Offical Relief in NC

Just got back from a weekend of working in eastern NC. We went down as 'free agents', but hooked up Saturday morning with a Salvation Army volunteer group. We spent over 3 hours loading up vehicles and trying to find someone to help. The Salvation Army guy in the truck had a cell phone, no map, no plan, etc. We went to one neighborhood that was pretty devastated, but there were already some people there helping the residents clean out their houses. We then drove another 1/2 hour to a town that had no problems at all. We then were going to backtrack and go to a place that was in need of big time help, but thanks to our map (we were the only people in a 14 vehicle convoy that had one), we took a more direct route and got their much quicker. Once there, we were told to go into an area and basically go door to door and check on people and give out the supplies we had loaded from the warehouse. Of our sizable convoy, we and 2 other vehicles followed the river (we could do this because of our map) and we were very successful in benefiting quite a few folks. The others in the convoy blindly headed 'inland' (with no maps or directions) where we are sure they found no one in dire straights. The group we hooked up with was to meet back at the warehouse for a parade back to their hometown after their 'morning' of help (which ended up a misguided 2 hours). When the ones following us left, we took all the supplies they had and continued the quest until we ran out of supplies.

About 5:00, we returned to the little devastated town and dropped in on one of 2 local distribution centers. One had been set up in the little town of 94 houses and had a lot of stuff. Unfortunately, the local admins (mayor, rescue, fire, etc.) had designated this center for 'residents only' (they actually had made a big sign) and were turning away folks that lived outside the town limits. The mayor of this little town whined on national TV to get help and then when it arrived, they closed the door to literally hundreds of people that needed it.

We went to the other center where we worked until they closed and again here on Sunday. We had tons of stuff and basically worked our butts off giving whatever was needed to whoever asked. We had about 6 pallets of water, which the Red Cross said we had to have covered. We had an empty trailer sitting there, so a couple of hummers full of National Guard moved the water into the trailer. They setup the old 'throw em down the line' and proceeded to just toss the water into the trailer. Probably a good 1/3 of the water was destroyed from the man handling. During the loading, 2 of the guardsmen got into a real fight and had to be broken up by the others. This made me feel real warm and fuzzy knowing these were the folks that eventually may be responsible for most of us.

The town had lots of church groups and others all dressed alike helping clean houses, etc. 'Our' little center and the drive around efforts were all that most of the local population had. We were severely understaffed and the 'official' organizations offered no volunteer help. The Red Cross did come by around meal time and drop of food for the workers that were there. We had a real language problem in that we got a lot of the transient migrant workers who spoke only Spanish. We had a 12 year old girl that was our only translator. (The town center had bi-lingual soldier boys, who basically turned those with who he could communicate away).

To be honest, the flood was devastating, and anyone who had prepped would likely have lost all of that also, so prepping here may or may not have helped. The official organizations were around, but highly unorganized and majorly politically biased. I agree that this was a 'local' event and after spending a couple of days in the middle of it, my opinion of FEMA, the Red Cross and Salvation Army did change, however in the wrong direction. They all mean well and are probably doing the best they can, but in my opinion, it left a lot to be desired.

I could go on and on, but I think enough has been said. We will likely continue our weekend work, but after this weekend we will definitely take the 'free agent' approach in whatever area we end up.

PS. Topo maps of your surrounding area should also be a part of your preps. In the case of the area we were in, landmarks, roads, etc. were covered and the locals had real problems navigating around the area in which many of them had grown up. If a bug out becomes necessary, you may not be able to count on the routes you know and use today.

-- BH (silentvoice@pobox.com), October 05, 1999

Answers

BH, thank you so much for posting this! Very educational and gives real clues for prepping effectively. We already have many different kinds of maps. Laminated ones are favorites. Will go to store this week & get more topo maps & laminate them, will have extras to give the nearby clueless when TSHTF. Thanks! Lots of good points in there. Please post again after another weekend warrior stint.

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), October 05, 1999.

Thanks BH. I can relate to the part about the Mayor. Shoot, he's probably a big-wig in his curch even. Pretty typical and just one of the reasons we moved to the country. Don't even want to witness all of the glorified 'help' that is about to occur. The United Methodist Church has been pumping the radio air-waves, in Kansas, with Y2K advertisements for the past few weeks. "Love thy neighbor" stuff, "Y2K isn't about computers". In my view, God helps those who help themselves, when it comes to Y2K. Acts of God are a different thing. If nobody saw it coming, we'll be there to help. If you heard about it over a year in advance, and IGNORED it, you can just bend over and kiss yourself. That includes every self-serving, greedy public official who is 'supposed' to be acting on behalf of those who gave them the opportunity to SERVE the 'people'. Most of them dropped the ball about Y2K.

In Y2K, there will be winners and loosers. We'll focus on the winners in this game. Our lives may depend upon it. Too many loosers, too little time in *OCTOBER 1999*.

-- Will continue (farming@home.com), October 05, 1999.

You mean there wasn't even one bureaucrat assisting the citizens!?

-- Mabel Dodge (cynical@me.net), October 05, 1999.

BH i commend you for your efforts, I am sure many people saw you as an angel, keep up the good work and thank you on behalf of all AMERICANS that are not near enough to lend a hand.

-- sandy (rstyree@overland.net), October 05, 1999.