The main reasons I have travelled all over the state is to (1.) Find out where unmet needs are (2.) help find resources to meet those needs and (3.) Make sure the rural areas aren’t forgotten in the weeks and months after the storms.

We’ve reached the stage in the recovery where a vast majority of the populace think everything is fine in most areas and that most of the needs are being met. It is simply not the case. The sad fact is that most of the effort is on the backs of local organizations who deal with their fellow citizens daily. They are quickly depleting their personal resources and soon the only distribution centers to some rural areas will cease to operate. I will endeavor to provide the general public with the information on these operations and it is imperative that they receive the help they need. Many of them are responsible for multiple rural communities where literally thousands have lost everything. We are struggling at this point to get everyone registered with FEMA while simultaneously helping the local leaders set up for long term rebuilding. They have no choice but to be in this for the long haul. They will work as hard as they have all along but they will only succeed with the help of others. This is where you come in.

Click the “How to give” link on stormHOPE.org and it will direct you to the local organizations where help is needed. They will be more than happy to explain the needs of their fellow citizens as many of them have worked 14-16 hour days on their behalf since the immediate aftermath of the storm

In other news…

As I watch Mike Bettis on The Weather Channel my heart hurts for Missouri. I know, however, that the work we have done since the beginning of the recovery has set many examples for them to follow on how to organize online. More importantly I know that the template we are working to build at http://www.ourstatesunited.com will allow states and their good people to be proactive IMMEDIATELY after something like the Joplin, Missouri tornado. With our online organization drop sites would immediately become active. Team leaders would be on the phone getting as much of an assessment as possible. Needs would be posted online, verified, and within the first 12 hours trucks would be set up and within 24 hours be on the ground to the affected areas.

The good updates…

Tiffany Watkins and the ladies of North Alabama Disaster Relief have been an absolute force in the days since the storms. I joined them this weekend as they delivered roughly $5,000 worth of supplies to the Hackleburg, AL area. These were immediate needs that were directly requested. When we arrived, however, we were pleased to find that one organization had plenty of baby food and formula- so much so that they loaded the truck we had just unloaded so that it could be delivered to a community 100 miles away. That same community was checking things they could send to Hackleburg. I know of no Alabama city or town that is hoarding things- even as understandable as that would be in some areas. They are sharing resources in ways that are unlike anything I have ever witnessed. The hardest hit areas are taking care of each other. They both know that they are in it for the long haul. Let’s join them and make sure everyone is taken care of and no one is forgotten.