Emerald Greene Parsons
Last week, Hurricane Irma brought wrath and destruction everywhere she went; some places got it worse than others. Madison County fared pretty well in comparison to other parts of the state of Florida.
As a county, we saw downed power lines, downed trees, a few trees on houses, and a lot of debris left lying in our yards. But we saw no major injuries, no major flooding, and no deaths. For all of that, we should be thankful!
We should be forever grateful for all the “behind the scenes” emergency personnel our county employs - the Emergency Management staff, Sheriff’s Office, Police Department, EMS, Firefighters, City and County employees, and volunteers. These men and women worked hours/days of overtime to ensure all of our safety. Hours upon hours of strategic planning took place, all unbeknownst to most of us.
The majority of us lost electrical power during Hurricane Irma; many of us for several days and a few of us for almost a week. As inconvenient as that was, please always try to remember that it was not/is not as inconvenient as working as much as a 15-hour day, climbing a pole, and doing dangerous work for seven days straight! And many of our electrical workers came from out-of-state and were/are away from their families for weeks at a time! All of these men and women deserve a huge “Thank You!” instead of hostility and bitterness because of one’s power still being off.
So, I end this column this week with a big thank you to God for keeping all of my family and friends safe during this storm. I also give a huge “shout-out” to the men and women of Madison County who gave of themselves unselfishly in order to keep my family and friends safe and to restore our electricity back in due time!
"Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV)