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As Hurricane Ida pounded the Louisiana coast Sunday, I had mixed feelings of stark sadness for our neighbors and profound relief that it wasn’t us.

I felt and still feel guilty for the latter. I experienced something close to joy watching that cone turn away from Southeast Texas. In polite conversation, I will say I was relieved because our community cannot afford another disastrous blow from Mother Nature, but deep down, it is really my selfishness that drives the relief.

Don’t get me wrong; I am happy my friends and family do not have to go through it either.

Survivor’s guilt occurs when someone or a group of people feel that something wrong has happened because they survived something that others didn’t.

This often occurs on battlefields and is common when individuals are able to make it out of poverty to extreme wealth.

It could have easily been us and has been us many times before and will be us again. That fact is why the image of the Longhorn hugging the alligator is so prominent. Sometimes it feels as though only these two states and Florida catch the brunt every time.

This time, 16 years to the day that Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, the area is dealing with the destruction of Hurricane Ida, which was a Category 4 when it made landfall. The storm had sustained winds of 145 mph, and the many videos of buildings being torn apart as the debris flew into flooded streets provide only a glimpse into what people will be dealing with in the coming days, weeks, months and years.

The shattered power grid will leave much of the state without power for weeks.

The strain on the medical industry alone is sure to have a devastating and long-lasting impact. Many people are going into shelters in close proximity in the middle of a spike of COVID-19.

Not that there should be any one particular reason to be kind to anyone, but for those who might find it more difficult, please keep in mind that we likely have displaced people and families that might not be able to go back home or have a home to go back to.

On top of all of the other stresses going on in the world right now, they are dealing with one more thing.

Not to mention, we are just getting into the heat of hurricane season for our area. The end of August through at least the beginning of October seems to be our most active time.

The same way we seesaw back and forth taking the full blow of hurricanes and tropical storms, we also take turns helping each other out.

It is now our turn to donate money, food and supplies where we see fit and offer any other form of help any way we can.

 

Chris Moore is the sports editor for Port Arthur Newsmedia. He can be reached at chris.moore@panews.com.