Nebraska was the 37th state to join this great country back in 1867 and is found smack dab in the middle of our great country. Our ancestors were homesteaders who made their homes out of nothing. They built their houses with their own hands. They built up their farmlands and cattle ranches with backbreaking hard work and the sweat of their brow. They did not expect handouts or free rides. If a neighbor was in trouble, a community banded together to help them, just because it was the right thing to do. They raised their families to work hard, love God and respect others.
The hashtag #NebraskaStrong went viral after widespread flooding hit Nebraska the early part of March 2019. Nebraska is fortunate to not have too many natural disasters to contend with. Some light flooding in certain rivers, tornadoes, heavy snow in some parts and even the occasional light earthquake. But in March all of that changed.
With the heavy amounts of water rushing to our rivers from melted snow and a very rainy period, each and every river in Nebraska began to fill and then overflow. Levies broke, dams were completely devastated. Many farmers and ranchers that lived miles away from large bodies of water found themselves battling floods with sandbags. Many, many familes had very little notice to evacuate their homes and livlihoods because it simply wasn’t safe for them to remain. Livestock were let free in hopes they would find their way to higher ground. Homes, businesses and even towns were completely leveled by the high levels of rushing water.
Within hours, churches and schools were opening their doors to the displaced families. Cries went out over social media to gather any supplies necessary to help these families. Towns like Fremont and Waterloo became islands overnight with no way in or out. In Waterloo, an Omaha pizza shop sent in pizza on his airboat, and the Christian Church became both shelter and food kitchen for everyone in town. Locals pitched in food and eggs so they could make meals for the families who were shut in. In Fremont, the Army Corp of Engineers and city officials eventuall dug a way into Fremont so 18 semi trucks of food and supplies could make their way in. Many, many, many smaller towns and communities were without clean drinking water. Within days, most of these communities were completely stocked up on water thanks to donations from fellow Nebraskans who were eager to help.
Much of this happened before FEMA even showed up. And most of this happened without any mention of our state’s disaster being on national media.
I won’t spend any time on government assistance in times of disaster or response time. I’m just giving you a bit of the time line. Before any outsider was even here, Nebraskans stood up in the gap to help. There were search and rescue missions within 24 hours of the flooding. There were people with boats helping to rescue stranded families. One brave hero lost his life during the process of helping rescue people. Nebraskans opened their homes, checkbooks, pantries and closets to anyone needing help. You could find at least 10 threads on Facebook about where to give and get assistance from those of us in the state wanting to help.
Were there scammers? Sure. There are rotten people who try to benefit from disasters such as these. But I haven’t heard of many. And the 2 cases I heard of were so broadly broadcast on TV and social media that the jackels trying to profit off of others misfortune are pretty much persona non grata in the great state of NE. A lady from Fremont was interviewed when a road was finally opened to Fremont. She was asked if there was any looting going on in town. She responded that the only looting that happened was people looting their own pantries to help each other out.
THAT, friends, is #NebraskaStrong. It is a deep-seeded way of thinking. It is the “never say never” attitude of our hard working citizens. It is noticeable in the way we raise our families, in the way we work hard at our jobs and in hte way we support our neighbors.
There’s not a 12 step progrm to learn #NebraskaStrong. There isn’t a book you can read, a website you can look, a diet you can attempt or a subject you learn in school that can help you figure out #NebraskaStrong. You just are. Not clear enough? I tried to think of all the traits that made up #NebraskaStrong, just to give some reference to those not blessed enough to be from this state :-).
- Loyal – #NebraskaStrong is loyal to friends, neighbors, family and even perfect styrangers.
- Hard working – If you find a person who is lazy, they are not #NebraskaStrong. The desire to keep working until the job is done is in our very blood. Blame our pioneer ancestors!
- Kind – Doesn’t mean we don’t have our bad days. Kindness is what happens when your neighbor has a need that you can meet. So you do. Because its the right thing to do.
- Independent – Again, blame our ancestors. We weren’t begging the government for help or finding someone to blame. We dug in and started helping ourselves.
- Industrial – We will find a way to overcome any difficulty. We may get discouraged. We may get overwhelmed. But we will figure out how to get to the end of the problem.
