Another Natural Disaster - Now what?

The wildfires ravaging Los Angeles are on the other side of the country, but they hit close to home. After experiencing the deep, wide, and ongoing impacts of Hurricane Helene, I now have a different reaction to natural disasters. There is an ache in my core that comes with knowing the news is reporting numbers and buildings, but the loss is felt in relationships and roots and in the reality that a lifetime’s worth of work and memories not to mention the feeling of security can be taken away overnight. 

It has felt surprisingly personal to watch and read the news coverage on the wildfires because like most in Western North Carolina, we did not – could not – follow the coverage on Helene. In the immediate aftermath of the storm our power was out, our grid was down, and we were not able to “doom scroll.” Looking back, having limited technology in the wake of the hurricane was in many ways a gift. But it has made watching the Los Angeles wildfires feel like we are reliving our disaster and coming to terms with what it looks and feels like for the entire country to watch your community suffer.

One marked difference in watching the tragedy in California unfold is that I no longer feel helpless. Before Helene, I approached the news of natural disasters with a sense of disbelief and disassociation, but I have since experienced… help. SO. MUCH. HELP. I have experienced all the countless ways that people have made a positive difference in our community and for our family and I feel more empowered and better equipped to engage in the recovery efforts. 

If you are looking for ways to support people impacted by the Los Angeles fires, here are a few suggestions from my recent experience:

Six ideas for helping after a Natural Disaster:

1. It all helps. When people first reached out about where or how to support our community, I didn’t know what to say because there was so much need surrounding us. The answer became “give anywhere and anything that you feel compelled to donate.” And that’s what happened, from twenty dollars to tens of thousands, from driving in water and fuel to helping rebuild houses, from supporting national emergency relief organizations to local churches… it all helped… it all mattered… and we needed it all. So don't fall into the trap of being so overwhelmed by the options - and the need - that you don't do anything.

2. Check in on your people. If you have friends or family in the impacted region, reach out. Let them know you are thinking about them or praying for them. Ask how you can help. Natural disasters can make those impacted feel extremely isolated. Offering an extended outreach and support network from contacts across the country can help folks feel connected and supported. But don’t expect a response. Oftentimes the immediate need is too great and the words aren’t there yet.

3. Give Directly. Yes, it all helps. And, it all matters. But if you want to make an immediate personal impact, then consider giving directly to the families and individuals most impacted by the storm. This fall we witnessed the direct and distributed donations that came into our community through venmo and gofundme and witnessed how much they helped to provide emergency housing and income to those in need. We observed how this immediate assistance, available before any government checks could be cut, helped keep families together and prevented individuals from having to move out of the area.

If you want to give directly but don’t know where or how to give, our hiking friend Shawnte - who lives in a heavily impacted area of L.A. - has compiled a list of individuals or families who are in need and accepting donations.

4. Offer up Housing. Not everyone has the capacity or ability to offer tangible space, but for those who have bedrooms, or a couch, or a patch of floor to share, it could make a huge difference. And while they may not take you up on it, just knowing that there are places to retreat for power or water or some feeling of normalcy after a disaster can be a boost. And if you live nearby but can’t host overnight, consider offering up spaces for evacuees to charge electronics, take a shower, or do laundry during the day.

5. Be Consistent and Persistent. If you have friends impacted by the fires, check in on them more than once. The effects of a natural disaster continue long after the news coverage, past the presence of national guard and additional first responders, and far beyond the first few months. Go ahead and set a reminder on your phone to reach out again and again and again. Some of the greatest gifts of encouragement that we have received since the hurricane have been in the recent emails, calls and texts from people who recognize that this is not a sprint but a long path to recovery.

6. Respond Locally. Watching the fires unfold in Los Angeles is that it offers a stark reminder of the need that remains in Western North Carolina. We have friends and neighbors who have lost their homes, businesses and communities and are still struggling. There are dire needs in every community and sometimes it takes the collective grief of a natural disaster on national news to call us to action in our local communities.

If you are within reach of L.A. and can volunteer to dig out, clean up, build and restore what was lost... that's amazing! But you don't have to live in SoCal to respond to the critical needs of those experiencing physical and emotional loss. National Disasters can call us into action to support the areas of greatest impact and to create stronger, healthier, most resilient communities across our entire interconnected ecosystem. 

Parting Words

One of my most consistent and persistent friends gifted me a book of prayers about six weeks after the hurricane. And at the time I was still teary and struggling to find words, Every Moment Holy, helped me find them and release tears when I needed to most. And now I offer up and offer out a small snippet for anyone who might be helped in Western North Carolina or Los Angeles or beyond. 

Selections from “A Liturgy for those who suffer loss from Fire, Storm, or Flood”

… we have suffered a hard loss, and one that we cannot endure alone. May we emerge in the months to come – even in our frailty – stronger than before, more deeply rooted in you, and more wrapped in the necessary arms of community. Give us humility to receive that which we need and cannot repay, when it is offered by others.

We thank you for the presence of friends who would share this burden of grief simply by showing up in the midst of it, and grieving with us...

Indeed, for anything spared and salvaged, we give you thanks. Let us see that even in disaster, this is grace still at work, for you know the limits of our hearts.

Be with us now as we sift and clean, as we slog merely to reclaim some fraction of that which we once took for granted.

Be with us as we navigate the countless details that must be tended and decisions that must be made between now and the time that we begin to feel normal again. 

Be with us as we slowly recover from the shock of sudden loss, enough to begin to imagine what the restoration of our home might mean, for to build again a thing that we know might be easily lost, must be an act of faith.

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*If you have other thoughts or resources for supporting individuals and communities who have experienced Natural Disasters, please leave them in the comments.