Last week, when I heard that Hurricane Irene was headed right for my shore town, I was worried.
When they sent out the mandatory evacuation order for the barrier island just off the coast from me, I was even more worried. And I evacuated. Then I heard that my side of town was also being mandatorily evacuated. I thought it would be bad.
But even though Irene made landfall just about 45 minutes south of me, we really sustained almost no damage. I just cannot believe how lucky my little coastal town was. And I’m so grateful.
But I know that if we’d sustained major damage, people would have stepped up to help us. So I think we need to step up and help those who were not as fortunate as I was. I suspect in my case that because we had somewhere for the water to go, the flooding turned out to not be so bad. But inland towns were not spared, and towns in upstate New York and Vermont were completely devastated.
And these are just some of the photos I’ve seen. I think we can all do something to help. The Red Cross is currently collecting donations for those affected by Irene – to donate, sign up to volunteer, or to donate blood, please click here.
There are also other kinds of needs. In the towns of Jay and Keene in upstate New York, which were destroyed by Irene, their libraries were also destroyed. In the case of the library in Jay, their children’s books were, for the most part, totally lost. When things are so uncertain and scary, sometimes it can help kids to escape into a book, so if you’d like to help them out, Kate Messner tells you how over on her blog.
Let’s do what we can to help!
The Handy Homeowner Girl 