If we say that monsters [people who do terrible evil] are beyond forgiving, we give them a power they should never have. … They are given the power to keep their evil alive in the hearts of those who suffered most. We give them power to condemn their victims to live forever with the hurting memory of their painful pasts. We give the monsters the last word.
— Lewis B. Smedes
Marco Rubio Voted Against Hurricane Relief? That’s terrible, if true.
When Hurricane Ian slammed into the southwest Florida coast last month, those who did not evacuate faced conditions so dangerous that rescues were sometimes impossible.
Fearsome storm surge and torrential rain made it the state’s deadliest storm in generations.
Ian caused more deaths in Florida — at least 114 — than any hurricane in almost 90 years.
Most of the victims were older adults. Two-thirds of them were 60 or older, and 30 were past their 80th birthdays.
In some Florida counties, medical examiners added four suicides, a homicide, car crashes and several heart attacks to the state’s official hurricane death toll, determining that circumstances caused by the storm contributed to the deaths.
Did you evacuate? People ask and no. There is one shelter – a grade school – that accepts pets, for starters. Next door neighbors went once couple years ago – “never again.”
Just spent next year’s income putting on a new roof, guaranteed to withstand winds up to 160 miles per hour. Have this image of that new expensive roof just hovering over the vacant space recently occupied by an old tin box.
At least there’ll be some shade.
A 72-year-old man in Port Charlotte died after his kayak capsized in a canal. He was searching for items lost in the flood.
A 54-year-old man in Fort Myers Beach became stuck in a window and drowned as floodwaters overtook his house.
A 64-year-old woman near Naples drowned in her home after deciding not to evacuate.
An 87-year-old man in Lee County who had health problems fell and struck his head twice. He did not seek care because of the storm and eventually died after falling asleep.
An 89-year-old man in Lee County died after his oxygen machine stopped working because of a power outage and generator failure.
An 82-year-old man in Lee County evacuated to safer ground but died because he left his prescription medications at home.
A 72-year-old man in Hendry County complained of shortness of breath, but paramedics could not reach him because of the storm. He was later found unresponsive outside his home.
A 75-year-old man in Lee County with cardiac disease collapsed. Emergency responders were unable to come immediately.
A 70-year-old woman in Lee County was found in floodwaters up to her chest and taken to the hospital hours later. She had a urinary tract infection, as well as other conditions, and later died. The medical response was delayed by the storm.
A 73-year-old man in Lee County shot and killed himself after seeing property damage from the hurricane.
A 22-year-old woman in Manatee County died when she crashed her all-terrain vehicle after the road had been washed out.
A 29-year-old man in Hendry County was shot dead by another person after an argument. The victim was a contractor who had been sent to the area to help with relief efforts.
A 38-year-old man died in Lake County, in the middle of the state, when his vehicle hydroplaned and crashed.
An 85-year-old man in Putnam County, in northeast Florida, fell off a ladder and died while putting a tarp on his roof.
A 75-year-old man in Orange County, in the Orlando area, was trimming branches that were damaged in the storm when he fell off a ladder and died.
A 63-year-old woman in Collier County slipped and fell in a puddle while evacuating her home. Within an hour, she was unresponsive.
A 91-year-old woman in Collier County fell while evacuating, fracturing a bone. She died two weeks later after receiving hospice care.
A 72-year-old man in Volusia County was draining water from his pool into a canal as the storm was bearing down. He was found dead in the canal.
Source: The New York Times
Marco Rubio Voted Against Hurricane Relief? Like Tucker Carlson, I am just asking the question.
Rubio vows to oppose potential Hurricane Ian aid package if lawmakers ‘load it up with stuff that’s unrelated to the storm’
Actual October 3rd headline on CNN. Your trusted news source.
Truth no longer matters to a sizable percentage of prominent folks and death still calls too early for many of the unknown.