Lessons from Hurricane Irene
EAST HAMPTON, CT – Mother Nature dispenses tough love on occasion and many Connecticut residents had it tough this week recovering from Hurricane Irene. People discovered that camping in the living room is fun but only for a little while. In my CT News Junkie op-ed, I write about the lessons learned from Irene.
Read the entire piece at CT News Junkie. Here are some highlights:
In the hours after the storm passed through the state, many residents emerged from their homes to find roads closed by downed trees, tangled power lines, and rising water. Some communities waited (and some are still waiting) for local authorities to address the problems caused by Irene. Yet in conversations since the storm, it is striking how many people tell similar stories about the neighborhood armies that spontaneously formed to begin the cleanup process.
Armed with chain saws and wheelbarrows, men and women of all ages assembled to cut away the trees that blocked roadways and rescue people from rushing waters and storm-damaged houses. In the days that followed, this sense of community took on other unusual forms like space in a freezer or pool water repurposed for the toilet. At a time when a majority of the state’s political figures assert that independent groups of people cannot do big things without centralized planning and a politicized bureaucratic process, many neighborhoods proved they can.
Irene was a reminder that communities can still work together to take on big challenges and the sense of common purpose is alive and well in Connecticut’s neighborhoods. Governments and corporations would be wise to learn that lesson about the society they serve.
The whole article is available at CT News Junkie.
