Today's Topics
Hurricane Helene Recovery
Longshoremen Strike
Potential Amazon Strike looming?
War in Middle East
Other News
Todays Prayer
Abortion
Lee W. Brainard @soothkeep
Isa 2:17 And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.
Beth Trigg on FB (Shared by James Spann)
I am not even close to being able to tell the story of the last 5 days in Swannanoa.
What I will say to people who are not in the hardest hit areas of WNC is that there are still huge gaps in communication and many of the worst things that happened have probably not been reported or even understood yet. People are sharing first hand accounts in person or by text that make it clear to me that there are still many, many fatalities that have not yet been discovered or confirmed.
I have personally spoken to people who have dug living and dead people out of a mudslide, seen their neighbors swept away by water, and seen bodies that haven't been able to be recovered. We have heard stories from Montreat, Grovemont, Beacon Village, Botany Woods - these areas are miles apart from each other and each place really different from the others. A child told me he saw three houses slide down a slope into his neighborhood. Friends had to claw their way to safety with their 7 year old while their neighbors died in the river below them.
And that's only what we've managed to glean about places here in the Swannanoa Valley from communicating with people we know and are directly encountering. It looks like there are multiple other parts of the region horribly hard hit - Marshall, Chimney Rock ("there's nothing there"), Celo, maybe? Places they haven't yet reached in Transylvania County? Haywood? So many roads blown out and who knows what's on the other side. My sister and I each heard from nurse friends who have been working in different hospitals 50 miles apart that it is like a war zone.
As internet connections have returned we are seeing pictures of whole neighborhoods submerged, no doubt with residents in their homes. We don't even begin to know the full extent of this yet.
Western North Carolina is full of creeks, rivers, gulleys, and all manner of flowing water. Roads and neighborhoods are often called "___ Creek" - Haw Creek, Bent Creek, Garren Creek, Gap Creek to name a few in Buncombe County. Communities are often named after the river that flows through them like South Toe in Yancey or Tuckaseigee in Jackson County. We have hollers and steep coves. We have steep terrain and windy 2-lane or 1-lane roads.
Here many people live in trailers. Houses and trailers are often down at the end of a road or tucked in a cove or in a neighborhood along a creek or river or down at the bottom of a valley or on a slope. Towns were built along rivers and neighborhoods tucked in here and there as towns and communities grew. Realtors highlight "bold creek" in home listings as a selling point. Trailer parks are often near creeks or rivers and many houses and roads are near streams, creeks, and rivers.
Sometimes things flood here. Certainly we had our share of flood struggles during the 15 years I lived on a small farm in a river valley. But this event was nothing we would have ever thought possible.
Our neighborhood and the whole Swannanoa Valley is in the purple zone of this map, where the chance of getting this amount of rainfall in 48 hours was once in 1000 years. Which maybe just means no one's ever seen anything like that and there's no precedent in history. Streets, neighborhoods, places have been wiped off the map. People had no chance to escape.
Schools are closed indefinitely. People are not even close to being able to go to work. We are focused on: Food. Water. Medication. Transportation. Hygiene. Who is alive. Who is missing. Who is dead. I feel like we are very much still in triage and cleanup hasn't even really begun.
Please keep paying attention and drawing attention if you are not from here. This is going to be a long haul.
I am so profoundly grateful for community and the way people are showing up for each other here. How can we find a way through this unfathomable experience?
Just one of so many video's like this...
In all the hurt...a little bit of sunshine...
This is just sad...
Exactly....looters beware...
Hey Joe Sharts & Kam-allah-a ding-dong! This is an example of what you should be doing!!
James Hughes @nailbender1974 Twitter
Rescues still underway for the 1000s still missing, many still clinging to life. Lots of people still trapped from Hurricane Helene and need urgent help. Thanks to all the volunteers working around to clock to save lives!
Longshoremen Strike
ProudArmyBrat @leslibless
Head of the Longshoremen’s Association, 78 yr old Harold Daggert, brags about “crippling the U.S.” with his strike. He makes $900k a year, owns a 76’ yacht, and drives a Bentley. S @AC_5599
This is what American greed looks like. The average salary for a Longshoremen on the East Coast is $39 an hr. The Average in Long Beach is $43 an hr. They were offered 50% increase and they denied it. They are asking for 77% and will strike until they receive it. The amount of small businesses this is going to take out is going to be devastating.
T.M @ThatGuyM88
The Longshoremen's Strike: What It Could Mean for Our Economy The recent strike by tens of thousands of longshoremen at ports along the East Coast and Gulf of Mexico is a significant event with potentially serious implications for our economy. As these workers stand firm in their demands for fair wages and better working conditions, the effects of their walkout are already being felt, and the longer this situation persists, the scarier it becomes. Immediate Disruptions The strike has effectively shut down ports that handle over half of the United States’ cargo trade. We are seeing shipping containers piling up and ships idling outside harbors, creating a logjam in our supply chain. With daily economic losses projected to be in the hundreds of millions, this is more than just an inconvenience; it's a real threat to our economic stability. Long-Term Economic Consequences If the strike continues, we could see shortages of essential goods and rising prices hitting consumers hard. This isn't just about luxuries; it's about basic necessities. For example, ports are crucial for importing food items—75% of all bananas come through these ports. A prolonged strike could lead to perishable items going bad and empty shelves at grocery stores. Additionally, industries that rely on timely deliveries, like the auto industry, could be severely affected. Four of the nation’s five largest ports for receiving imported cars are currently shut down. The ripple effect of this disruption could lead to manufacturing delays, impacting everything from job availability to vehicle prices. Political Ramifications With just weeks until the election, the stakes are even higher. The Biden administration faces pressure to intervene, but so far, they've opted against using legal powers to force negotiations. However, the longer this strike goes on, the more pressure there will be on the White House to act—especially if we start seeing major disruptions in everyday life for consumers. What Can We Expect? Experts are divided on how long the supply chain can withstand this strike. Some believe that if it lasts less than a week, the system can manage; however, anything longer could escalate the crisis significantly. We need to keep a close eye on developments in this situation, as the economic repercussions will likely intensify, affecting businesses and consumers alike. This situation serves as a stark reminder of how interconnected our economy is and how labor disputes can have widespread consequences. Let's hope for a swift resolution to ensure our economy remains resilient and our shelves stay stocked.
Potential Amazon Strike looming?
Todays Prayer/Bible Verse Isaiah 43:18-19 Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert.
As we celebrate the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah or Yom Turah (Feast of Trumpets) tonight, we enter into a new season. Rosh Hashanah traditionally marks the Jewish New Year. "Shanah" is a unique Hebrew word meaning "to repeat, revise, or go over again." As we begin the new year, with fall, then winter, spring, and summer, we remember the cyclical pattern of time in God's creation. The nature of life is to repeat itself -- to continue in a cycle, marked by Rosh HaShannah -- a New Year. Although time is moving in a direction toward a definite destiny determined by the Creator, it does so in cycles ... truly, "what goes around comes around."
However, "Shanah" does not only mean "to repeat" -- but also "to change" ...
So, entering this new year, a fresh cycle, we may also grasp the opportunity to change, to do something radically new and different. New beginnings are a time for new choices, new experiences, new hopes, and dreams. Can we allow this season to inspire the desire for new experiences and initiatives in God? Can we choose to pray for, expect and act within the divine order of a new cycle ... break out of the "same old -- same old" and choose to believe in His power to do exceedingly abundantly more than we could ask or imagine? The new season beckons us to this...
If we believe that our Lord is really on top of things, if we believe that He can even redeem our mistakes, then we ought to be filled with expectation for change, great change in our lives, by His divine power to work in and through us. Entering this new season can inspire a choice in faith, to love and serve with greater devotion than ever, perhaps in ways we have only dreamt of. A new year is upon us. Let's choose change -- for He will "do a new thing." Courtesy of https://www.worthynews.com/
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