Post-Irma Day Two The New Normal

I’d love to say that things are getting back to normal, but they’re not and may never be “normal” again.  Lots of work left to do. Some parts of Central Florida are still without power, sewers, or water, or both. I have a bad case of survivor’s guilt because my house has its power and water and sewer, as does my mother’s house. She is elderly and has a hard time handling the heat, but she doesn’t have to for now. That’s the plus side for us and for many like us here.

On the negative side, I’m living in Mom’s house because her caregivers can’t come-they have problems with power and roof damage that require their attention.  Cleanup of branches and leaves continues here, but I don’t have to worry about standing water, which so many Floridians do, or extensive water damage. Rain amounts were underestimated-they predicted 10-12 inches, but many areas got as much as 21 inches, which is half a year’s rain occurring at the end of our normal rainy season. Water on top of water.  So many lakes and rivers are flooding, and some places which didn’t see water during the storm are all-of-sudden waking up to it coming in from somewhere.

We still have people here in Orange County living in shelters because they can’t come home. Traffic lights are out in many places and this just encourages the world’s most crazy drivers to drive more crazily, and their accidents make the local news along with news of the disaster.

We have so many helpers out there helping people. Our local fire departments and police are working long hours, and many of them haven’t had time to take care of their own homes because of their service. People are working in the shelters to help those staying there, many with special needs. Crews are clearing downed trees from roads, a guy is next door right now working to replace my neighbor’s windshield which was smashed by Irma.  Neighbors are helping neighbors. They are restoring the balance in this part of Florida.

More distantly from us, at the margins of our state-the keys, the barrier islands, the seaside towns suffered much more damage to their infrastructure and will need major reconstruction. People there will be without power for weeks. Some of the ports are blocked with sunken boats and debris that have to be removed first before other boats and ships can return. Many Floridians who evacuated are driving home to find total devastation and little resources to deal with it.

I believe that in a few weeks, we’ll have two Floridas-a restored Florida getting back to work and back to business, and a deeply damaged Florida that won’t yet be restored and may never be the same. This storm is one of the benchmarks that people around here will talk about for years-Before Irma and After Irma-the way they talk about Katrina in Louisiana.

We must not forget that a bill for all of these services-locally and nationally-will at some point be due. The overtime must be paid for, the damage must be paid for, and the rebuilding must be paid for.

We are not hurt badly here in the first Florida, we are mostly inconvenienced.  Still, people are dying here. Stepping on power lines, dying in their sleep of carbon monoxide poisoning from their generators, seniors suffering heat stroke in unairconditioned nursing homes. The aftermath of a storm like Irma, as massive and powerful as it was, lies in the breaking or bending of our social and economic structures that the storm creates in its wake. People still fall between the cracks of our community even as many others are being lifted up and supported in a time of need. For now, that’s the new normal.