donbosco
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Ken Thomas on Facebook
[There are no Disaster Porn pics in this post. Social media is flooded with that stuff already. I don't feel the need to add to it.]
Interesting day.
It started in a Wal-Mart parking lot near Charlotte at 7AM. I was volunteering with Operation: Airdrop, and thought I'd be sorting and packing donated goods and loading them on planes to fly into western NC.
I'd been packing boxes of bug spray for about an hour when a woman in a yellow vest approached me and said "You look like a capable man."
On one hand, that's my favorite compliment. On the other hand, they are words that will justifiably fill you with dread.
Turned out a few roads had opened up west of Waynesville, and the Operation: Airdrop folks were trying to set up a new Forward Distribution Point. Your average pickup truck will haul 3 or 4 times the weight that a small airplane will. They were putting together a convoy of 'capable' pickup truck owners, to haul a bunch of stuff up there and get the ball rolling.
I've got a pickup, a Leatherman, a chainsaw, a tow strap, a winch, and a whole bottle of Advil, which I reckon makes me about as capable as anybody, so I pulled my vehicle over by the dropoff site and next thing I know, about 200 volunteers are packing disaster relief supplies into every nook, cranny and crevice of my truck.
And off we went. 8 trucks altogether.
Long story short, we made it in, unloaded, and made it back out without an undue amount of bloodshed or drama.
One thing I've learned is that war zones, earthquake zones, tornado zones and hurricane zones all share this surreal quality - complete devastation is sitting there right next to places that look pristine and completely untouched. It can seem really random and indiscriminate. A little rise in the land or a straight stretch in the river and there's little or no damage. Slightly less elevation or a bend in the waterway and it looks like it was carpet bombed by B-52s.
But I can tell you this - shit is bad up there. What you're seeing on the news is no exaggeration. Anything within 50 yards of a river or stream is toast. In the mountains, roads, bridges and power lines are pretty much always within 50 yards of a river or stream.
Donate or help out if you can. Those folks need it, and they're going to need it for awhile.
The other thing I can tell you is that all that garbage you're seeing on social media is crap, and you need to stop sharing it. FEMA isn't detaining anyone or seizing anything. Government agencies are on the ground everywhere - cops, Search and Rescue, you name it - and I had Blackhawks buzzing over my head about every 3 minutes hauling supplies up into the High Country.