Denver Survives Disaster On Its Own
A friend of mine who lives in Denver forwarded me this email. I think it is becoming a chain mail thing, but I loved the message!
****************
Up here, in the “Mile-Hi City”, we just recovered from a Historic event— may I even say a “Weather Event” of “Biblical Proportions” — with a historic blizzard of up to 44″ inches of snow and winds to 90 MPH that broke trees in half, knocked down utility poles, stranded hundreds of motorists in lethal snow banks, closed ALL roads, isolated scores of communities and cut power to tens of thousands.
FYI:
George Bush did not come. FEMA did nothing. No one howled for the government. No one blamed the government. No one even uttered an expletive on TV.
Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton did not visit. Our Mayor did not blame Bush or anyone else. Our Governor did not blame Bush or anyone else, either.
CNN, ABC, CBS, FOX or NBC did not visit – or report on this Category 5 snowstorm as they did Katrina. No Larry King, No Bill O’Reilly, No Oprah, No Chris Mathews and No Geraldo Rivera. No Shaun Penn, No Barbara Striesand, No Hollywood types to be found.
Nobody demanded $2,000 debit cards. No one asked for a FEMA Trailer House. No one looted. Nobody – I mean Nobody demanded the government do something. Nobody expected the government to do anything, either.
Nope, we just melted the snow for water. Sent out caravans of SUV’s to pluck people out of snow engulfed cars. The truck drivers pulled people out of snow banks and didn’t ask for a penny.
Local restaurants made food and the police and fire departments delivered it to the snowbound families. Families took in the stranded people – total strangers. We fired up wood stoves, broke out coal oil lanterns or Coleman lanterns. We put on extra layers of clothes because up here it is “Work or Die”. We did not wait for some affirmative action government to get us out of a mess created by being immobilized by a welfare program that trades votes for ’sittin at home’ checks.
Even though a Category “5″ blizzard of this scale has never fallen this early, we know it can happen and how to deal with it ourselves.
Maybe SOME people (Like New Orleans and Wash. DC freeloaders) will get the message. The world does not owe you a living. The Government and Tax dollars are not your insurance company.
I couldn’t have said it any better.
-Bruce (GayPatriot)
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Bravo! Very well said, finally someone with the onions enough to say it.
Comment by I won't grow up — January 9, 2007 @ 10:23 pm - January 9, 2007
I actually had that forwarded to me a couple of days ago by a friend up in Ft. Collins. I live in Denver too and am on his mass email list.
While I do find the whole thing interesting and very true, I do think one has to keep in mind that no homes were destroyed. I am certainly sick and tired, and was appalled by the cries of “racism” after Katrina. I was also appalled that only the misery was played, I have met “evacuees” and have heard of “evacuees” that moved on, and are doing better here in Colorado than they were in The Big Easy.
I guess my point is, yes people should be prepared and should be willing to look out for themselves, but the situation was a little different.
Comment by Mike — January 9, 2007 @ 10:28 pm - January 9, 2007
[...] I forgot to mention: Gay Patriot has this post about the past week here in Denver. Suffice it to say it snowed…a lot. [...]
Pingback by I forgot to mention: « …the word on the road… — January 9, 2007 @ 10:34 pm - January 9, 2007
Bruce, I recall something similar going around a couple of years ago when a big snowstorm hit the Northeast (I think it was).
While even I, generally a lefty, agree with the sentiment expressed by it, I have to note that a snowstorm that melts isn’t a hurricane that floods most of a city, destroying what is left when the water recedes. I haven’t been reading your blog long enough to know of any discussion that went on surrounding Katrina, but that’s the thing that jumped out at me when I read this. Again, I don’t disagree with the senitment….those of us who come from or live (or lived in) areas prone to bad weather know we simply have to be prepared to fend for ourselves, because it’s our responsibility.
(Sorry – I imagine I’m probably going to start a re-hash of post-Katrina discussion which wasn’t my intent. Just wanted to note what struck me.)
Comment by Mike — January 9, 2007 @ 10:38 pm - January 9, 2007
Technically, 90MPH is Category 1 on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Also, Katrina was a Category 3 at landfall, but that doesn’t change the point of the message.
Comment by ThatGayConservative — January 10, 2007 @ 12:46 am - January 10, 2007
I completely agree with the libertarian sentiment in the message posted, but the comparison between this and Katrina is asinine. I’m sorry, but… Mike said it well: “I have to note that a snowstorm that melts isn’t a hurricane that floods most of a city, destroying what is left when the water recedes.”
Did the snowstorm go into the Denver homes, filling it with floodwater to the roof and beyond? Did the snowstorm recede, leaving rot, filth, chemical baths and polluted water supplies? The entire reason that Katrina was such a government cluster* is that because in the event that an evacuation is necessary, the government has a role in assisting. Since Denver essentially had to “stay home and don’t die while you’re doing it,” I can’t believe these Denverites (Denveronians?) would compare their admittedly trying ordeal to several below sea-level areas flooding with water.
Comment by torrentprime — January 10, 2007 @ 12:56 am - January 10, 2007
Oops, missed my last line. The original post ran through some of the ways in which these self-reliant Denverites dealt with the storm and its aftermath:
So, in other words, their houses and homes were still secure, warm, and dry. If the storm had invaded, flooded, and destroyed their homes, all of them, how exactly would they have done all these things? What restaurant would have cooked up these meals, with water flooding out every kitchen? How would families take in strangers when their own homes were destroyed? With the wood soaked through and the oil and Coleman lanterns floated away and the clothes soaking wet, what would they have done?
Maybe the free-loading Katrina victims should have turned on the AC and frozen that hurricane before it hit, so they could be as self-reliant as Denver. (eyeroll)
Note, and note well, that none of my posts in any way support or even condone the vast, vast amounts of wasted money which FEMA and other government organizations spend everytime they get together. IMHO, there was a government role in Katrina, that of assisting with the evacuation in the first place, but after that, everything that has happened was a typical example of bureaucracy and waste, big-government style. $2000 debit cards and multiple years in government housing is a travesty of social aid.
Comment by torrentprime — January 10, 2007 @ 1:06 am - January 10, 2007
“No one looted.”
Wrong.
Besides, Western ranchers and farmers, like the ones whose cattle were widely pictured starving to death in aerial footage after the blizzards, are some of the biggest welfare queens in existence.
Comment by vaara — January 10, 2007 @ 2:37 am - January 10, 2007
Big difference between a hurricane that damages a city and it’s people and with destructive winds and water damage and a passing snowstorm that is part of a regular, expected weather pattern that appeared a little earlier than usual.
I wonder what the writer’s attitude would have been if he/she had been one of those stranded in NO with no way out.
Comment by Kevin — January 10, 2007 @ 6:01 am - January 10, 2007
I think New Orleans is a quagmire, and we should pull out. They’ve had sixteen months to rebuild, and they’ve barely accomplished anything. Violence is rampant, cultures are clashing, and Ray Nagin has the nerve to ask for more money to support this debacle.
I support the reconstruction workers, but I don’t support rebuilding New Orleans. Bring the reconstruction workers home now. (To Mexico.)
Comment by V the K — January 10, 2007 @ 7:48 am - January 10, 2007
Yeah, and Groud Zero still is a big hole.
Comment by Tim — January 10, 2007 @ 8:09 am - January 10, 2007
*chuckles* That made me laugh this morning, VtheK.
Comment by Mike — January 10, 2007 @ 8:12 am - January 10, 2007
According to my recollection, one day after Denver’s storm, we had helicopters in the air dropping food to the cattle and horses for the welfare ranchers.
In NO, several days past before we could do much of anything for the people.
And #5 – inapt analogies hasn’t stopped GP before, why should he start now?
Comment by keogh — January 10, 2007 @ 9:38 am - January 10, 2007
Ha ha ha, GP gets suckered (or something). This is just an update of an urban legend. What is that old quote attributed (wrongly) to PT Barnum?
Comment by Ian — January 10, 2007 @ 9:58 am - January 10, 2007
Ah, Silly person dutifully spews left-wing mythology from the usual echo chamber. In fact, the first Coast Guard helicopters reached New Orleans within 2 hours of Katrina passing.
Van Helsing demolished this silly left-wing BS with an effective photo essay.
Comment by V the K — January 10, 2007 @ 10:00 am - January 10, 2007
“While I do find the whole thing interesting and very true, I do think one has to keep in mind that no homes were destroyed.”
Mississippi was hit just as hard by Katrina, and the same distinction stands. Likewise, homes are destroyed every year across the United States by tornadoes, yet there’s no whining or FEMA credit cards or massive media coverage.
Comment by rightwingprof — January 10, 2007 @ 11:02 am - January 10, 2007
rightwingprof, your point is well put. But in saying that, you point out the difference: “massive media coverage”.
One tornado that detroys 5 homes doesn’t warrant massive media coverage because it’s not a massive event. The destruciton of most of a city, or the repeated snowing-in of most of a state warrants more. Massive event = massive coverage. It’s probably reflective of part of what’s wrong with the media, but it’s what viewers want to see. It’s all about the ratings on TV.
Comment by Mike — January 10, 2007 @ 11:17 am - January 10, 2007
#16: I think one reason Mississippi fared better despite being harder hit is that its state government went to work immediately to begin reconstruction, instead of looking for TV cameras they could cry and blame Bush in front of.
Comment by V the K — January 10, 2007 @ 11:38 am - January 10, 2007
I so love laughing at disasters that afflict people. Nothing is funnier on a Wednesday.
Comment by jimmy — January 10, 2007 @ 12:38 pm - January 10, 2007
“It’s all about the ratings on TV.”
If it were — and not political motivation — the effects of Katrina on Mississippi would have been covered just as heavily as those on NO. But with nobody in Mississippi whining about “come save us!” and “Bush hates black people!” Mississippi didn’t serve the media agenda.
Comment by rightwingprof — January 10, 2007 @ 1:25 pm - January 10, 2007
That sort of goes with my point, I think, rightwingprof…..people helping themselves and being better prepared for the disaster doesn’t equal good ratings. It wasn’t perceived as being as being as massive perhaps is another way to say it.
See, I knew this was going to rehash the Katrina thing.
Back to the topic, I guess this email is an urban legend? Still makes an interesting point.
Comment by Mike — January 10, 2007 @ 1:31 pm - January 10, 2007
Re: tornadoes.
When a tornado goes through a county, rarely does it destroy every house within miles. One of the most powerful things about a tornadoes is how they cut razor-thin lines through areas, leaving one house untouched while the next is completely demolished. The point? That when a tornado goes through an area, the complete and total infrastructure of the surrounds is not destroyed; neighbors can help, families can help, etc. NO lost entire neighborhoods, hospitals, food supplies, water supplies.
To pretend that a tornado taking out 20 mobile homes is the same as flooding a city is a sad, sad reach.
Comment by torrentprime — January 10, 2007 @ 2:03 pm - January 10, 2007
An interesting conversation but the premise is totally fake. Go to snopes.com and check it for yourself. This same sorry story has been circulating on the Internet for months, except instead of “Denver” it was all about “North Dakota.”
Snow Comparison from Snopes
You really should spend at least 30 seconds to fact-check before you go posting fake news on your blog…
Peace,
Tim
Comment by Tim — January 10, 2007 @ 2:14 pm - January 10, 2007
[Commenter has been banned due to repeatedly violating community terms of conduct.]
Comment by monty — January 10, 2007 @ 4:44 pm - January 10, 2007
Wow….why is that no one is attacking Nixon for having brought in the National Guard as soon as Camille hit? Seems he should be attacked for being a bad conservative for getting involved in a states’ rights issues.
You still use all this state issue to blur the real issue: our Federal goverenment ahd the resources to help people, but the leaders of our government, right up to the president, had no idea what they were doing. From FEMA workers to ordinary citizens who tried to help, they reported that they were stopped by officials at the top who had no idea what they were doing. While people were hungry, thirsty, trapped, and in some cases dying, officials of our federal government were more worried about their image than they were for citizens of the United States. Just another reason to vote out the republicans as a whole.
Comment by Kevin — January 10, 2007 @ 7:23 pm - January 10, 2007
This very same e-mail was circulating in the Dakotas two winters ago.
Comment by Ashley Hunter — January 10, 2007 @ 8:42 pm - January 10, 2007
As usual people always show their ignorance. I wish you had walked a few days in our shoes. The government let us borrow a FEMA trailer for a year and if you think that was a picnic, go live in your driveway in a 8 x 28 travel trailer for a year and see if that changes your opinion.
Comment by Barb — January 16, 2007 @ 8:41 pm - January 16, 2007
I live in Denver and this story is a pretty sad twisting of facts.
In the Denver, we only had around 24 inches of snow, not 44. I think there were nearly 40 inches in some of the rural areas the next week, but not in the city. Nothing effecting thousands of people.
Lets do a bit of real comparison:
In Louisiana, 1 million people were displaced from their homes.
In Denver, 4800 people got stuck at the airport for a few days.
In Louisiana, 200,000 homes were destroyed.
In Denver, there were no storm related home losses that I’ve heard of. Some people might have lost power for a short while. I didn’t.
Louisiana had over 1500 deaths from the storm.
No one died in Denver from the blizzard.
Hundreds of thousand lost their jobs after Katrina.
Some businesses in Denver closed for a few days.
The ski resorts will probably do record business this year.
So, as a Denver resident, and Louisiana native, I ask you to please don’t try to make this comparison to get across some lame point about freeloaders and government help.
People really did suffer down there. People are still suffering from that storm.
In Denver, everything is nearly back to normal. Some sidewalks are still impassible , but that’s about the extent of it.
Comment by Keith — January 20, 2007 @ 1:50 am - January 20, 2007
For all those who thought the Game Trader was looted during the big blizzard you are right. But it wasn’t the Game Trader that was hurt behind this. One can’t help but wonder if the looting wasn’t stagged, especially after going threw their inventory just before the incident and knowing that the numbers of missing items were at least doubled before being reported to the local athorities and the insurance company.
Comment by John Doe — November 30, 2007 @ 7:49 pm - November 30, 2007