Heading East to West. Part II

I left my last post off at the emotional part.  When preparing the donations for this trip, I never took into account that I needed prepare myself, my soul, or my heart.  If you missed part 1 you can click here to read it.

We had to drop the big yellow truck off at Home Depot in Bellmead, TX  That's where the Penske Truck Rental location was in that area.  To get from Hillsboro, TX to Bellmead, TX we were forced to drive through West, TX.  As we got closer we could see the news choppers hovering overhead.  There were road closures.  There were cops everywhere.  I saw a few different vehicles with trailers full of bottled water and other goods driving passed.  It seemed as if that day we were all on that highway for the same reason.  To find a way to help.

It wasn't until we actually pulled into Home Depot that it actually hit me.  I looked up and I saw their American Flag at half mast.  If you are American, and you see the flag in that position, your heart begins to break.  It is in that position as an honor and a memorial for those that have passed away.  It is heartbreaking to see the flag that way.

I snapped this picture at the Home Depot off of I-35 in Bellmead, TX.  It's heartbreaking to look at but nice to see these brave heroes being honored!

When we started to pull out of the parking lot and leave we decided to stop in West.  One of our friends had a relative from there that she hadn't heard from in a while.  She wasn't even sure he was still living and working there but she asked if we would check around if we went through there.

As we got off of the interstate at the only exit they were allowing folks to come in and out at, it was a little chaotic.  Police officers were placed at every single road that could possibly lead you to the blast site.  They had concrete barricades where they lacked manpower.  They were doing an amazing job protecting the people of West, as well as protecting their privacy as they gathered their personal effects.

Cop Blocked

We drove around a little trying to find out where the command center was, or at least a place where we could find someone to talk to about our friends family member.  Most business downtown had been closed due to there being no running water in a better part of the little town.  As we drove we witnessed a lot of homes with the windows blown out.  

You can see some boards on the bottom left 2 windows.

Boards on the left of this home as well. 

You can tell the direction in which the blast came from.  All of the homes with boards on the windows only had them on the side that faced the direction of the fertilizer plant.  Even city hall felt it! As you can see in the picture below.

Boards had to be placed on the top left side.  

It was hard seeing this and trying to imagine what must have been going through these folk's heads when this happened.  Many people said they actually felt it before they heard it.  I can't imagine having my world rocked like that!  

We finally decided that we just needed to stop and ask someone where this place was located.  We were having no luck finding it.  Luckily, like stated before, there were cops at every corner.  We ended up coining the term "Getting Cop Blocked".  Seemed like everywhere we tried to go, there was a cop.  This time it was a welcomed "cop block".  We needed directions and there was a very handsome cop there to provide them! 

So, Chelsey volunteered to go ask the directions. He was very kind, and very helpful.  

 As it turned out, we weren't to far from where we needed to be.  We were just down the road from the community center.  That is where everything was set up!!  

More flags at half mast :(

There was a lot going on here.  There were a couple of tv crews set up, H.E.B. was there handing water out, there were people grilling, there were blood drives, and donation stations, and there was even a charging station set up outside the doors courtesy of Samsung.

We were greeted at the door by a fireman.  He asked what we were there for.  We explained to him that we were looking for someone.  He promptly led us to the command center.  It was one very long desk with about 10 women.  They ranged from teens to middle aged.  All volunteering.  All lacking sleep.  You could see the exhaustion on their faces, and the sadness in their eyes.  Through all of it, they still smiled at us and were ready to help us the minute we walked in.  I don't know how long they had been there, or how much time they had between shifts.  Many people don't realize the emotional toll it takes to man the phone lines after a disaster.  You aren't always answering simple questions.  It isn't always as simple as telling people where they can donate food, or advising which restaurants have running water.  These questions are from people who have lost everything, including a loved one.  In some cases, love ONES.  Yes, there were brothers fighting that blaze.  There are people who had to flee without their medications, people on respirators who have no electricity to run them, people trying to locate a family member that lived in the apartments or nursing home just 800 ft from the explosion.  I can't imagine the fear in the voices on the other end.  I don't want to imagine the sobbing, and I definitely wouldn't want to be the person on the other end without the answers they are looking for.  These women took on a job that can break you down and hurt your heart.  They volunteered their time even though they are going through similar situations.  These women are first in line to deal with everything.  Every call comes to them.  I was hurting for them as I heard a lady call upset because her nephew was out of insulin and she had no way of getting him any.  She didn't know what to do.  I was also there when someone prank called.  Not only was there 1 prank call in the short time I was there but there were TWO!!!  Then there was the person who called, and the women didn't have the answers this person wanted.  That person proceeded to call the woman a "fat bitch" and threaten to call the news crews to inform them of how incompetent the city was during this.  INCOMPETENT??  These women were trying.  They were doing their best and giving their all.  They don't need to be treated like this.  They need some compassion, some love, a thank you, some encouragement, and probably some counseling later.  They need to be commended for their efforts.  For stepping up for taking calls and helping to the best of their ability.  For doing what others couldn't or weren't willing to do.  One of the phone calls received while I was there had to do with locations of those lost in the explosion.  You could see their hearts were hurting as they were taking in the information.  These people were far from incompetent.  They were special, their generosity was heart warming, their compassion was unlike anything I've seen. I'm sad that I heard some things that I don't care to repeat because hearing some of the stories broke my heart.  

For lacking the ability to plan for a disaster they were still highly organized.  

After chatting with these nice, hardworking women, we thanked them for their efforts and were on our way.  As we were heading out of town we noticed a press conference was being set up at city hall.  We decided to stick around and see what was going on.  The town, and officials were doing a great job of keeping an open line of communication with it's citizens.  They were allowing everyone at the press conference not just the press.  

This particular conference was an update on number.  How many were missing and the dead.  The conference came to a pretty abrupt halt when the questions became over the top and consisted of baseless and down right disgusting accusations!  

When the conference ended these reporters refused to accept that no more questions would be answered.  They were angered over silly stuff.  One was mad that they weren't sure about the EXACT number of missing, that's a hard total to get in such a short amount of time.  However, reporters these days will do anything to stir up drama.  What really set me off though, was one certain reporter.  I didn't catch his name, as he was from one of the NBC channels and I'm not fond of their reporting anyway.  He just would not take "no more questions" for an answer and he followed the man that held the press conference around.  You know, because reporters want all the answers but don't want to give the people trying to get the answers the time to actually do it.  Anyway, this man asked why he wasn't allowed to go into the blast site.  He wanted to know why nobody could go in and see it.  The Mayor pro tem explained to him that they weren't allowing anyone back there.  It was hazardous and there was an investigation going on.  He explained that when they felt it was safe and the people who lived there had a chance to get in and rummage through the rubble to salvage any personal effects they could find, that it would be opened up to everyone else.  

WELL, that just wasn't good enough for this "man".  He came back by saying "Well, if you won't let us in to see it and get pictures, as far as I, and everyone else is concerned, no disaster ever took place here."

That made me tummy hurt.  My friends and I wanted to punch him.  Had there not been a million cops in that town I'm sure someone would have decked him.  How dare he make a statement like that!  People are hurting, they are trying to find a way to cope, and plan, and figure out what their future entails.  Do people like this "man" not get that??  Do they not understand that this is a town of about 2900 people??  This is a huge economical crisis for them!  This plant employed a better part of the town.  It was people's livelihoods. This is how people fed their families, and put roofs over their heads.  It's gone.  Uncertainty is all they have in it's place.  Oh and if they lived anywhere near the disaster site, their home is probably gone too.  Also, with that possibly being their main source of income, they may no longer have the means to pay for their home, let alone rebuild.  There are 14 dead, there are 200 injured and this "reporter" has the audacity to make a statement like that, and in the state of Texas nonetheless!!  I wanted to hug the Mayor pro tem.  I wanted to shake his hand.  I wanted to commend him on the strength he showed.  Instead I left him be.  He was sad.  He didn't need a hug, or a pat on the back.  This poor man needed a do over, a miracle, or maybe just an eraser.  

After witnessing first hand the hell these folks have gone through, I can't get it out of my head.  I can't stop seeing the look of concern on the young girls face who took the phone call about the child who was without insulin.  The young girl was nervous. She took off to find a doctor to help.  I can't get the pain in the eyes of the woman who was called a "fat bitch".  The look of frustration on the face of the woman who got the prank calls, and the look of helplessness on the young lady who got yelled at and was threatened with calls to the news.  

If you ever go through a disaster in your community please be patient with those volunteering their time. Show love and compassion because the emotional toll it takes to take on the responsibility of fielding calls is hard and painful.  Show some compassion for one another.  Show some love, show some gratitude.  Remember, they are volunteers.  They are spending countless hours trying to help you.  Be grateful, not selfish.  Be hope, not hate.  

Thank you to everyone out there that volunteers their time to help others!!  You are amazing human beings!

West, you will stay in our hearts always.

I was able to snap a picture of this make shift memorial placed outside of city hall.
It is just simple and beautiful enough to touch my heart. 

And of course the pic I snapped outside of the fire station.  This was such a beautiful and honorable memorial.