A united world steps up to help

Unless you've been off the grid for the last two days, you've no doubt heard, read and watched coverage of the 7.0 earthquake that hit the tiny Caribbean island of Haiti. Having visited a few third-world countries in my life, I'm always surprised by the standard of living for many of the people in our world. Medicines that I take for granted are scarce in many countries and education is only a dream for many of the world's children. Their "home" consists of a few boards placed on-end with a piece of tin resting hap-hazardly as a roof. Many children don't have clean water to drink. A few years of education - if even that - is the norm. Always, it makes me pause and realize just what a good life I have. Then I come back to my home and I return to my small world. I never want for food. I read and write without thinking. My home keeps the rain, snow and cold away. I can be in contact with friends and family simply by pressing a few buttons on my cell phone. And my computer keeps me in touch with the world outside. But it's during times like this - when the people of Haiti are struggling to find family and friends buried underneath tons of debris; when their communication is cut off; when they must count on people around the world for food, for clothes, for life - when I really know how lucky I am. And it's at times like this when, luckily, the people of the world step up to help. We put aside bickering and name-calling. We forget past differences and focus on our similarities. It's when humanity is at its best. From MSNBC, here's a list of countries and organizations that have pledge help to Haiti. Of course, this doesn't include the help pledged by President Obama on behalf of the US. The people of the US have always been there when the peoples of another country needed help - and we'll be there again. Let's hope that by tomorrow, this list is twice or even three times this long:

• The United Nations is releasing $10 million from its emergency funds.
• The Irish telecommunications company Digicel said it would donate $5 million to aid agencies and help repair the damaged phone network.
• The European Commission has approved $4.37 million with more funds likely.
• Spain has pledged $4.37 million, and sent three planes with rescue teams and 100 tons of emergency relief equipment.
• The Netherlands has donated $2.91 million and will send a 60-person search-and-rescue team.
• Germany gave $2.17 million and sent an immediate response team. Another team with 20 rescue dogs is on standby.
• China will donate $1 million, according to Xinhua News Agency.
• Sweden has offered $850,000 along with tents, water purification equipment and medical aid.
• Venezuela has sent doctors, firefighters and rescue workers.
• Mexico will send doctors, search-and-rescue dogs and infrastructure damage experts.
• France is sending two planes with doctors, food and medical equipment.
• Britain has sent 64 firefighters with search-and-rescue dogs and 10 tons of equipment
• Iceland is sending 37 search-and-rescue specialists.
• Taiwan is flying in 23 rescue personnel and 2 tons of aid and equipment.
• Israel is sending an elite army rescue unit including engineers, rescue workers, doctors and medics.

It sounds like a lot of help but for those who have lost family, or who are still searching for loved ones amid the rubble, it means nothing. So, tonight, I ask three things:

1. That you say a prayer for the people of Haiti
2. That you give those you love a hug
3. And that you remember how lucky you are

Calling in

I did something Friday night that I’ve never done before. I called in to a talk show and spoke with the hosts. The subject was one very close to my heart and one that has kept me captivated over the past week – namely, the Flood Fight in ND.

Of course, it didn’t hurt that one of the co-hosts is a dear friend of mine from college days and beyond – John Strand. That’s him on the left - I took some screen shots before calling in.

John had emailed late Thursday to say that he was going to co-host a Fargo radio talk show that evening. The midnight to 5am show was being used to disseminate flood information to the Fargo/Moorhead area. He’d included the web link and invited us to call in with questions, share comments and concerns, or just to say hello. I didn't see that email until the next morning. I emailed and told him I felt bad for missing it.

He emailed later that day and said he would be on again that evening. So, I clicked on just after 10pm my time (midnight his time) and listened for about a half-hour before dialing in. The guy answering the phone asked for my first name and where I was calling from; then placed me on hold after saying I would be the next person they talked with. At the time, they were talking with a woman who was manning the local volunteer hotline – she was giving volunteers information about where they were needed, what types of things needed doing, or numbers to call for other types of information. She talked about the spirit of the volunteers. How it made her feel that so many people – 80,000 volunteers in all – had stepped up, hour-after-hour, through the cold, snow and wind, to save the homes, businesses and lives of the Fargo/Moorhead area residents. Think of that – 80,000 volunteers. Fargo’s total population – men, women, children, cats and dogs – is just over 90,000. She said she hoped that the rest of the nation would see how this community of volunteers, working together, had managed to fill and place over 3 million sandbags. That working together can produce tremendously positive results – and maybe that was a lesson a lot of people in the world needed to take away from this…it’s about helping each other in times of crisis; not just helping ourselves. She talked about the bone-tiredness of volunteers at the end of a 4-hour shift. But how, just 6 hours later, those same volunteers would be back on the line ready to help again. People, she said had come from all over the Midwest, by the busloads and carloads, to help. The volunteers were of all ages. Those who weren't able to fill or place sandbags were helping prepare and deliver food and supplies. Some were manning phones or setting up off-site shelters. Others who were too far away to lend a physical hand were calling to find out how they could help monetarily or emotionally. When it was finally my turn, John said there was a caller from Washington state named Sue…and he thought he might just know who that was. Then, he turned to the camera and with a wide smile on his face, waved and yelled “Hi Susy!” (Those college nicknames never seem to go away, do they?) I’m slightly embarrassed to say I waved back – and I didn’t have a web cam on.

John explained who I was, that both Randy and I had graduated from NDSU in Fargo, and that we still had many friends and relatives in the area and the state. He asked what people here in Vancouver and Portland were saying about the flood, and asked what our feelings were about being so far away while people we knew and cared about were fighting for their homes. We talked about the spirit of ND and her people. We talked about our sandbagging days in college. And we talked about our college friends – now pillars of the community – who were fighting to save their homes. Since Friday, I’ve tuned in a couple more times; listening to volunteers and residents talk about what keeps them going; listening to callers from out-of-state tell why this flood and the overwhelming volunteer response to it keeps them tuned in and hanging on…how they feel a camaraderie with the people there.

John emailed yesterday that he'll continue hosting the midnight-5am (Central time) shift “until the crisis is over.” Unfortunately, with the state in the throes of yet another blizzard, that could be awhile!

Keep up the good work, John and all of you volunteers. My thoughts and prayers are with the people in Fargo/Moorhead and throughout the state as you fight this battle in bitter cold temperatures, biting wind and seemingly never-ending snow.

The Missouri, the Red and the good people of ND

Anyone who owns a TV or radio and listens to or watches the news knows by now that ND is under attack by Mother Nature - again. I’m a daily reader of the Bismarck Tribune online and am keeping apprised of the situation that way. Readers are sending in pictures that are pretty incredible to me. http://bismarcktribune.com/shared-content/story_tools/slideshow/?type=slideshow&id=89 Amazing. This is a state where water is usually in short supply. The winter of 2008-2009 was brutal there with record snowfalls, weekly blizzards, ridiculously strong winds, and below-zero temperatures. And now the good people of the state are facing another challenge – keeping the rising waters from the state’s rivers out of their homes, schools and businesses. In the center of the state, just south of Bismarck, the normally lazy Missouri River was choked with massive ice jams that were backing the water up into the lower-lying areas of the city. Yesterday, the National Guard, the Corps of Engineers, and a private explosives company worked together to first salt the ice, then, drill and pack holes with explosives before blowing it up. Early reports this morning indicate that worked…the river is flowing again and the water levels are down by 2 feet. However, the students in three elementary schools will be attending classes in other, safer school locations, many businesses are still closed or relocated, and many city streets and highways remain under water. High-school and college kids are still filling and stacking sandbags. North of the city, another massive ice jam is holding water, too. This one is perhaps the biggest threat to Bismarck since water behind that jam is coming, in part, from the runoff at the Garrison Dam. That Garrison Dam runoff was stopped Tuesday by the Corp of Engineers but the reports I read said water from that runoff would continue to build downstream until today. Should that ice jam break suddenly and release its water and ice downstream, the effect could be devastating. Reports are that some of the ice chunks are 4ft thick and the size of a small car – that’s just big by every standard I know. Typically, it’s the cities on the eastern border that get the attention because they flood pretty much every year. The kicker there is two-fold: it’s flat so once the river is out of its banks, it has nothing to stop it; it just goes on spreading for miles. Secondly, the Red flows north. You get the picture…as temperatures in the south rise and snowmelt there flows into the Red, temperatures in the north are still at or below freezing; nothing’s melting there. So, when the water flowing north hits the still-frozen river further north, it has no where to go but up and over its banks. Grand Forks’ downtown was wiped out a few years’ back when the Red River crested over the sandbag dikes and flooded into the city. Fires broke out and whole city blocks were destroyed – there was no way to get firefighting equipment to the fires. It seems strange, doesn’t it? Surrounded by water but no way to put out the fires. After the water receded, the city of Grand Forks decided to build a drainage ditch around the city to handle excess water in times of extreme flooding. Since then, the city has been high and dry every spring while Fargo floods. Fargo, home of my alma mater NDSU, is getting nailed again, and this year promises to be the granddaddy of all floods. The Red River is forecast to crest at 41ft on Saturday; flood stage is 18ft. For the last week, thousands of volunteers have worked day and night filling sandbags to create a 43-ft dike along both sides of the river. They needed 2 million sandbags…I can’t even imagine what 2 million sandbags look like but my shoulders hurt just thinking about it. I worked the sandbag line in college so I know how much work it is to fill, carry and stack sandbags. And I know how tired you are at the end of your shift. Add to that, the fact that temperatures are still only in the 20s, so it’s cold, too. Plus (and you knew this was coming, didn’t you), the wind never stops in ND, and they just had a blizzard drop 8-inches of new snow this week. So, you’ve got cold, wet and wind…not the best working conditions. Area schools, colleges and universities have cancelled classes, and businesses have excused employees who want to help out. Word has gone out on MySpace, Craig’s List and over email…more volunteers are needed. And to the credit of people in the upper Midwest, they’ve responded in full force; not because they’re expecting any kind of kudos or pay, but because it’s what people in the upper Midwest do. When help is needed, they just help. It’s how they were raised and it’s how they live their lives. People are pouring in by the busloads and working in 4-hour shifts, 24-hours a day. They’re sleeping wherever they can find a open spot, and they’re eating whatever food is brought to them by the Red Cross or other volunteers, and they're doing it all with a smile on their faces because it's one way they can help. I had an email from an NDSU friend yesterday after the blizzard went through this week. She and her husband live in Bismarck now and I’d emailed to make sure they were safe. In her reply, she said her husband was out helping sandbag. Of course, prior to that, he’d first had to dig the car out so he could get gas for their snow blower, he’d blown open their driveway, then, helped his sister move everything out of her basement...then, he went sandbagging. I got tired just thinking about it. Here’s a link to an NDSU website that shows a ruler with the current water level given – scroll down a bit and you’ll see the yellow ruler on the left side of the page. It makes it very easy to understand just how fast the water is coming up on the Red. Remember, the flood stage is 18ft. As I write this, the level is at 38.67ft and rising. http://www.ndsu.nodak.edu/fargoflood/ So, keep the good folks of ND and the upper Midwest in your thoughts. The next few days will be critical.