Ice storm 2 cents

I have been struggling this past week with people ltalking about the ice storm and overplaying its seriousness. It was a terrible time for our region. Many people went without power for many days and weeks. Over the past couple of weeks I've heard people talking about the storm and its devastation. Comparing it to Katrina.

The storm taught me a lot about preparing for natural disasters. But when people compare our ice storm to Hurricane Katrina I feel a little embarrassed. While our trees and personal sense of security took a beating, for the most part no houses were totally destroyed, nobody died from drowning, nobody was left to be rescued from their rooftops having lost everything they owned and separated from their families.

We will recover this spring and all of the debris will be removed eventually. Places along the gulf coast may never recover. People years later are still needing help to rebuild their lives.

I am thankful that we didn't experience the devastation of a Katrina event. In the grand scheme of life we got off pretty lucky.

A person in church last Sunday said that with each disaster there is something positive that comes. For me the ice storm brought me the gift of a better sense of empathy for those who suffered during the last couple of hurricanes that ravaged the gulf coast.