[Goodpasture]

Waiting for the OU game to start and a special (thankfully brief) video tribute to the people of Moore was aired. The courage, the perseverance, the will to overcome by the people of Moore was highlighted.

Don't get me wrong. The people of Moore suffered great losses. The strength and courage they have shown while dealing with adversity is something to be proud of.

But seriously. What else would they do? Run hiding to Texas? Abandon their property and their schools and their churches and friends? I don't recall any Okie holding their head and crying "oh woe is me." The day after the tornado hit, people were in tears over their losses. Then they dried their eyes and started rebuilding. They grieved (and many are still grieving), but they sucked it up and are now doing their grieving in private. And although people are helping, I don't recall ANY Okie going in to help that told everyone here how great it was that they were helping. People just pitch in. I see this on job sites all the time......a guy picks up something big and heavy and someone else simply grabs one end.....no big deal is made of it. It's just what we do in these parts. I've seen guys driving down the road stop their car and get out to help a farmer get his cows in off the road. No thanks was expected, no one makes a show out of being helpful, no one pities the guy needing help.......we just pitch in.

I think that is what annoyed me most about that little clip. It makes a big deal over the fact that Moore is rebuilding. But that's what we do. When the wheat crop was blown into the trees along the creek during the dust bowl days, our grandfathers replanted. When tornadoes hit a town we rebuild. When wildfires devastate an area we fight them, then rebuild. When lunatics blow up a building, we rebuild. That's what we do.

Don't pity the people of Moore......or Shawnee or El Reno or any other town hit by a tornado or any of the towns that have suffered from floods and or wildfires. We deal with adversity by looking it in the eye, picking ourselves up, and start rebuilding. That's what we do.

[okie1962]

I totally agree. Another thing that I find kind of strange is how our local and sometimes national media makes it look like pitching in and helping out is just an Oklahoma thing. We have had disasters from the very beginning. People aways pitch in and help, and in almost all cases they rebuild. San Francisco, Chicago and New Orleans have all seen bigger disasters and they have all rebuilt. And it's not just an American thing, look at how fast Germany rebuilt after the war.

[teakboat]

New Orleans and Haiti seemed incapable of rebuilding with or without outside assistance. New Orleans had a 30% decrease in population in the last decade. I don't think we can call that rebuilding. What they did manage to do was export their indolent population to other lucky cities, such as Houston.

[RememberMee]

Originally Posted by teakboat

New Orleans and Haiti seemed incapable of rebuilding with or without outside assistance. New Orleans had a 30% decrease in population in the last decade. I don't think we can call that rebuilding. What they did manage to do was export their indolent population to other lucky cities, such as Houston.

Driving 48 states I would say that >50% of rural (and Rustbelt) towns and cities can't rebuilt to their 1920s days of glory. And Oklahoma has a fair share of those.

[okie1962]

Originally Posted by teakboat

New Orleans and Haiti seemed incapable of rebuilding with or without outside assistance. New Orleans had a 30% decrease in population in the last decade. I don't think we can call that rebuilding. What they did manage to do was export their indolent population to other lucky cities, such as Houston.

OKC metro area saw nothing like the destruction of New Orleans and Haiti. I think I read somewhere around 90% of the homes in New Orleans were flooded. New Orleans is coming back, their populations is climbing.

Haiti is one of the poorest nations in the world, they can barely feed themselves on a good day little on rebuild most of their country after a devastating earthquake.

From what I saw on the news, Oklahoma got a lot of help from all over the nation after this spring's tornado outbreak. I think we got a lot of federal help too.

[Goodpasture]

Originally Posted by RememberMee

Driving 48 states I would say that >50% of rural (and Rustbelt) towns and cities can't rebuilt to their 1920s days of glory. And Oklahoma has a fair share of those.

Oklahoma (as do most states) have old towns every 10 to 15 miles. With highways between them that handle 75 mph, that is simply way too many towns. when I was a kid, driving from Owasso to Tulsa was a 45 minute trip in my grandfathers old ford. today it takes about 5 minutes.why would you want to rebuild to the glory days of the 20's?

[#1soonerfan]

I'm not sure I agree with this.

I am close friends to 3 people who had their homes destroyed or rendered unlivable by the tornado and trust me, the last thing they want is pity. And I doubt most people who helped in the days after are looking for some sort of recognition. But I do think things like this are nice just to let people know "hey we haven't forgotten about you." I don't see anything wrong with that.

There are a lot of people still struggling in private. Wrangling with insurance companies, having to deal with hassles in getting contractors, recovering from medical injuries, etc. So its not like everything is just peachy. There is still a need for people to help, and small things like the video are a simple reminder of this. Pulling yourself up by the bootstraps is an admirable trait, but folks here would rather careen into bankruptcy or be on the streets than ask for some small help here or there, of which millions of people donated money for.

I mean, look at it this way. You sat through a small video that probably won't air again. Were you that bothered by it?

[linicx]

No one in DC or NOLA was prepared for the destruction of a hurricane the size and strength of the evil twins that hit New Orleans. The levies broke. No one should die waiting for water or help, but they did. Walmart was on the ground with 80' rigs filled with water and supplies before FEMA or anyone from DC bothered to show up. When the water finally receded NOLA was faced with thousands of residents with nothing -- no food, shelter or clothing. Emergecny personal lost families. The mayor and city services were overwhelmed. The US milliard came into help and manage looters while they were being targeted by snipers.

The last time I saw NOLA was in 2006. It was a ghost town, yet the weary residents were pleasant and helpful. NY and NJ were much better prepared for Sandy, but they were still overwhelmed with the destruction. Who would dream NY subways would be flooded? This time it was different. FEMA was on the ground quickly, and so was the president. To this day some houses still don't have phones. The phone company refuses to rebuild or help. Their solution is to get cable and voip phones.

NOLA is nothing like OKC which was horrible at best.

[Howest2008]

Originally Posted by teakboat

New Orleans and Haiti seemed incapable of rebuilding with or without outside assistance. New Orleans had a 30% decrease in population in the last decade. I don't think we can call that rebuilding. What they did manage to do was export their indolent population to other lucky cities, such as Houston.

New Orleans And Haiti Events were some of the worst in recorded history.

New Orleans is a city that the majority of it's infrastructure is built below Sea Level the Federal Government is crazy to rebuild everything that was destroyed in the city of New Orleans " it doesn't make any sense to do so " but New Orleans is a recovered city.

Haiti is stronger now than before the Earthquake it's doesn't matter if Loving People from around the world came in and rolled up their's sleeves to give a helping hand to one of planet earth poorest nations " while other stood by and made pot shots at it "Haiti is doing just find compared to the past.