Many years ago, on a business trip to Houston (where we have a major office — the largest in the company, in fact), a hurricane was heading toward the Galveston/Houston area. I returned to my hotel room to find a note under the door, which essentially said, “Fill your bathtub with water because in case of a hurricane the water supply might be contaminated until normal services can be restored.”
Gah. That did more than any number of newspaper articles and Weather Channel shows to drive home that I was in the path of something that could seriously affect my life.
It turned out to be a false alarm, but give me California earthquakes any day — unannounced, and over in 10-20 seconds. The wait, then the duration, of hurricanes, not to mention the pervasiveness of water and wind, make them a terrifying prospect.
My thoughts and prayers go out to the folks in the Houston area I know (and those I don’t know, for that matter) this weekend. And, if you’re not in that area and want to lend a hand to some relief agencies assisting evacuees, here are a couple to consider:
Donate to the American Red Cross
Donate to the Episcopal Relief and Development Fund