Neil Diamond has an unusual speech planned amid wildly popular renditions of America and Sweet Caroline. He wants to tell fans about Oak Island: the heaping, rotting piles of debris; the hundreds of homes washed away; and the people, some still sleeping in tents and cars, struggling to rebuild after Hurricane Ike decimated the area in September. Two weeks ago, after his concert in Houston, Diamond paid an incognito visit to the small, unincorporated hamlet in Trinity Bay and was shocked by the devastation. Ever since, he has given something of a stump speech about the former fishing village at each of his concerts. And, operating almost completely under the radar, he has promised to donate 100 percent of the gross merchandise sales at 20 concerts to assist in the rebuilding of the small community, which sits just a few miles south of Anahuac in Chambers County. If sales continue, proceeds could exceed $4 million by year's end.
I drove through Oak Island a few days ago when I had some time to kill between appointments, and I'm here to tell you that what Neil Diamond saw is every bit the truth. Granted, I didn't see Oak Island in the days after Hurricane Ike rolled through, but if if looked worse than it does now, it's difficult for me to imagine. By and large, Oak Island looks as if it's been forgotten...and it would be difficult to argue that point. FEMA didn't exactly come flying out of the blocks to assist the people of southeast Texas, and nowhere is the slow response more evident than Oak Island and surrounding communities.
The fact that Neil Diamond can see his way clear to donating what might turn out to be $4 million is significant, because it shows what a difference one person can make. $4 million might not do much in Houston, but in a place like Oak Island it can make a HUGE difference.
If any of y'all had seen Oak Island as Neil Diamond and I have, you'd understand just how far the residents have to come to get back to anything close to normal. These are not wealthy people under the best of circumstances. A setback such as this is no easy thing to bounce back from. They will, of course, because Oak Island is home, and hurricanes are an unfortunate fact of life there. Even so, most people live little more than a hand-to-mouth existence, so to be dealt a blow such as this is significant. The fact that FEMA hasn't exactly overextended themselves in their effort certainly isn't making things easier. Combine that with the reality that the media has long since moved on- the economy's in the toilet and there's a Presidential election on, don'tchaknow- and you should be able to forgive the residents of the Oak Island area for feeling as if they've been abandoned. For all intents and purposes, they have been...and they deserve better.
