I’ve seen a few times in my life when events sweep through our everyday humdrum and just take over. And while they’re rather rudely doing so, they also remind us that everything isn’t about profits and losses, interviews, followers found, and how many people bought our book.
I went through a tornado in my home town back in 1980, and Hurricane Hugo here in Charleston in 1989.
And neither of those disasters, as bad as they were, could hold a sputtering candle to Hurricane Sandy. I’m sure you’ve seen the same photos and videos I have, and for myself, I still can’t wrap my head around it. Just a few statistics from her multi-state devastation:
38 reported dead in the United States, so far. (Updated.)
8,000,000 people without power, from South Carolina to Maine.
28 inches of snow in Davis, WV.
15,000 flights cancelled on Monday and Tuesday, and counting.
13.88 feet of high water at the Battery in New York Harbor (storm surge + high tide).
200 people, approximately, evacuated from NYU-Tisch Hospital after power loss on Monday night, when water flooded the basement and broke the generator.
20 babies, about, carried down the stairs during the NYU-Tisch Hospital evacuation in battery-powered respirators.
6,100 people in emergency shelters in New York City alone, according to Mayor Bloomberg‘s morning press conference.
7 subway tunnels inundated with water.
4.7 million kids home from school on Monday.
New York declared Major Disaster
6 million without power across 13 states and DC
Record 13 foot tidal surges in Manhattan
Estimated US $20 Billion in damage
I don’t know about you, but at the moment, I feel pretty fortunate. And if you’re reading this, you are too. To show my gratitude, I’ve put 3 badges on this site – one to the American Red Cross, one to Americares, and one to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Each one of these badges goes to a link where you may give a donation to the disaster relief effort already underway for the hardest hit areas of our country. This is the relief each of these organizations will provide:
American Red Cross
Provide evacuation shelters for survivors across 31 states and the District of Columbia – serving nearly 450,000 evacuees
Millions hot meals and snacks
Direct assistance that allow millions of families to purchase groceries, clothing, diapers and other basic needs.
Americares
AmeriCares has launched a large scale emergency response to help people affected by the hurricane, starting with deliveries of water, family emergency kits, and other relief supplies to hard hit communities. Our Emergency Response team is in contact with 130 clinic and response partners, as well as FEMA and voluntary agencies to assess needs and prepare targeted shipments of medicines and relief supplies.
ASPCA
The ASPCA is setting up water rescue teams and a distribution center with PetSmart Charities in Syracuse, New York, where their sheltering supplies will be housed to assist local groups with supplies such as crates, food, food bowls, leashes and toys.
PetSmart Charities says they have dispatched six Emergency Relief Waggin’ vehicles, each stocked with $80,000 worth of crucial supplies, to a temporary distribution center in Syracuse, New York. The distribution center will be set up on Wednesday and will provide necessary supplies to animal welfare organizations across the entire northeastern U.S. through the temporary distribution center. PetSmart Charities expects to provide relief to 3,000-6,000 pets in need.
So. If you have 10 bucks laying around, please take a second and hit one of those badges and throw it towards some folks that very desperately need it. Help save a life today.
‘Nuf said.
