Pinochet said:
dubi said:
I saw people calling out Operation Airdrop on Facebook for taking credit for activities performed by other groups.
They should honestly just send them away if they are simply attention seeking.
I get angrier and angrier about this group. They told everyone they "were activated" like they are some sort of TTF1-adjacent org and then they started paying private pilots for their round trip flights from Addison to Burnet and back (illegal) and encouraged others to start public gofundme campaigns for gas money for their own flights (also illegal) to get supplies to Burnet, where they would truck them the rest of the way once they got a donated trailer. Not only did they arguably operate an illegal airline with illegal pilots for little to no benefit, they spent more of other well meaning individuals' money on transportation costs than the actual supplies. It's not like the roads are washed out to get supplies into the mountains like in North Carolina. These idiots just wanted an excuse to fly their airplanes and pretend to be sky gods in a public fashion.
I just got word from someone actually involved in county level response in Kerrville, and he said they have no problem with supplies right now. The Home Depot and the Walmart is still there. They don't need a truckload of bleach and Gatorade and mops. They need people out of the way so actual first responders can do their jobs. They need guys in steel toes with training, not overweight old guys who think they can get a picture for Facebook of themselves cutting someone's drywall out. I understand wanting to be helpful, but these jackwagons who take advantage of others' generosity just to make themselves feel important are disgusting.
I partially agree. I dont want to turn away help from neighbors, locals and fellow Texans, generally speaking. Im a big fan of community involvement in repairing our shared neighborhoods.
I'll never forget when I took a load of supplies to Katy during Harvey. It was about 2 weeks post storm and I was delivering 4 pallets of goods from one church to another for distribution. I was driving about 4 in the morning and was getting passed by many vans and suvs full of people i assume were headed in to help in recovery. It was such an awesome moment to see the response and all the fat men and women in their way to help.
Im also part of a professional response organization. I understand the absolutely necessity the authorities need to keep a clear disaster zone and to work through official channels, star requests, etc. They need to get to the proper place in their work before volunteers are allowed to swarm the area.
I share with you the absolute disgust the way some non profit organizations attack the disasters. Its little better than ambulance chasers in my opinion. Many of the groups need tragedy in order to operate and that doesn't sit well with me.
The real need isnt right now. As you referenced, the supplies and volunteers are too much. The real need will be in a month, 6 months and a year from now, when all the abundant help is gone and families are more or less left to fend for themselves.
