By Jeffra DeViney
Six months after two devastating hurricanes and through nearly a year of navigating a world-wide pandemic with Covid-19, our area has been in the wake of the most relenting winter weather that brought brutal record low, arctic temperatures along with snow, sleet, freezing rain, power and water outages that threatened the safety and health of citizens, bringing about severe road condition advisories, low/no water pressure, water boil advisories, downed power lines and more cancellations for schools, sporting events and more.
There were milk and bread shortages, interrupted mail delivery and even DeQuincy News was unable to print last week’s paper. Conditions made it unsafe to travel the roads.
In spite of the hardships, many people’s spirits were not deterred by the brutal cold; some families found a way to come together and enjoy the opportunity and build snowmen, sled, take in nature photography, and more activities to enjoy a wintery experience most of us will never forget in the frigid temperatures that reached 100 year records.
Through neighbors helping neighbors and families coming together to share resources, most endured the extreme hardships.
Once again, unsung heroes of our area, “the boots on the ground,” worked tirelessly to sustain water and electric utilities. As the saying goes… “It takes a village!”
We should all be reminded that many still need help. Be thoughtful, check on the elderly and less fortunate. The National Weather Service reminds us that it’s now less than 100 days until the next hurricane season. Proper planning does pay – get a game plan ahead of time.
