EDITORIAL: Heroes rush in, despite high water
So at last we have good reason to be thankful for drought-like conditions this summer, including 100-degree temperatures that baked the very ground beneath us.
In the end, that may have been what saved us when the showers finally came and the waters rose in the wake of Tropical Storm Hermine this week. A very dry Mother Earth literally soaked up the rainfall in our area.
Politicians are running loose, scoping out damage and vowing help. Gov. Rick Perry declared 40 counties across the state disaster areas, which is the first step to speeding up assistance from state agencies and the federal government he has made war with the past few years. That’s all right. This is one area where state and federal agencies should work together in earnest. We’ve certainly seen what can happen when they don’t.
But if any real heroes figure in all this, it’s among those rank-and-file folks — local law enforcement, firefighters, emergency relief workers and utility crews — who rush in to save property and lives, restore power and steer us around troubled waters.
Our friends in Temple, for instance, had their hands full with neighborhoods battling high water, yet still sent a rescue team to help with evacuations in the hard-hit Belton area nearby. So did Fort Hood, which dispatched a swift water boat. Whitney was another crisis area with at least 17 people requiring rescue from their homes. The Waco-based Heart of Texas chapter of the American Red Cross was particularly busy there.
In McLennan County, we were lucky. But our history proves we know the devastation that can arise from such storms. Happily, we’re also no strangers to the small but critical acts of heroism that characterize and distinguish this stretch of Texas.
RELATED SEARCHES
MORE IN EDITORIALS »
Magazine
New issue!
- Check out June's issue
- Summer swimwear, great teachers, El Conquistador & more
- Link: View the magazine as a virtual flipbook
In My Opinion
Most Read
Buddy Skeen's legal issues loom over McLennan County tax assessor election
Woman stabbed multiple times in downtown Waco
Mike Copeland: Eateries come, go in Waco
Conn's and Freebirds nearing Waco openings
Sheriff candidate Plemons had day in court over debt
Home sellers cautioned to hide medicines
Man doubts ruling, calling brother's death homicide
Buy, sell & more
Waco marketplace
- Boocoo auctions: Sell your stuff!
- WacoTribCars.com
- Jobs: Waco listings
- Real estate: Waco listings
- Buy & sell merchandise
- Classified ads for Waco
