Hurricane empathy

The Sept. 17 cartoon depicting a rescue in the Carolinas where the person rescued is called a moron — to use the cartoonist’s words — is just another example of this world having no empathy.

Instead of always finding the negative, why not use it as a learning opportunity? Do we ever hear why these people don’t leave? Maybe they have nowhere to go, no family. Maybe they don’t own a car, or maybe they are too infirm to get themselves out of the house. Maybe they have no money for a place to stay. Maybe the family members couldn’t persuade the senior in the family to leave so they all had to stay.

In previous storms, people didn’t want to leave their animals behind — I wouldn’t either — and so they didn’t leave. It wasn’t until animal welfare groups stepped in to find a solution to people with pets during emergencies that anyone cared or realized that this might be a very good reason for not leaving your home.

Did anyone come around before the storm and offer to take some people to shelters? Do you know if your neighbor could get out of his or her house in a flood emergency? Maybe we should all take a look around and figure out how, before a storm, we can help each other. And I suggest that the PG not fall into the gutter with Donald Trump and lump everyone into the same category and resort to name calling. MARI L. MURPHY East Carnegie