Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We still have time to mess this up!

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

Republicans do not pay their debts.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

Happy indictment week to all who celebrate!

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

After roe, women are no longer free.

I really should read my own blog.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

He really is that stupid.

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Report from Beckley, WV

Report from Beckley, WV

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We arrived in Beckley, WV (see here for why) Thursday night. On Friday, we delivered our donations to the United Way; then filled up with another vanful and convoyed north with another van to Summersville, WV, closer to the main flood area. There was a BIG donation center there in a strip mall.

wv floods 1Then we continued on our trip east through the mountains to Roanoke, VA, and onto Davison (NC) (where I’m writing from). It was on that drive that we saw some of the flood damage: many dozens of miles of homes with their ruined possessions piled outside. (See pic.) It seemed endless and surreal, and I’m sure things were even worse off on the side roads that we didn’t see.

We also saw lots of roads with the lee side washed out, lots of electrical lines down, etc.

It wasn’t all bleak. The people we met in Beckley and Summersville were GREAT, and wow, they really had their act together. Everything was super well organized, and there were tons of volunteers an

at Beckley UW

d a constant stream of people showing up with donations. (I’m the one holding the sign, btw; my partner, the Car Tetris champ, is

on my right. Go Hornets!)

Also, I had never been to West Virginia before and the terrain (the drive through the mountains) was outstanding.

Finally, we spent part of the time following these guys:
nasa robot truck

 

 

 

 

 

It’s a Mars crawler, and they (and we, behind them) crawled on those twisty mountain roads for ages, but being an astro fan girl I didn’t mind! (See also: NASA Robotics Alliance Project.)

More to report from our trip shortly. Hope you’re all having a great holiday weekend!

If you want to donate cash to WV, I believe the link in John’s post still works or here’s one to the Beckley United Way. If you’re local and want to deliver stuff, they seem to most need baby supplies, pet supplies, cleaning supplies, electric fans (to help dry things), and those big plastic storage tubs (like Rubbermaid) so people can protect their dry stuff.

Reader Interactions

25Comments

  2. 2.

    Hillary Rettig

    Thanks! Sorry for the poor photo formatting; I don’t have time to do better. i can hang around for just a few minutes this morning but then will have to split.

  5. 5.

    Betty Cracker

    Good work, and thanks for updating us. It’s so easy to lose faith in humanity due to all the hatred, violence and meanness in the world. But then people like you show up to help strangers in need, demonstrating that there is beauty and kindness too.

  6. 6.

    Hillary Rettig

    thank you all! just to remind everyone, I got the original inspiration from John’s postings, and JR in WV offered valuable advice before we set off.

  9. 9.

    laura

    Direct action, hand to hand caring matters! Good for the giver as well as the getter. Good on ya!

  10. 10.

    Denali

    Good work Hillary; we’ve been through Summerville many times on the way south; did not realize the flooding impacted tht area.

  11. 11.

    Baud

    I wish all you people would stop making me look bad, or I’ll have to find a more misanthropic blog to hang out at.

    Three cheers for Hillary!

  13. 13.

    Cat48

    Well done, Hillary Rettig. Did you see if FEMA workers were there? Or Did they say FEMA had taken applications for aid? Just curious.

  16. 16.

    Hillary Rettig

    @Cat48: It sounded like they were expecting FEMA and the military to show up in the next week or so. I was surprised it would take so long but perhaps the system is that local operations show up immediately while FEMA and the military get their bigger operations organized. Maybe someone here has more info on how that works.

  17. 17.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    Great job Hillary! You’re an inspiration. Thanks for the report.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  22. 22.

    J R in WV

    Both FEMA and the National Guard are already in place, video of Guards shoveling mud and carrying wet furniture to the trash piles on TV every night. FEMA taking applications for aid at offices scattered around the area.

    Thanks for your effort Hillary, that was a good thing to do!

    On your way home, you should stop at Tamarack in Beckley, it’s the arts and crafts place in this half of the country.

  24. 24.

    RealityBites

    Wish I had known you were in Roanoke. I would have liked to meet you and say thanks in person.

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