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When Real Push Comes to Shove
EJ,
Damn Right!
Regards,
Jim
Yes.
Some masked feeb will have to hit me with a bike lock before I quit with the toxic masculinity.
Well, Texas is America, at any rate.
Texas is America ^ 2.
Regards,
Jim
EJ,
Watch: Houston Reporter Flags Down a Rescue Boat, Saves Trucker’s Life
Go for it!
Regards,
Jim
Good men–they’re all over this awesome country. They’re willing to help us all.
People help people in other countries, not just America.
Apparently, so is this:
@skyler You can blame the local officials for that. Late last week Governor Abbott was advising people in Houston to get out of the could. The mayor and Harris County officials countermanded that order with assurances that “local officials know best.” Except when they don’t.
True, but beside the point, no? Foreigners’ heroism shouldn’t diminish the gratitude we have for our countrymens’ heroism. Heroism isn’t a fixed pie where us having lots means others have less.
So you’re saying those pictures weren’t America? Being proud of the reactions of everyday heroism, as shown in those pictures, doesn’t mean you don’t believe people in those other countries can’t also display everyday heroism. Unless that is what you actually believe, but can’t bring yourself to admit.
That’s true, but is this post just about gratitude? It seemed to me that it was about showing something that is unique to America.
Except that is not in Houston or even Harris County. It is in Dickinson in Galveston County.
Turner could not have ordered the evacuation of that center. It was outside his area of authority.
Seawriter
@viruscop, I took the post to make a specific point at a specific time – namely reminding us of what makes America, America especially when her very identity has been under attack in recent weeks with charges of resurgent racism, bigotry and rejection of “the other.” This photo displays America’s best instincts and the ones we can count on when the chips are down. Thanks, EJ!
I’m saying that America is more than just acts of everyday heroism.
On Twitter, Jonah Goldberg’s tweet matched the sentiment expressed in this post. I should think that there is more to American greatness than people helping people. If not, then every country is great, and that just can’t be true or “greatness” has no meaning.
@seawriter I saw that nursing home picture without caption so I didn’t know where it was. The funny thing about hurricanes is, as natural disasters go, the huge amount of lead time given to people.
Here in the Midwest tornadoes swoop down with just a few minutes warning. Earthquakes out west happen with no notice whatsoever. Yes, it’s a lot of people to move but they had years to plan since Katrina and days to implement.
As someone who lives in the area, do you think that Turner’s decision not to order an evacuation was the right call? I read somewhere, I can’t remember where, that he did not order an evacuation because he felt that the local infrastructure would become overwhelmed, and thousands of people would be trapped on the highways in their cars, as opposed to being trapped in their homes.
For those wondering, the flooded assisted living center was in Dickinson, TX. Dickinson is a town of 25,000 about 33 miles southeast of Houston. It sits astride Dickinson Bayou. Given a very wet hurricane – or a tropical storm, most of the place floods. It is a place that should be evacuated, as are the towns further south until you reach Galveston.
It is not until you reach League City that it is generally safe to stay. Even there, if you are within 1/2 mile of Clear Creek or any of the streams emptying into it, you will likely get water in your house. I live about 3/4 of a mile from Clear Creek and according to a neighbor the place has not flooded.
The reason not to evacuate Houston is those folks in southern Galveston County. They honest to God, no foolin’ need to leave and do not need 1 million people from Houston who are safe if they stay in their homes clogging the roads.
Back in the day (up to the early 1980s) folks from Galveston County evacuated to Houston. Problem was the police got tied up dealing with evacuees, criminals realized that, and would go on looting sprees. So the Houston officials told coastal evacuees to keep moving north (and not setting up evacuation centers) because Houston was “too dangerous” to stop at. (Mainly because of the looters, but they allowed folks to think it was because of the hurricanes.) Pretty soon you had folks 50-70 miles inland from the Gulf evacuating and clogging roads for those who needed to evacuate.
After Rita a lot of folks stopped evacuating because it was more dangerous to drive on clogged roads. After Ike Galveston refused to allow residents back on the island for several weeks after the storm, leading still more people to stay put.
Seawriter
There is a saying about hurricanes – run from the water and hide from the wind. The water they are talking about is not freshwater runoff. It is storm surge. Storm surge is the killer in a hurricane. If you are in a location where your house will flood due to storm surge you need to get out. If not, staying put is safer.
Storm surge is a killer because it is accompanied by hurricane-force winds. If you leave shelter you will get hit by flying debris going 70-130 mph. Freshwater runoff is not normally a killer on the Gulf Coast. It is an inconvenience. If there is significant freshwater runoff the winds are 30-40mph. You can get out and walk to safety. (If the winds are faster you don’t get that much rain. Certainly not the 20-30+ inches needed for real freshwater flooding.)
Who needs to evacuate in a tropical storm with lots of rain? The mobility limited – folks who cannot walk out when the water starts rising. If your house flooded significantly in a previous storm you should get out, especially if it lacks a second story. (That begs the question of why you rebuilt after the last flood . . . but that is a different issue.) If the building is sturdy and you have a second floor (or higher) you might as well stay. If the house floods you can be evacuated afterwards.
The only people who are likely to drown due to a tropical storm are those moving into high water and those in a single-story building in a low-lying area. There was a dramatic rescue of a trucker trapped in a flooded semi. The question is why was he there in the first place.
Evacuating is dangerous. It should only be done when the risk of remaining is higher than the risk of leaving. Over 100 people died fleeing Rita, mainly due to traffic accidents. In good weather. Had the storm moved faster and trapped people in their cars many more would have died and would have died 100-200 miles from the coast. Many who left for Rita took to the road from places that could not possibly flood. I don’t see the death toll from Harvey nearing the Rita evacuation number. Which means Turner made the right call.
Seawriter
I love all the pics of masked AntiFa members handing out bottled water and helping people in need. What’s that? There aren’t any? Huh.
Anyone living in Galveston who doesn’t leave at the mere mention of a hurricane has to have their heads examined.
Good explanation of the situation Seawriter. Thank you.
The scenes and the pictures coming out of Houston are truly different than other disasters we’ve seen in the last 20 years. No whining, no blaming, no politics, just love for each other. Truly inspiring.
you missed the point, but ok.
That’s his core competency.
This is the point. All these jackasses shrieking and smashing over nothing, wasting everyone’s energy yapping about statues and Colin Kapernick… and then there are the guys (mostly guys, thank you guys) who use their energy and strength to help.
No, that was her point: that there’s nothing good, nothing unique or praiseworthy, about the USA. Any pride we feel, ever, is not justifiable; it’s just arrogance.
Why? Because…because…well, because racism! if they can’t think of anything else.
They’re like children who take their own home for granted. They don’t even know how good they have it . Any other place has got to be cooler, right?
Give it time. The DNC-led MSM is digging hard for a viable excuse to use to blame Trump for something, anything, related to the Hurricane to use against him.
They already got shot down by our awesome Governor for trying to blame Trump for not ordering the evacuation. Let’s see what they try next.
Help! Help! Iconography 911!
I just saw a video of a white guy carrying a little black kid through the floodwaters!
Scrub it, now!! it does not fit the narrative…or wait,
maybe it can be presented as a trope of white supremacy?
Oh ,what’s the phrase…? Got it: “the white man’s burden”!
Yeah, that’s the ticket! Whew! Okay never mind, crisis averted…….