Donnie Douglas
                                Contributing columnist

Donnie Douglas

Contributing columnist

HIS VIEW

I was at Ocean Isle Beach last weekend, living my best life, which these days includes golf with good friends, great eating, a few beers or perhaps a few too many, while checking two more golf courses off my never-played list, River’s Edge and The Thistle.

Both, by the way, are great venues.

My only concerns were the shank, which has become my miss, the outcome of the UNC-Dook football game, and the selfish worry that Helene would slide eastward enough to wash out a weekend with fraternity brothers that I had looked forward to for months.

Someone recently quipped that my entire life was now a “golf trip,” which is not true, but I am gaining on it.

I shanked it just once, UNC, predictably, not only lost but tortured me in the process, and Helene spared us, gifting blue skies, mild temperatures, and a half-club wind to keep the gnats away. Now, however, I wish that bitch had taken a different route and spread the pain more evenly.

When I broke from my bubble on Monday morning, it was only then that I began to realize the catastrophe that was emerging in Western North Carolina, causing suffering that I do not think is comprehensible for those of us who ducked it.

The worst, I fear, has yet to be calculated.

Many are dead, many more are missing, lives and entire communities have been washed away by flash flooding, the infrastructure devastated, and as I write this, there is an untold number of people dazed and confused, alone in the dark of the wilderness praying for rescue.

Our community suffered mightily from the wrath of Matthew in 2016 and Florence in 2018, but my belief is you could stack those on top of each other and they would not reach the rung of devastation wrought by Helene, which is not limited to Western North Carolina.

Having lived through that double punch, we in Robeson County know that as soon as the skies cleared following Florence and Matthew, help could be seen on the horizon, having been dispatched on all levels. It is now time for us to reciprocate.

It is an election year, so politics has once again distorted the view, and on this I suggest you do not depend on social media for your news. It is a lie that FEMA will only provide $750 in relief to victims. No, that was not Trump knee-deep in the floodwaters. And the little girl sobbing and clutching the puppy? Thankfully, it is AI generated – but the suffering it depicts is real.

Be smarter, folks, the truth is out there if you care to find it.

It is fair to say that the response has been scattered and incoherent, but I choose to believe that is because of the enormity of the challenge, not because our elected leaders are frozen by the way those suffering darken a ballot. I hope I never reach that level of cynicism.

As I am writing this, I am getting updates, most positive, about people I know who are now being marked safe from Helene, although their new life will for a long time be unlike the one of just a week or so ago.

There does seem to be growing momentum in the relief effort, with heartwarming story upon heartwarming story of private people and businesses enlisting. Today’s message, as disjointed as the recovery, is for you to do what you can. Write a check, donate toiletries, and if you are able, possess the skills and the time is right, head west and sweat it out.

The very kindness that we received following Matthew and Florence, we are now summoned to extend.

Reach Donnie Douglas by email at ddouglas521@hotmail.com.