Aftermath

As I met up with friends in Iowa City to survey the damage after last Thursday’s horrific storms I was overwhelmed with the surrealistic environment. Trees had been thrown like twigs; one house is perfectly in tact, while its neighbor is demolished. We walked near my old apartment to the Alpha Chi Omega house to see the damage first hand. Many citizens that had their homes ravaged by the storm have expressed that they were offended by the droves of people that simply gawked. I can admit to being one of those gawkers, but I would like to point out that I could not just sit with my hands tied on the other side of town and wait for the all-clear from officials. That’s unnatural for any human to stay inside after these kind of events, we all want to get out and see, and most want to help. Yet, when arriving at the scene there are no words to describe the feeling you get as you view the destruction and have no idea what to do next. Most people want to help but don’t know how. If residents wanted help, they should have asked. Fortunately for myself, I was asked to help and I am glad that I was able to pitch in, but there is still a lot to, and I wish I could help more. I can’t afford to donate money to the Red Cross (just like a great majority of my fellow students), and I don’t have any spare toiletries to spare, all I have is my time and effort, and I don’t know how to donate that. There may be ways out there for me to do that, but they haven’t been apparent, thus if they do exist the public needs to know about them. The Red Cross needs to set up some kind of way for people such as myself that want to help with their time and effort to get in contact with people that need help. There should be front page news bulletins that tell me where to go to but my name and phone number on a list provided to those in need. In the mean time I am still waiting for anyone who needs my time and effort.