by OdlerRobert Jeanlouie
Ronald delivered the mail as happily as he played basketball. The 47-year old Orange resident was off last week. Because of the hurricane, he agreed to don his uniform, return to the post-office, and help. During a delivery, his car got stuck in two feet of water. He stepped out of the small vehicle to walk to safety. He fell and a disappear in a 12-foot deep sewer drainage open under the flood. His body was found two hours later by police and rescuers. He is survived by a wife and two teen-age sons.
Ronald is one of the many people who did not fare well during the disaster. Nationwide, 42 died, 4.5 millions lost power. That is the big picture. But the personal dramas are the most heart-wrenching. At work, everyone has a story to tell; it is usually a sad one.
Vivian’s two cars were parked in her driveway. The next morning, both were totaled by the mounting waters. The insurance company does not want to pay. She does not have any means of transportation to come to work. Kathy’s mom retired last year; she chose to move to the Jersey Shore where she bought a beautiful beachfront property. When she returned to her home on Tuesday, the place was devastated by the fury.
Terrence is an avid reader and a collector of classic masterpieces; his personal library, set in his basement, was his pride; it counted no less than 500 chefs-d’oeuvre of the international literature, from Homer to Voltaire, from Dumas to Shakespeare, from Cicero to Tolstoy. Gone, all destroyed by five feet of water in the basement, while the rescue pump, out of electricity, was disabled. Call it a sentimental and intellectual catastrophe.
Then, the weird cases. A woman barricaded herself at home, with all possible safety precautions. A tree fell on the roof, dislodged the chimney that landed in her bed and killed her in her sleep; doesn’t it this sounds like a scene from The Omen? A 55-year old surfer wanted to enjoy the high-riding waves; a huge one threw him away on the beach, where he landed on his head; he died instantaneously.
And on, and on.
Hurricane Irene scared the bejesus out of me. I remembered when I took an overnight trip to Miami, from New Jersey, in the summer of 1992 to attend the engagement party of two great friends of mine. A few hours after my arrival, Hurricane Andrew made landfall. I had to be evacuated from the celebration. I experienced first hand the violence of the category-4 winds, on my way to my apartment, in Kendall. The next morning, the spectacle was dantesque; I could no longer recognize the neighborhood. All trees were down, too many houses were destroyed.
The area airports were closed. For four days, I was stranded in South Miami, with no power, no water, no food, no air-conditioner, no fan, no TV, no music, and an army of several million 5-inch long buzzing, stinging mosquitoes. That was a nightmare.
No such a misery happened to me last week. I stayed home, all night, in a hopeful watch. I spend the free time reading about the Human Genome Project; and I finally understood the genetic links between the Neerdanthal who inhabited Euro-Asia and the Homo Sapiens who originated in Africa. Very interesting.
The hurricane never came to Warrenville. After the national services cleared the alert, I toured the neighborhood; a few trees lost branches, but the lawns remained immaculate. No one suffered any significant damage. The rest of the state was declared a natural disaster area. At 7:00 p.m, on Sunday, after the hurricane, I missed work, I drove to work, the roads were filled with water, still.
This time, for Irene, we were on the defense; for the next one, we need to gear up into prevention: blow it up before it comes to town.
Long ago, I decided not to live in California because of earthquakes, and to avoid South Florida because of hurricanes. Deal. Last week, I experienced both an earthquake and a hurricane, over no more than a five-day period, while safely netted in… New Jersey! Obviously, I have a claim to file, and a suit to bring forth, but against whom?
(OdlerRobert Jeanlouie, Saturday, September 3, 2011)