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My hometown, Haines Alaska, is enduring its worst-ever disaster, with torrential rains, mud slides, roads and houses destroyed, and possible loss of life. This is devastating, but it's also reminding me why small towns can be so goddamn great (a thread, my first).
Haines is home to ˜2,500 people, and is often far from harmonious. It has a history of bitter political fights, efforts to recall elected officials, and (more recently) toxic online bickering. NPR even reported on the town's political divisions in 2017 https://n.pr/39B1D2G
Although I enjoy visiting Haines, I certainly haven't missed the hot-box political climate since I moved away. This aspect of the town, along with the everyone-knows-your-business vibe of any small town, always felt stifling to me. I'm mostly happy now to live in a big city.
So that's the background. Here's what's happening now: in the last 48 hours or so, heavy rain washed away numerous roads. Mudslides blocked other roads, and many houses were flooded or otherwise badly damaged. It was the worst storm anyone could remember.
And then, a mountain in the middle of town suddenly broke loose and slid into the ocean, burying a road and several houses in 9 feet of mud. Two people are still missing. A good summary of the damage and some pictures can be found here: https://bit.ly/37xrGVU
It's devastating and terrifying, and my friends and former neighbours could be forgiven for curling up under a blanket and hiding from the world. But that's not what they're doing, at least to judge from the community Facebook groups I've been frantically refreshing all day.
Instead, restaurants are serving free food. Landlords are making their vacant units freely available to displaced people. The private gym has given non-members free access to hot showers. Any request for supplies or help is instantly met by eager volunteers. And so much more.
In short, it seems everyone has managed to put old and deep divisions aside, forget about making money for now, and figure out how to help. The damage and apparent loss of life are gut wrenching, but the way people have responded is restoring my faith in humanity.
I'm devastated for my hometown and for those who lost homes or possibly even loved ones, but also deeply proud of how everyone is coming together in the face of disaster. For the life of me, I can't imagine people in my big city responding to a crisis with such community spirit.
I don't have a Soundcloud, but here's a GoFundMe to help those who were displaced. https://ca.gofundme.com/f/haines-alaska-disaster-relief
(It’s occurring to me belatedly that what I describe here probably will sound very familiar—and possibly interesting—to my old grad school chum @jacremes )
