i’ve heard people tell me that the flooding in vermont is nothing in comparison to all the other natural disasters this world has endured over the years. this is what i have to say to them…
it is everything in comparison.
it doesn’t matter where you live, where you are from, what happened, and to what level of severity. natural disasters are scary. they happen to real people and real places. they destroy towns, cities, states, countries. they do not understand the concept of home. it doesn’t matter who they hit. a disaster doesn’t register feelings. it doesn’t care.
truth be told, we have no control over them. and we shouldn’t. what we can do is be prepared. we can listen.
irene ripped my hometown of bennington, vermont to shreds. we have never seen damage this extreme and bennington is far better off than other towns in vermont, new york state, and other parts of new england. wilmington (just 25 minutes east of bennington) is completely underwater. multiple major highways are destroyed. rivers and streams are at record highs. businesses shut down. people evacuated. entire towns cut off.
president obama declared the state of vermont a “disaster” late this morning. roughly 75% of the state’s damage will be covered by the federal government (an estimated 2 million dollars in damage throughout bennington alone).
i have spent the bulk of today catching up on the news. i understand that governor shumlin and senator leahy are in bennington as we speak. it does not surprise me how quickly vermont responded to the storm. in true vermont fashion, i must say. we may be a small state, but we are a proud state. we are a tough state.
not a single part of me is present in savannah right now. everything i have, everything i think, everything i am is at home in vermont right now. i am a green mountain girl through and through.
natural disasters are strong, but the human condition is stronger.
let’s not argue who is worse off. this isn’t the time for that. let’s just take care of ourselves and one another.
