I was fortunate. Hawthorne as a neighborhood did not bear the brunt of the tornado that touched down, and neither my place of residence, my car, or my self was damaged by the storm. I received calls from other neighbors affected, and got in my car to check out the EcoVillage before seeing if I could reach anyone in need. It's been stated already, but let me repeat: many of the roads in NoMi are impassable. Please, do NOT drive around or come here to gawk at the damage. It's tempting, I know. As a blogger or citizen journalist or whatever you want to call me, I have that itch to go around and collect as many photos, videos, and stories as I can.
But I tried to get to one person's house to help, and couldn't make it closer than a few blocks - by car at least. And dropping another friend off at home was an adventure in and of itself. Not in a good way, either. Already Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and other sites are exploding with video and photos. But really the best thing folks can do is to keep the streets clear, especially of vehicular traffic, so that emergency and repair vehicles have easier access. Call 911 if there are emergencies. Call 311 to report downed trees or other non-emergency situations. And if you really want to help out, Urban Homeworks is organizing a volunteer clean-up tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m. People are meeting at 1823 Emerson Ave N.
For whatever it's worth, if people need my help for anything, don't hesitate to ask.
time changed to 10 a.m.
ReplyDeleteLast night we were out rubbernecking with everybody else, until it became clear there was nowhere to go, as the streets are all blocked. If you need to get in there, you'd best go by bicycle. OTOH there are still downed power lines that carry 16,000 volt feeds. Stay away from power lines.
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