The devastation that happened in western North Carolina hit close to home for me, so I have been relying less on the news for updates and more on private social media posts from those in the affected community where I grew up. These posts won’t hit the news, and I can’t link to them.
The Biden administration has all but ignored what has happened there, and if not for the immediate, helpful, and thoughtful response from former president Trump, who knows what kind of response might have come from Biden/Harris? Perhaps the same shrug of shoulders that Palestine, Ohio received?
The stories of these private posts remind me of who we are. People who have the resources and talents are tirelessly helping others locate loved ones, provide food and essentials, and dig out. People are willing to house families and farm animals in their own homes and farms that weren’t damaged, or were less damaged. Restaurants and stores are opening their doors to give out free food. Gyms are opening to the public to offer showers. Mule teams are being assembled to traverse areas inaccessible to vehicles.
We saw similar generosity of spirit after 9-11, but that horrendous act of violence was isolated to a small area of New York City and the sites of the other two crashes. It didn’t affect thousands of people spread across thousands of square miles, so the community response was different. This Carolina community stepped up to a much more complex and diverse challenge, but the true human spirit remains the same: one of courage and personal sacrifice to aid others in need.
Perhaps that’s why the Biden administration suddenly decided to step in with financial aid for “food, water, baby formula, and other emergency supplies. Funds may also be available to repair storm-related damage to homes and personal property, as well as assistance to find a temporary place to stay.” Discovering that people were strong, resilient, and generous toward each other...well now, we certainly can’t have people not dependent on government, now, can we?
Yes, we can. A neighbor helping a neighbor will seal the deal with a handshake. A handshake is an unspoken promise carried deep in the soul to pay it back, somehow, sometime, and somewhere. Money from the government carries no such personal obligation. It’s just free money. It poisons the soul. It keeps us from planning ahead for emergencies because free money is always there in an emergency. It alienates neighbors who might otherwise want to help even more than the immediate need, but won’t because there’s free money to cover those needs when the stores re-open. Money, however, cannot buy the bond of friendship that comes with a handshake even among strangers. We need more handshakes and less free money.
That said, this post would not be complete without mentioning that many will suffer major losses and struggle mightily to recover, as I don’t believe any private insurer covers flood. That’s provided through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), run by the government.
Only about 2.5 percent of those affected by Helene opted for flood insurance. Flood insurance is very expensive, even if the risk is low, because...well, it’s a government-run operation. I live in a flood plain and opted not to buy flood insurance because it was four times more expensive than insurance for all the other disasters (fire, wind, trees, etc.), which are statistically far more likely than a flood where I live. If my house is destroyed by a flood, so be it. My loss. I made that conscious decision on my own.
However, what will unfold in the coming weeks and months should reveal much of what is broken about our insurance industry, and I pray it gets the attention it deserves in the next administration.
Image via Pexels.