Editorial

If you can, keep giving to the storm recovery

Posted

If you speak with Hurricane Sandy victims, many will say that a decisive moment came in the recovery effort: the moment when the rest of the world returned to normal while they were left fighting to rebuild. It was a lonely moment.
After any catastrophe, people unaffected by the disaster must eventually move on. As harsh as it might sound, life goes on. As a nation, however, we can’t simply carry on without a thought for our brothers and sisters who remain in such dire straits in Texas and Florida.
On Long Island, Sandy — which was downgraded to a tropical storm before it made landfall here — ripped apart our communities in unprecedented ways. Take that devastation and multiply it twofold, threefold — who knows how many times — and you have the level of destruction that we are seeing down south and west.
To one degree or another, we are all experiencing storm fatigue at this point, even though Harvey and Irma hit only in recent weeks. So many Long Islanders have been glued to News 12 and the Weather Channel, worried about their loved ones and friends in the storm zones and frightened that one of the mighty storms churning in the Atlantic Ocean might strike here. At the same time, our hearts go out to the hundreds of thousands of Harvey and Irma victims, so many of whom have been left homeless.
Many Long Islanders have already given so much, donating money and supplies to aid organizations, even holding their own fundraisers. We must continue these efforts. And if you haven’t already given to the cause, please consider doing so. Harvey and Irma victims need our help. More than that, knowing that others give a damn will be critical to their psychological recovery.

We understand the hard times that the victims will face in the weeks and months, even years, ahead. So many of us have been there ourselves. Here are websites to continue giving, if you can:
• The American Red Cross, www.redcross.org.
• The Salvation Army, www.salvationarmyusa.org.
• Catholic Charities, www.catholiccharitiesusa.org.