself to do so.
