For those who want to help in any disaster

[VolNExile]

Posting from our hotel room in Greenville SC, waiting for power to be restored to our house in Asheville. (It will apparently be November, and probably not early November, before we all get running water again.)

Thanks to all of you for your thoughts and prayers for those of us in affected areas in East Tennessee, Western North Carolina, and Upstate South Carolina!

I know that people want to help and show they care, and believe me, I get it. I’m the same way. But we don’t need teddy bears. (We also don’t need prom dresses or tiger costumes, items which have been donated per the video below.)

If you want to help, please watch this first and then make an informed choice. Don’t make a donation that gets bulldozed into a landfill because it’s unusable.

Things that make donors feel good might not only be unhelpful, but actively harmful to those who need help, by wasting effort, personnel and money. See @5:15 for an example of what did work at Hurricane Sandy.

Also, please coordinate with the agencies ON THE GROUND HERE before you buy stuff and head our way. We can probably use your help! But find out beforehand where we really need you.

 

[joevol33]

You need anything? Seriously? I'm less than an hour and a half from Greenville, and I'm off tomorrow. Seriously, if you guys need anything I can get there in just over an hour, no problem at all.

 

[VolNExile]

You need anything? Seriously? I'm less than an hour and a half from Greenville, and I'm off tomorrow. Seriously, if you guys need anything I can get there in just over an hour, no problem at all.

A whole bunch of water pipes?

Seriously, thanks Joe. You’re the most sensible one among us, other than that A1 thing.

Thank you for the offer. We’re pretty much ok, other than running water, and the mystery of whether we do or don’t have power. We’re very, very lucky, compared to many others.

Tomorrow we’re going up for another quick supply run and I will empty out the fridge and freezer. It hasn’t been anywhere near as hot as post-Katrina NOLA, but T&P for the smells are appreciated!

 

[tbh]

A whole bunch of water pipes?

Seriously, thanks Joe. You’re the most sensible one among us, other than that A1 thing.

Thank you for the offer. We’re pretty much ok, other than running water, and the mystery of whether we do or don’t have power. We’re very, very lucky, compared to many others.

Tomorrow we’re going up for another quick supply run and I will empty out the fridge and freezer. It hasn’t been anywhere near as hot as post-Katrina NOLA, but T&P for the smells are appreciated!

For the smells...T&P sent, but snag a jar of Vicks Vaporub on the way up and dab a little bit under your nose from time to time. It may not block stuff out completely, but it sure helps!