I just got off the phone with my best friend up in Binghamton -- she teaches a pre-school that's part of a multi-generational program in a nursing home. Binghamton (sort of the middle of the bottom part of NY State near the PA border) has been HARD hit by flooding.
The nursing home had to be evacuated late Tuesday nite. Much of Binghamton is simply 10 - 15 feet UNDER water. My friend just got word tonight that the nursing home will need to be closed for months for repairs which leaves the whole future of the pre-school program questionable -- can they even find a place to hold school (it's got a very low budget - it's mostly used to serve the children of folks who work there or who have family at the home).
My friend is FINE. Her home is ok, her car, her dog are all ok. But my point is simply that my heart just breaks for SO MANY folks all over the US tonight.
When there is fire things are just GONE. Whole homes, lives, businesses, gone in smoke. People may escape with their lives but may have lost everything and have to start over ... somehow.
In the flooding it's the same thing but different. A dwelling may exist but literally may not be fit for habitation -- or the foundation may have been washed away leaving it uninhabitable. Floods have the added kick that they may not be covered by insurance as well as people think -- and since the flooding in 2006 in many of the same N PA, S NY areas people may not even be covered at all.
I'm just thinking and lifting people up from all over -- livelihoods lost ... home lost ... how to make ends meet when there may be no payroll forthcoming for WEEKS (because computers and business offices have been shut down by loss?)
I just thought it might be a good thing to have a place where we could share if we know specific folks who need to be lifted up -- or whole towns or areas specifically hard hit.
My friend that helped us get Tinkerbell who does dog rescue near Austin -- she's literally just a few blocks from the fires in Levander, Tx near Austin. But all of TX has been SO hard hit by fire. I haven't heard from Sandra Slayton in TX in a while -- has anyone?, and I don't think NY Maureen has posted in a bit (she's hopefully far enough N in NY not to be hit hard). Auburn was saying the other day how much rain they'd gotten.
This place has always been SO good at support!!
I'm going to post the candles page again -- maybe we should really all light candles again!! It doesn't always have to be for a dog (and i"m thinking of the shelters in both places that must be hard pressed to stay open!).
Candles Page