HURRICANE PEOPLE ARE TOUGH PEOPLE

I guess we always feel a bit jealous of those who live on a Caribbean island and have weekends of beach and palm trees – every – single – week!

At the moment we are not that jealous and sit back in awe in our comfortable homes watching the destruction of hurricane after hurricane.  Those who are lucky enough to have brick and concrete structures can “weather the storm” and have been sharing incredible mobile phone videos with the world.  For the vast majority however who live in wooden and more flimsy homes the devastation has been terrible.

But these people are resilient and the tourism industry is very important for many of these small Caribbean islands.  They will rebuild, the waves will calm down, the beaches will return to normal and new baby palm trees will take the place of the broken and battered ones. ….and they need your continued support.

You see, sometimes a bad situation brings out the best in people.

Here are just a few of the feel good stories –

Some employees who were stranded at a bakery by the flood made bread for hungry survivors. The bakers were stuck at the bakery for two days, but instead of being idle, they worked all night long to make hundreds of loaves of pan dulce bread to help nourish fellow flood victims. (source)

Four teenage boys rescued more than 50 people in Houston.  After waking up to discover his beloved truck was under water, a 17-year-old Texas boy enlisted his younger brother and two other teens to get on a fishing boat and rescue more than 50 people – and their pets – and bring them to the safety of a local shelter. (source)

Two furniture stores turned their locations into pet-friendly shelters. Mattress Mac welcomed displaced residents, their children, and their pets into their stores to provide them with a comfortable place to stay. (source)

Anne OBrion, a nurse from Richmond, Virginia, knew the hurricane was coming when she booked her vacation in Puerto Rico, “but I didn’t want to give up my trip for it.”  So OBrion was stuck in her hotel in San Juan as Irma made its way past the island Wednesday night.

OBrion said she had told authorities that she’s a nurse and was prepared to pitch in if needed.  “One doctor can’t take care of all these people,” she said. “I’m willing to do what’s necessary to help people. That’s why I do what I do.”

So sometimes disasters like this bring out the best in people – and we saw the same here with the Fort McMurray fires and the High River floods.

It’s a shame that sometimes it takes a disaster for us to reach out –