Lessons from a near miss
By Danny Watson, City of Darlington Police Chief
I sit here pecking away on a keyboard early in the morning. When I gaze out of my window I see leaves scattered upon the ground by the chaos of the wind or the hand of God depending on what you believe. I can close my eyes for a few moments and remember vividly the destruction that was brought to our small corner of the world by Hurricane Matthew. Instead of a few leaves and some small branches here or there trees lay upon the ground.
As we went door-to-door, either in the blue uniform of the police department or the blue uniform of a city fire fighter, we were met with looks of bewilderment and shock of what had just passed. Trees, signs and the roofs of homes lay scattered about like a child’s toys on the living room floor after a Christmas morning. Only a day before a tree that has stood the test of time for more than a hundred years now has crushed a residence that a person has called home for half that long.
When people asked, “Why did you come”, “Because you are here” was our reply. You did not call we just came to check to know for ourselves that you were ok. This was not an overly heroic act, just an act of compassion. A small gesture of good will and concern for the many that were affected by the storm is all that it was meant to be. It set a precedent of how we would face storms in the future. We would band together and work together to weather the storm.
As the new storm Irma approached that familiar feeling of angst and dread followed along with it. The path and direction of the storm was ever changing. The only true certainty being that it would bring destruction along with it and leave crushed broken things in its path. The difference in this storm and the past one is simple. Steel determination to see it through is what we learned from the past event.
The fact is in our city and our county we have remembered the lessons of the last storm. You can never be too prepared and reaching out to people lets them know that they are never alone. I don’t now, nor will I ever, wish a hurricane on anyone else but I thankful it didn’t come here. If someday one does again come through our little corner of the world, although I hope it doesn’t, I take comfort in the fact our people continue to show that we are in this together. The many of those in this country that were not so lucky I encourage all of you to remember in your thoughts and prayers. There is little we can’t survive if we work together.
Chief Danny Watson MPA FBI NA # 228, Chief of Police for City of Darlington, has been on the Darlington Police Department since 1994 and Chief since 2011.You can keep up with the department on their Facebook page: Darlington Police Department.
