Hurricane and Disaster Aid (Personal and Collective)
September 2005
This short article about the Hurricane of 05 in New Orleans belong to the
General Topic of Dealing with Reality, Feelings and Dreams during Natural
Disasters.
History
The hurricane that swept through the Southern Gulf states of the US in September
of 2005 left and is leaving many thousands of people homeless, injured, dead
and seeking recuperation. Many hope for new homes and lives. This hurricane
seems to have been one of the largest, if not the largest such natural catastrophe
in written US history.
Your Role
What can you do as an individual team, community,
city, nation, as a political leader? Below are some general hints and guidelines.
The hurricane, a natural
catastrophe has much in common with other collective catastrophes such as
tsunamis, rain, wind and snowstorms, floods etc, as well as catastrophes
created mainly by human hands such as war and related injuries. Don’t
only leave it to our governments to know what to do. You yourself can or
must eventually consider some of the following.
Immediate “Concrete” Change
If you bruise yourself, stop and be better protected
next time. When someone breaks a bone, we must find a cast for it. If you
notice something not working
well in your city, stop and tell others who can repair it. If a city is hurt,
it needs immediate protection and repair. Make sure the authorities for each
part of the city work as a team. If you don’t, we are all in some way
partly responsible for what happens. Few think enough about these things
until it is late. We need to use our awareness more. We need our families,
cities, states and governments to use more awareness before catastrophe-help
is needed. Then consider at least the following:
1. Medicine
Medical agencies and emergency transportation help need to be obviously
updated and ready for anywhere.
2. Civil Engineering
The Army corps of engineers needed to understand
flooding and hurricanes better. To let water out of your sink, you need
a good drainpipe. This is
not politics. Our government can’t understand if we scientists and
engineers don’t study, understand and then explain things better.
Pipes and Levees
What are the sizes of the pipes needed to evacuate water from a city? Normal
sizes don’t work. Normal pumps are too small. What can be learned from
a disaster to fortify existing protections, such as the “levees”?
Are the levees protected against earthquake damage? Engineers need to consider
safety and “overbuild” factors. These matters are extremely important,
and may have been unexplored or even ignored.
3. Engineering-Government processes
In some senses the US is like a person; it sleeps as much as possible until
awakened by something which always seems so shocking and surprising though
it was threateningly present for centuries. Almost nothing happens out of
the clear blue sky. Dear friends and government officials, please consider
doing group processes on the issues arising. We will speak about that again
at the end of this note. For the moment, consider that certain areas and
sections of the country are better protected than others. The government,
scientific community, and all of us need to consider whether and how classism,
racism, and geography (distance) make us ignore our sisters and brothers.
Some of us look outside the US too much and ignore the insides. Change the
government, change yourself.
Personal—For Helpers
Practical connections, where to sleep,
where to eat etc. Let’s
say that you are in a position to help an individual, family or group suffering
from the hurricane. Please listen closely to what they say they
need. Some ask specifically for comfort and are suffering from shock. Comfort is
the beginning of what you can give. Others will be depressed or in shock and
not know what they need. To help them, go deeply into yourself, ask what
you would need if you were in their shoes, and then speak to them about what
you would need in their shoes. Wait for their feedback about what
they respond to, and go more deeply there.
We are all victims and at the same time, we are
not victims of catastrophes. In the moment someone speaks about suffering,
then please help. But please
be careful about identifying someone only as a “victim” or sufferer.
An ill-timed over-concerned look on your face can be depressing to someone
who is in the phase of now recuperating. Such a person may need to “forget” the
troubles at a given moment. Remember; the world tends to split people into
victims and nonvictims. While this can be very meaningful, it can deny the
fact that first and foremost, people are human beings, essentially mysteries
with great powers of recuperation. Remember going to a doctor. Was she or
he interested in your interests as well as your body problems? It’s
great to be treated as a person. Remember, being only a “patient” is
not always “healing.”
To do this, “unlock” yourself from being
only a healer. Go deeper into yourself and speak to the deepest and most
wonderful part of the other.
Encourage them to tell you about that part of themselves and to use that
as their guide through this and everything else in life.
The Future
If and when some of the first “aid” and
relationship assistance has succeeded, it might be possible to ask the
person what lies ahead in
the future. What had they wanted to do in their life? Can they still do it?
Or is there some meaning to the sudden change in their life course? What
new roads or possibilities do they dream of? {Again, asking these questions
are a matter of timing and sensitivity.)
Who Are You?
What makes you a “helper?” Remember,
the best service to others is often given by you when you realize you are
the other person and people.
You are the hurricane, you are the city, you are the suffering individual
and group.
Our Future Leaders
Consider the person or people you are dealing with as future guides and
leaders. Realize that they know best about what is needed for the future
for all of us. Their voice is not just theirs; it is the voice of history,
trying to speak to everyone. Nothing is ever only personal.
Community Processes
Make a newspaper or collective group meeting or
group process for families, friends, communities, cities, TV, and in kindergarten.
Bring out the wisdom
and learning of those who have suffered and survived. Encourage those who
know to speak out about discoveries, insights and wisdom. Bring into the
group process, the voices of the dead, the voices of the city and state governments,
the voices of all racial, religious and economic groups. Bring out the voices
of the 5-10,000 people who refused to leave the city. We know why it might
be wise to leave. What’s the message from those who must stay? Let
the voice of nature speak. Thank you for your work.
