Disaster Relief?
Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2006 10:56 am
A little background...I live on a ranch/compound in coastal Northern California. The last week of December the river I live on flooded twice, the worst being on New Years Eve. Nothing special, pretty much everyone who lives on a river up here experienced the same thing, a lot experienced much worse than me.
So this past Saturday, I was watching football with some friends, and stepped outside to smoke a cigarette and check out the rain. I caught movement out of the corner of my eye and noticed a little lady carrying a clipboard walking down the road to my house. Not many people end up wandering around out in the country out here due to the fact that we're a mile off of any public road and we're in the middle of dope growing country. People just take care of themselves and it's just not safe to aimlessly wander around.
It turns out that she was from the Red Cross and they were there for disaster relief due to the flooding. It turns out they had driven their truck, which was a converted ambulance, off the side of the road where it lodged, buried up to its axles, between two redwood trees. So we grabbed a couple of four wheel drive trucks and went to try to help them out. There was nothing we could do but call a tow truck.
Well, the tow truck got them out and they dropped off their disaster relief supplies to us which leads me to my point.
1) If you are going into an area where there has been a disaster doesn't it make sense to be equipped. Four wheel drive vehicles would probably be a really good idea. I can't think of a natural disaster or even an unnatural disaster where it wouldn't almost be a necessity. Also on this note: They didn't even have jackets. No rain gear, no nothing. Just three shivering, wet individuals stuck in the mud in the middle of nowhere.
2) Timeliness and information: It had been a week since the flooding. They somehow were under the impression that there were 100 people living on the river on the property. There are eight.
After a week, I'm sorry, but unless the people you are trying to help had the foresite to be at least somewhat prepared (which we were), they're really going to be hurting after a week.
3) Supplies: The woman told us they had brought us water, Gatorade, and food. They still wanted to give it to us, and hey, we figured we could just stockpile it for the future. So they gave us a couple of cases of bottled water, a case of Gatorade, and bags and bags of cold Mc Donalds hamburgers and fries. Yes, fucking Mc Donalds. You would expect canned goods, dry goods, things with some shelf life. Things that could keep you going for some time. Not food that is shit when you pull through the drive thru, let alone when it's cold. The dogs didn't complain about the burgers although I think it gave a couple of them the shits.
Now don't get me wrong. I believe they are fighting for the forces of good. However, with the millions if not billions of dollars they recieve to do what they do, it seems like they could do a much better job. Mind you, this is the first time I've ever had dealings with the Red Cross on the recieving end and don't know if this is typical of what goes on with them, but needless to say I was disappointed, and not for myself, but for the people out there who have no other options and aren't prepared.
I guess I felt like I was dealing with a government agency, instead of a private organization who specializes in emergency relief. Regardless, it was good positive reinforcement for self preparedness and a valuable lesson.
So this past Saturday, I was watching football with some friends, and stepped outside to smoke a cigarette and check out the rain. I caught movement out of the corner of my eye and noticed a little lady carrying a clipboard walking down the road to my house. Not many people end up wandering around out in the country out here due to the fact that we're a mile off of any public road and we're in the middle of dope growing country. People just take care of themselves and it's just not safe to aimlessly wander around.
It turns out that she was from the Red Cross and they were there for disaster relief due to the flooding. It turns out they had driven their truck, which was a converted ambulance, off the side of the road where it lodged, buried up to its axles, between two redwood trees. So we grabbed a couple of four wheel drive trucks and went to try to help them out. There was nothing we could do but call a tow truck.
Well, the tow truck got them out and they dropped off their disaster relief supplies to us which leads me to my point.
1) If you are going into an area where there has been a disaster doesn't it make sense to be equipped. Four wheel drive vehicles would probably be a really good idea. I can't think of a natural disaster or even an unnatural disaster where it wouldn't almost be a necessity. Also on this note: They didn't even have jackets. No rain gear, no nothing. Just three shivering, wet individuals stuck in the mud in the middle of nowhere.
2) Timeliness and information: It had been a week since the flooding. They somehow were under the impression that there were 100 people living on the river on the property. There are eight.
After a week, I'm sorry, but unless the people you are trying to help had the foresite to be at least somewhat prepared (which we were), they're really going to be hurting after a week.
3) Supplies: The woman told us they had brought us water, Gatorade, and food. They still wanted to give it to us, and hey, we figured we could just stockpile it for the future. So they gave us a couple of cases of bottled water, a case of Gatorade, and bags and bags of cold Mc Donalds hamburgers and fries. Yes, fucking Mc Donalds. You would expect canned goods, dry goods, things with some shelf life. Things that could keep you going for some time. Not food that is shit when you pull through the drive thru, let alone when it's cold. The dogs didn't complain about the burgers although I think it gave a couple of them the shits.
Now don't get me wrong. I believe they are fighting for the forces of good. However, with the millions if not billions of dollars they recieve to do what they do, it seems like they could do a much better job. Mind you, this is the first time I've ever had dealings with the Red Cross on the recieving end and don't know if this is typical of what goes on with them, but needless to say I was disappointed, and not for myself, but for the people out there who have no other options and aren't prepared.
I guess I felt like I was dealing with a government agency, instead of a private organization who specializes in emergency relief. Regardless, it was good positive reinforcement for self preparedness and a valuable lesson.