Bob Collins
Driving across Indiana has always been the most boring part of our drives to and from the East Coast. But not today.
Every few minutes, from the Ohio line to South Bend, convoys of utility trucks and tree crews — two people to a truck — were heading toward hurricane country. The various news agencies said there were 50 such crews on their way to help the East Coast recover from Hurricane Irene, but I counted about 100 such vehicles this morning, and more are supposed to head to the area tomorrow (I realize this isn’t a great picture, but it’s Indiana).
Some of these people are heading to Virginia; others are going up to New England.
The view out the window gave me a chance to think about the nature of disasters — even apparently overblown ones like this hurricane (it’s a Category 2; I walked to work once in Boston in a category 2). Yes, these people are being paid, but they’re going into a potentially dangerous situation, and someone was smart enough to send them there because there’s a fair chance nameless people in another part of the country will need electricity and a quick recovery.
Where hurricanes are concerned, that’s not exactly been our forte in recent years. But as a Midwesterner, I felt pretty proud that we’re still a people who pitch in when someone needs a hand.
