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The purpose of this site is to provide relevant and useful information for the businesses and residents of Independence, Ohio. This site is independently owned and operated by CityFreePress, Inc. Bob Scott, Sat. Sept. 10, 2005) A Category 5 Community ResponseOur town and our neighbors jumped all over this immediately. Wish we had notes on the phone calls as well, but these emails give you a hint of how this took on a life of it's own. Here's some of the email traffic, mostly from Friday...
Greetings. Apologies if this reaches you in error. We've seen the pictures, we want to help. Money's a nice thought but there may be more immediate needs that you and I can do something about while other folks bring order to the chaos. I have a motor home in my yard that we were planning to lose soon anyway. My hope is to find someone(s) to drive it to So. Mississippi as soon as gas is available, stay a few days to help, and leave it there for someone without a roof. Before it leaves, I would hope we could fill it up with supplies that we think they need down there. I doubt there's anything that wouldn't be appreciated, but for sure, things like cleaning and building supplies will be in short supply in the vast areas surrounding the worst of the devastation. I've called the RedCross and Salvation army. They are overwhelmed with zillions of folks who want to help. We want to do the most good, but it's such a big mess I'm really not sure there's any coordination or control. With just a little thought, I believe everything we send will be useful, if not immediately, then later. My goal, even at the risk of bringing the “wrong” things to the “wrong” families in the “wrong” areas is to move immediately. Several folks have suggested we wait for things to sort out a bit, and that's a good idea for the long run. We're all going to have to help there too. However, I know somebody's kids are sleeping outside tonight who'd appreciate AC, running water, a shower and a refrigerator ASAP. Any help you wish to provide would be appreciated, but most importantly, let me know if you know… We need a driver, probably best if two or more. They need a cell phone and have to be very resourceful to get things to the right place. If anybody has local contacts that can be reached, either a volunteer already there, or someone who knows the situation there, please let me know. Supplies. Anything is better than nothing. Small is better than huge. I know in almost any cleanup people need chainsaws, tarps, ropes, workgloves, shovels, trash bags, mops, rags, cleaning supplies, hammers, nails and bandaids/iodine/gauze. There may be hardware stores and kmarts, but certainly, it'll take weeks for them to stabilize as well. If we took nothing but trashbags and buckets I suspect somebody would use them. Camper. - We need
a few new tires, other than that it's in good shape.
Timing
Bob Scott |