All is water
By Morgan Murrah
As I write this tens of thousands are evacuated from areas of my surrounding area of Whatcom and Skagit Counties due to historic flooding. The sun came out today, but the rain is apparently due to return, and I do not know how many have been able to return to their homes.
If you want to see coverage, you can find it in a local newspaper the Cascadia Daily News that has made their coverage of the flooding free. Ron Judd has a particularly good capturing writing of the waters.
Mostly it poses questions not just of physical safety, or material safety of goods and livestock and homes, but of the soul.
As of writing this, it appears that the evacuations were strongly successful and impactful in avoiding loss of life. Although, the hardship will contribute to lost years and significant time and effort that cannot be easily quantified. For now, I am glad that so many are safe.
The peculiar natural threat
On this planet there are disasters of Wind, Fire and Earth. And definitely Water also.
Water constituted (ὑπεστήσατο, ‘stood under’) the principle of all things. - Diogenes Laërtius, speaking of Thales teachings
I watched out my window for days as the rains continued… but I was warm, dry, comfy, at a perch above a hill.
It got me thinking, of the difficulty and the needs of the community for weeks to come.
I live urban in a rural county
Whatcom County is significantly rural. It has a small urban city, where I live, that seems relatively less affected than those in other areas such as Sumas.
It is my goal and desire to be connected to this wider community, and to help where I can.
What am I doing?
I am staying off the roads generally speaking. I am donating a little money to the local Bellingham Food Bank. Trying not to cause anything that would add any burden to any service. For right now, helping is looking after myself.
For the long term, I advocate for strong preventative measures and resilient design of the county to continue to strengthen their services.