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Editorial: Sacrificing after a storm
Op-Ed · September 14, 2017
How will America respond to the hurricanes? History shows they will give quickly, gladly and generously.
As of July 31, 2017, the Federal Emergency Management Agency reports spending nearly $41 million of the $44.6 million so far allocated for recovery from Hurricane Katrina. Yes, Katrina, a Category 5 hurricane that struck states along the Gulf of Mexico in August 2005, more than 12 years ago. FEMA is still spending money to help recovery efforts there.
Compare that to what Americans willingly gave to help the relief effort in just one year: $4.2 billion. That’s 94 times greater than 12 years of federal spending.
With approximately 323.1 million people in the United States, that means, on average, every man, woman and child donated almost $13 to help those devastated by that one storm, considered the costliest and among the five deadliest natural disasters in American history.
When U.S. citizens see a need, they ask: How can I help?
And they do so with more than money.
For Katrina, volunteers flew rescue missions with private planes, sometimes ignoring government safety warnings and outright prohibitions; businesses donated millions of dollars in goods to help relief and cleanup efforts; more than 1,000 doctors volunteered time, expertise and supplies; scores of people hauled supplies, showing up to help numerous relief organizations from the Red Cross to Habitat for Humanity; and more and more.
Between Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma, citizens are already pitching in. In this week’s paper you can read about West Branch resident Lynn Snyder and other volunteers who helped free up space for Houston-area rescue shelters expecting pets that were lost or left behind. Also, West Branch High School is organizing a fundraiser that will benefit victims of both storms.
Of course we want to encourage everyone to pitch in every way they can, but history shows us that Americans do not need much encouragement when it comes to meeting the true needs of its fellow citizens.
On the whole, we are not content to leave it up to government to go it alone when responding to disaster, in large part because some of the people in the path of those storms are our own friends and families. Who reading this editorial has not seen e-mails or Facebook posts wondering about loved ones from Texas to Florida?
This is a quality of Americans with which most of its citizens will agree: We help those in need.
And we will even make sacrifices to do so.
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