Three Storms

I hear that AZ is supposed to get three storms this week, one of which seems to have briefly occured yesterday. It was a beautiful, cloudy, rainy day. I was tempted to remain in my pajamas all day curled up on the couch, but instead we took Ava bowling. And we had a great time (even though Ava played much better than I did and even beat me 2 out of 3 games)! I finally tied scores with Ian on the last game, so I redeemed my pathetic self.

Today the sun is out again, but the wind is swift and hopefully pushing storm number two into the valley. Another storm means more snow for AZ's high country too, which is a great thing since we'll need all of that water melting into our lakes come summertime. And by the time storm number 3 rolls in, I'm sure I'll be tired of the elements and ready to see the sun again. I honestly don't know how people live in areas where it rains all the time.

But weather and any of my other complaints are so trivial when there are people experiencing hell on earth at this very moment. My heart breaks for the Haitian people. It has been so frustrating to watch the news and see that real help has been delayed for many of the people in more remote areas of Haiti, and that the Haitian people are so desperate, they're looting and stealing from others to survive. And even more tragic, there are people who fought to survive the earthquake, only to slowly die due to lack of immediate medical attention. How can this happen? Why are we so complacent, until a tragedy occurs and forces us to reevaluate our priorities? Will we ever learn from our mistakes? If a major earthquake were to strike somewhere in the US, do you think we are prepared to respond quickly with the right equipment to save lives? I'm not convinced that we would. Since Katrina, what new policies and programs has FEMA implemented that would significantly improve our government's response?

The US is expected to be a leader when it comes to sending money and resources to other countries in times of need. However, last week in Haiti, the US (according to a news report I watched on CNN), had not been able to operationalize medical field tents on day 5 after the earthquake. (Israeli military/relief organizations on the other hand, had medical tents up and running in Haiti on day 2). I don't know about you, but that concerns me a lot.

I continue to pray for the Haitian people and for those American families who lost family members and friends in the earthquake. And I pray for all of us who, while safe today, may face devestation some time in the future and may have to rely on a still very fragmented, ineffective government system.

Where are those FEMA trailers? Oh that's right....still on an empty lot somewhere in the south while thousands still remain homeless in New Orleans. Brilliant!