A few thoughts on Hurricane Ike *VICTIMS*
It was flooding in Texas after Hurricane IKE!
As the flood waters were rising, a man was on the stoop of his house and another man in a row boat came by. The man in the row boat told the man on the stoop to get in and he’d save him. The man on the stoop said, no, he had faith in God and would wait for God to save him.
The flood waters kept rising and the man had to go to the second floor of his house. A man in a motor boat came by and told the man in the house to get in because he had come to rescue him. The man in the house said no thank you. He had perfect faith in God and would wait for God to save him.
The flood waters kept rising. Pretty soon they were up to the man’s roof and he got out on the roof.
A helicopter then came by, lowered a rope and the pilot shouted down in the man in the house to climb up the rope because the helicopter had come to rescue him. The man in the house wouldn’t get in. He told the pilot that he had faith in God and would wait for God to rescue him.
The flood waters kept rising and the man in the house drowned.
When he got to heaven, he asked God where he went wrong. He told God that he had perfect faith in God, but God had let him drown.
“What more do you want from me?” asked God. “I sent you two boats and a helicopter.”
This is OLD, and told as a joke, but it illustrates the seriousness of matters in south Louisiana and S.E. Texas right now…
The inspiration for this post was the almost incessant reports from the news services regarding all the folks in need of rescue right now. As yet the winds are too high in many places to get the helicopters up, the 1st responders are NOT going to unnecessarily risk their own lives to save those that didn’t, or wouldn’t take measures to protect themselves.
I am sure that we’ll hear the wailing and cries and assorted lamentations as many complain that the government didn’t do enough to save them. To those folks I say this, I have no sympathy for you, NONE!
You were warned, several days in advance, the MSM, NOAA, the National Hurricane Center, all news sources, even bloggers like me, we have been telling you for several days, get out of the way, this is going to be bad. Yet there have been thousands that ignored the calls to leave. And now they endanger not only themselves, but those that are entrusted with the mission of saving them.
My Son is a 1st responder, I am very close to his situation, I get a lot of 1st hand information. Yesterday my Son nearly lost his life responding to a call of a vehicle upside down in the water. He is OK, thanks be to God for that, but he was doing what ALL 1st responders do, he was trying to SAVE lives, even at risk of his own.
I had NO sympathy for the people that failed to evacuate New Orleans ahead of Katrina, I have NO sympathy for those that failed to evacuate ahead of IKE either. My hopes and prayers are with the 1st responders, please stay safe, and my sympathy goes to all that DID use common sense, and left the stricken areas, Texas will be there for you, we WILL help you and support you!
Glad to hear you son is OK. You should be very proud of him for doing what he does, saving lives and helping people that need it.
I am VERY proud of him, and thank you for the kind words, it’s great to hear from you..
Way to go, Fred. Please express our gratitude to your son, and his associates, for the terrific job they are doing. We join you in prayer for their safety!
Best regards!
J. D. Longstreet
Delighted to hear that your son is OK. And damn proud of him and all the first responders. On 9/11 so many of them lost their lives tryig to rescue others knowing that it was probably a futile gesture. They went in anyway.
My hat is off to your son and all the rest of them. Give him a great big “ATTA-BOY” from me.
Glad to hear that your son is OK. Have a crowded home right now, my niece and her bf live in Houston and are here with me near Chicago. They left their home and fled. A hurricane is not to be messed with.
What would this country do without our heroic sons and daughters? I’m very thankful that your son survived. Often, 1st responders are needed because of someone’s reckless and irresponsible decisions. Our emergency workers are indeed heroes.
I agree with everything you said Fred. I have no patience for the 90,000 that stayed in Galveston.
Maggie
Thank God your son is OK! I was very angry when I learned that so many people in Galveston had ignored the mandatory evacuation orders and the statements that staying would mean “certain death.” I learned that in Texas you can’t force a person to leave their own property. Well, I think we need a law passed that if a person ignores a call to evacuate, and the person has to be rescued, they should have to pay the bill and pay big!
I’m with you Fred. People should evacuate without hesitation when the warning is given. Material things can be replaced but the live of the hard-headed and the responder cannot.
May God have mercy on all effected.
I’m with Faultine…..
Anyone who chose to stay after being warned for days and than started crying for help, putting people like your son in danger should pay and pay alot.
In fact the first question these rescuers should ask these fools before any help is given is, is that going to be a Visa or Mastercard?
Fred, I’m so glad your son is safe. 1st Responders have ALWAYS been heroes to me, moreso after 9/11.
I too agree with Faultline-in fact, here in Tucson, we have what’s called the “Stupid Motorist Law”-because we have so many washes and dry riverbeds, these suckers flood and flood big during monsoon season. Yet, these idiot drivers continue to try to drive through them, often after repeated warnings and posted signs. They are now charged for the rescue services and fined heavily for ignoring the warnings. We’ve had fewer “stupid motorists” in recent years as it has been a deterrent. Unfortunately, you can’t cure everyone of stupidity.
On another note, my sister is in Lexington and while she has no internet, her phones have been on and we’ve been in contact with her. I don’t believe she was under the mandatory evacuation, but she does have enough sense to make the proper preparations, stock up, hit the cellar when she needs to be there, etc. She’s a transplanted Texan (we were born in Oklahoma and cut our teeth on tornadoes), but has been there over 20 years and knows what to do. Thank goodness she’s safe. I spoke with her this morning and she was in her favorite easy chair, reading a good novel by candles in her cellar.
I have no sympathy for those who were told to get out and did not do so. Hubby is connected to EMS, Ambulance Authority, the local hospital, so we know what these brave people go through.
On another topic, the people in Texas were told to “stock up on water, food, medications, necessities and AMMO.” Gotta love Texas!
Amen, Bro, amen.
John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
To start with, I have a aserious problem with the Weather Channel created concept of the “cone of uncertainty.” WTF! There is no uncertainty, you live on the coast and a damn hurricane is bearing down on you. Do you want to sit and bluff with a pair of deuces in your hand and bet that Mother Nature isn’t just going to stuff one up your butt?
Second, and maybe more importantly, I don’t care what anyone thinks about the government’s role in your life, but if they call for a MANDATORY evacuation, what is it about that word, MANDATORY that you don’t understand??? If they tell someone to get out, and they stay, that person has no right to help from the government to get them out of harm’s way. They made their choice and decision. Pull the freakin’ bathtub out of the wall and float to safety, but don’t ask our First Responders to help you and put their lives in danger because you were an idiot and didn’t heed the warning.
Damn stupid people…as someone just wrote about them on my blog, DIMWITS!!!
I am so glad that Trey is alright. I spent more than twenty years running into situations that anyone with a lick of sense would be running away from. Yes, it is usually because a person did something stupid beyond all belief. Like going to a gunfight armed with a butter knife, or not getting the hell out of a tornado’s path. You get the picture. Trey deserves all the praise that can be given.
So I really don’t deserve any praise!
Me, for my part? I was an adrenalin junkie!
Patrick Sperry
NREMT-P retired
What’s the matter you old hypocritical coot!??
I wish you well and you don’t even let the comment through. What a chickenshit!
Wouldn’t wish the hurricane on you or yours, but of course, I never would call folks the names you do, nor shoot to kill immigrant babies on sight, nor would I advocate sending Amy to the hospital to have an “operation” to rid her of whatever evil you think she’s got in her.
But hey, don’t send the comment through, okay, you lilly-livered old wreck. It’s your blog and your blog hate ring, so do your own damned thing man.
Americaneocon, YOUR comment WAS let thru, along with my rather nice reply, see it HERE: http://texasfred.net/archives/2147
And check the time stamp, I can’t alter that… But hey, I’ll let this one stand too, nothing like seeing an idiot exposed for what he really is…
Texas Fred: My bad!
The wife’s home safely, thank you.
And at least you didn’t call me “Donnie Dickless,” LOL!
You’re still an old wreck of a coot, hurricane or not!
Americaneocon,
Too late Donnie, yes, it IS your bad, and that does NOT serve as an apology… This is going out for ALL to see. That seems to be your preferred method, well, I can be quite civil AND very caustic at the same time. This is one of those times…
Ya just can’t put the foam back into the can once it’s been spread around…
I’m with ya on this one Fred. When I heard that some of those idjits said they would ride it out even after Homeland Security said that if you remain you are risking near certain death - then perhaps they’re just helping to cleanse the gene pool. Yes, I will pray for them - but - living on the gulf coast of Florida myself - I know when they say mandatory evacuation..it’s serious..and…its time to leave.
As always I agree 100% with what you have written.
I get so angry when people are warned and then they stay and then cry for help or expect heroes to come and rescue them. I told my husband if someone ever got killed on a rescue for some stupid person…then the life saved should go to jail. I am serious about this, because by staying behind they put the lives of the first responders in danger.
In a related matter, I do not have sympathy for people who live in trailers in hurricane or tornado areas. If you cannot afford a home that is built into solid ground then at least move to a state that doesn’t have hurricanes.
I know a guy who makes millions selling trailers to idiot states like Floriada that keep coming up with moneys to replace those that were ruined in hurricanes.
Want to make a fortune quickly? Go down to Louisiana and “help” in reconstruction. There are hundreds of thousands of morons who live in a toilet bowl waiting to be filled when the levees will inevitably break, again.
Nature does not want New Orleans to be where it is. Can’t fool Mother Nature.
It would be easier to suffer these imbeciles if my taxes did not support them.
My word! Bernie and I agree on this. People who put themselves in compromising positions. Mother Nature is something, “ain’t She?”
Sorry It took so long for me to get back to ya! I AM SO GLAD THAT YOUR SON IS OK! Tell him THANK YOU! He is a real HERO!