It takes a village and a variety of tasks

Some of the recurring statements I've been hearing this week as clean up starts from the flooding are
"I wish I could do more"
"I feel bad because I am not available to do much"
"I'm not strong enough to do heavy lifting"
"I don't know where to start"
"What can I do to help"
"When can I help"
"Where can I help."

A town crisis and recovery is not all about the hefting, shoveling, muscle bound things.
The "elephant" has many parts -
preparing and/or delivering food
baby-sitting for others
creative communications when the regular is not available
organizing work parties
hugging people
holding hands
letting people cry
cracking appropriate jokes to alleviate tension
having a listening and non-judgmental ear
cooperating with authorities in charge
preparing stacks for trash pick-up
doing laundry for others
opening up your home to house people
watching traffic patterns
slowing your life down i.e. having and exerting patience
taking in other families pets
finding out about and making donations as needed
helping devastated individuals make lists to organize their thoughts for their daily activities
a lot of children do not grasp what is happening or are taking it in their stride don't stress them out.

One of the girls visiting our house yesterday said matter of factly "We are going to grandma's. There's a hole in our living room floor, it's ridiculous" :) (Their house is getting wrapped).

Live your lives as normally as you can. Your assistance might be needed further down the road. It takes time for all the dust to settle so to speak. I overheard someone saying "we learned a lot from Hurricane Katrina it's helping us here."

The school bus drivers are going to be checking routes this week-end.