Chernobyl, Ohio

That may be a bit of an exaggeration right now, but so far, it appears, we don’t have all the answers as to how much damage was done by the train wreck in East Palestine, Ohio, that spilled a particularly nasty chemical called vinyl chloride. Thousands of fish and numerous animals have died in that area. Government officials have tried to convince residents that they can drink their water and live safely in their homes, but quite a few still smell something in the air and water and are complaining about various ailments, like skin rashes and bronchitis, and some are worried about the long-term effects on their health.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was blamed for not visiting East Palestine soon enough and was beaten to the punch by Donald Trump, who was handing water bottles with his name on them out to beleaguered residents (no paper towel rolls, though). The Democrats blamed Trump for relaxing rules governing railroads while he was president. Whistleblowers blamed the Norfolk Southern railroad for overloading its cars. Environmental crusader Erin Brockovich blamed everyone for not taking the residents’ worries seriously. Will the area have to be declared an uninhabitable wasteland, and residents relocated and paid for their lost houses? We don’t know yet. That might fall to Norfolk Southern.

In the early stages of a disaster, it's less about why these things happen and the demographics of those affected than it is about how we respond, because accidents are going to happen once in a while, no matter what regulations or penalties for noncompliance are in place. It’s amazing how much DOESN’T happen, considering all the toxic stuff that travels on rail cars or in freeway tanker trucks daily without our even knowing about it. Do we really WANT to know? Dangerous materials that are necessary to make ordinary bits of our modern life work are whizzing by us all the time.

The first priority after such accidents is not determining who’s at fault or who has possession of the political football. It’s about responding to the emergency, listening to the people in the area and believing them, without trying to minimize anything to make them feel better. In the end, people CAN handle the truth.

In radio news, I had a saying: If you give people what they really need when they need it, they will never forget you for it – and if you fail to do that, they will never forgive you for it.