Several shots from the same location at dawn, showing how the Smoky Mountains raise a fog with the first solar energy. Before dawn the stars were clear.
The National Guard is supposed to be sending a squad up here today. We saw the first law enforcement officers yesterday, five days in to the business. The school system turned its fuel over to emergency services, so we are still running patrols to vulnerable families. Today we are planning a full sweep of the district to advise everyone of what aid is available and how to access it, as power, cellular towers, phones and internet remain down.
UPDATE: The National Guard did not in fact appear; apparently a paperwork error at the State Capitol sent them somewhere else. No word on if that might get straightened out.
The video's of the damage are horrible.
ReplyDeleteDelivery of aid where the roads are all out ? Yikes.
This is one case where a concerted effort by the military could be very useful- I assume they still have mobile bridging equipment and combat engineers?
One of the things my county government never figured out in 2017's Harvey was how to get the word about anything out to households with no phone or internet service. Local neighborhood organizations helped, where they existed--otherwise it was the incredibly difficult process of going door-to-door. That experience really made me a believer in local organizations, from Woman's Clubs to volunteer fire departments.
ReplyDeleteIn the meantime the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) literally telling citizens to *not* help people. Volunteer state. Wild.
ReplyDeleteSorry, that last was me. Someday I'll get used to this new system of having to select your method of commenting before commenting.
ReplyDeleteI can sort of understand TEMA, although they could have phrased it better. Lots and lots of things that 1) can't be distributed yet and 2) take up space needed for more pressing concerns or 3) won't be needed for a while are not going to help. (For example, during and just after the windfires down here, groups asked that no clothing be sent. They didn't know who needed what, who got some things out, and who had managed to save their house and didn't need anything.)
ReplyDeleteLittleRed1