Can I just get on a soap box for a bit?

 

For the love of all that is good and right, please stop believing everything you see on social media. Stop speculating about what is going on in the Carolinas. And STOP politicizing it. I have been here from the beginning so I think I am allowed to share the facts as I see them.

 

There are no bodies hanging in trees. We are not still finding dead people in cars. Or babies dead in their car seats. There are not thousands of people still missing.

 

There are not tractor trailer loads of bodies being hidden from the public by the government. People are not shooting each other left and right. That is Male Cow Dung drummed up by people trying to get you to buy into the fear and the drama.

 

For all of you out there creating and sharing this kind of dramatic fear based content, I have a question for you. From your perspective, how is that helping? How will spreading the fear and the drama create less?

 

If you really want to help, how about you come down here and help dig the sewage and mud out of a 24” crawl space. If you think I am being a little over the top with this, here is why. I believe that this kind of inflammatory content is disrespectful to the memory of those who lost their lives. It is degrading to those who lost their loved ones. How would you feel if you lost a family member in a terrible accident and the gory details of their death got plastered all over the internet?

 

I will get off my soap box now.

 

So what really happened here? First off, I do not pretend to know what all went down or have first hand knowledge of what people went through. This was a terrible event, people died. People are still missing and some will probably never be found. Pray for those who have lost loved ones and still do not have closure. I cannot begin to imagine.

 

Many roads were washed out. ALL utilities got taken out, cell service, power, fuel, water, and sewer. When we got here, there was a shortage of food and water and there was no fuel to be gotten unless you drove 2 – 3 hours. Fortunately we had generators and a Starlink.

 

The first few days we did nothing but bring in fuel and use it to distribute food, water and other necessities, sometimes cutting our way through trees to get where we needed to go. There were no coms, period, outside of the Starlink. By the middle of the first week (time is a bit blurred for me), power started to come back on in places, cell service started to come back but it would go in and out. Almost all of the main roads were open by then, but a lot of food and water was still being flown into the mountains by helicopter because that was the only way to get there. By this time, most of the search and rescue was over.

 

Also, contrary to popular belief FEMA did not block supplies coming in. FEMA is just being FEMA, a government agency that might move slowly at times but is still a net positive.

 

It is also true that there are too many supplies being sent to the area. So if things get turned back, that is why. It is the local churches and business that are turning them back. Not the government.

 

If you really want to help, spread some love and hope. Let people know you care. Call someone and really listen to their heart. Spend some time volunteering, the rebuilding process will take years and people will need help. If you really want to make a difference you have to get up close and personal. You have to get down into that crawl space and start pulling out the wet septic stained insulation. You have to really care. Do that and I will salute you.