It's not the first time, folks

As most of you know, I am from Chehalis (or as I like to call it, Shithalis), a very small hick town in Washington. It is halfway between Portland and Seattle, and has the worst excuse for an outlet mall ever. That is what they are known for. Or was, until they whole United States learned who they were due to their major flooding issues.

Honestly, I feel bad for them. My father and friends still live in the area. Luckily, none of them were affected. I look at the pictures and news footage and see places I used to eat and shop at, or places where friends and family live, and I feel terrible. Those are places from my youth that are being destroyed.

BUT.... this happens all the time. Year after year. It hasn't gotten to this extreme a level since 1996, but it still happens every year. And everyone is surprised. It is in a valley. A valley. Got that. Meaning, lowlands between mountains and hills. Lowlands. Low. Land. It is in Washington, termed The Green State for a reason. It rains. All. The. Fucking. Time. To me, that has P-R-O-B-L-E-M written all over it.

In 1996, they said the issue was Wal-Mart. When they built Wal-Mart that year, they were smart enough to build it up. Smart for them. Stupid for the other businesses and people who lived around it. So when it flooded like a mother effer there, Wal-Mart was safer than most, but K-Mart, the airport, and I-5 became a giant swimming pool. I lived in Chehalis, but worked in Centralia and there was not 1 road I could take to get to work. Just 10 minutes away. Because landslides and water were in my way.

This time around, Wal-Mart got hit by the water, too. Sucks for them. I hate Wal-Mart anyway. They ruined many businesses in that town. Chehalis is small, and many local stores closed due to Wal-Mart. So I don't shop there. That and the fact they are so over-crowded you can't even get through an aisle without running someone over. And I swear, the minute parents get in their with their kids, they just let them run fucking wild because I was ALWAYS seeing kids going crazy, knocking stuff over and yanking shit off shelves, while the parents just stood there. Crazy. I would beat my kids if they behaved that way. I would. I'm not a huge spanker, but their asses would hurt for a week if they pulled that shit.

Anyway, back to the subject at hand. Flooding. As I was saying, the nation is SHOCKED at what is happening. I am not. Nor should any retard that lives there. They keep rebuilding, the next year, shit gets ruined again. They rebuild, it gets ruined again. The cycle is endless.

This isn't meant to make light of what is happening in Lewis County. This time around, it is a huge disaster that is affecting people and parts of the town it has never affected before. My friend, Melissa, owns a rental house there, and it has 6 feet of water in it. I feel bad for her. But I'm not at all surprised it has a river running through it. Chehalis and Centralia, actually most of Lewis County, is a very low income county. They just don't have the money to rebuild year after year. It took forever to get back on it's feet after 1996. And now they have to do it all over again.

And I know that the government says they will help, but the government has no money (cough cough War in Iraq cough cough) to give to those in need because of their wasteful spending (cough, George Bush sucks shriveled rotten balls cough cough). And insurance companies are vicious douchebags that will look for any reason not to pay their customers. I lived there, I saw what people were trying to get accomplished and heard the horror stories of the runaround they people were getting from their insurance companies. And I don't even know how anyone was able to get flood insurance after 1996. Because you have to have an inspector come and assess your property to see if you are at risk for flooding before they would give you flood insurance. Duh, it flooded before it will flood again. Guaran-damn-teed. Can you say denied?

My suggestion. Leave. Leave with whatever you were able to salvage and start over somewhere that doesn't flood. Do something. But don't rebuild your house and fill it with memories and new furniture, because it will happen again. And it will be worse. Next time, instead of losing your Precious Moments collection it will be your life.

I am praying for all of those that were affected by this horrible flood and storm. I wish you a better life and a quick recovery. I'm also praying you have the sense to figure something else out before it happens again.