Guest Op-Ed: When Devastation Happens

Dr. Glenn Mollette 

Life changes all the time. Nothing is permanent. The only constant is change. 

Hurricane Ian proved again that life is unpredictable and so is the weather. One reminder from Hurricane Ian is that we can’t fight the weather and come out very well.  Category four hurricanes are certain to bring devastation and loss of life to what or who is in its path. 

Dozens of people in Florida lost their lives to Ian last week. Hundreds of millions of dollars of damage occurred. We can always hope that the weather will not be as bad as forecasted. We can always hope we will hold out, hang on, and survive but bad weather is a formidable foe. 

California fires, Midwest tornadoes, Appalachian flooding and now a gulf coast hurricane proves again that it’s best to get out of the way of mother nature. This often means hurrying to a place of safety depending on the threatening weather. 

Hindsight always sees better. It’s easy to say this is what people should have done. We hope that the bad weather won’t be as bad as forecasted. We hang on hoping we will be able to ride out the storm.

The best that we can do is try to stay ahead of dangerous weather if we can. Relocate, or put ourselves in as safe a place as possible is vital. 

Ft. Myer’s Beach has been dear for many years. My wife and I have visited there often. We have become very familiar with the very small island that is only about seven miles long. We know some of the people impacted and who are hurting. We can’t imagine how they will ever overcome last week’s horrific hurricane. Some will likely never reopen their businesses or even consider trying to rebuild. Some will try but the climb back to any semblance of normalcy will be long and hard. 

Overcoming devastation is never easy, sometimes impossible and at best takes a long time. Your devastation may not be a hurricane. Your devastation may not be weather related. We all must keep in mind that if we live life long enough, we will face some kind of devastation that hurts or even cripples us. Rendering prayer, kindness, emotional and financial support is being a good neighbor and treating others the way we hope to be treated when it happens to us. 

Glenn Mollette is the publisher of Newburgh Press, Liberty Torch and various other publishing imprints; a national columnist –  American Issues and Common Sense opinions, analysis, stories and features appear each week In over 500 newspapers, websites and blogs across the United States.