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An Open Letter to Friends and Relatives of Hurricane Ida Survivors
Don’t let compassion fatigue keep you from checking in with those of us on the Gulf Coast
Dear Friends and Relatives,
Hello from the Gulf Coast of Alabama!
It’s been two days since the governor of Louisiana said that Hurricane Ida could be the worst storm to hit the region since the 1850s, and I can guess why I haven’t yet heard from you yet.
You’re probably thinking: She’s 160 miles east of New Orleans and seeing only the shank end of the storm. How bad could it be?
I could answer you by saying: Look at the header on this letter. That’s a photo of a marina in our town after we saw the shank end of Katrina 11 years ago. I could add that tropical storms routinely bring tornadoes, and we had two warnings yesterday. The houses here lack basements — the water table is too high for them — and my bathroom has a window. So I spent a couple of hours barricaded in a pantry with my phone in hand and a pillow on my head. We’re still under a flood warning that makes it risky to drive to buy groceries or essential medicine.
But I suspect there’s another reason you haven’t called, one that has nothing to do with my distance from the eye of Hurricane Ida: We’ve…
