"Hurricane Irene came through and
dumped nine feet of water on us in a single day. Water levels rose slowly for
several hours, and then jumped dramatically higher. Within 15 minutes
overworked culverts failed, and then were tossed aside like candy wrappers. A
hundred bridges collapsed in Central VT including 15 covered bridges that had
stood for nearly 150 years. Our little town of Rochester (pop 1200 on weekends)
was completely cut off from the outside world. Electricity failed, but our
town's well made water system worked continuously through the crisis. The sewer
plant shut down and sewer mains were washed aside like the overwhelmed culverts
that, once gone, left ten foot deep gashes across our main roads, secondary
roads, and driveways.One of our friends lost their home
when it crashed down into the raging brook. I had dropped off one of their
daughters (who works for my wife at her Bakery) just an hour before.
Our town was completely alone.
Everyone squared away their families as best they could and got to work.
People, who cooked, cooked. People who ran heavy equipment jumped in.
Organizers organized, volunteers volunteered, and everyone shared what they
had. We kept the Bakery open, making French bread and bagels and soothing
frayed nerves. People who had money paid. People with credit wrote it down.
Everyone who worked or was devastated could eat for free."
What Larry experienced is not surprising, it happens in most disasters large and small in every culture and country. People come together and work together during times of crisis. What is interesting about this message is it shows how anarchy can be a powerful force in disaster rescue and recovery for US communities.
"I learned what anarchy is during
those three days. Anarchy is not rioting in the streets. Anarchy is not
pillaging and looting. Anarchy is when your buddy jumps out of the truck and
starts directing traffic while something is going on, and then leaves when the
operation is completed. Anarchy is feeding people because they are hungry and
giving them showers because they are dirty. Then you continue doing what you
were doing before you stopped doing that and did the thing that needed doing at
that moment."
Larry goes on to write about the official response by various government agencies that failed to respond to the actual needs of the people. If you want to read the entire message which is very honest and well-written check out their web site at:
