Worrying about friends in the flood

Leave it to a crackpot climate-change denier to cheapen the worry and the grief of those of us who are sickened by the loss of life in the Central Texas floods.

One such moron has called the floods a hoax, a product of cloud-seeding. She said the climate change argument doesn't hold up, calling the events of the past few days all part of some government plot to lay blame at the feet of industries that everyone with half a brain understands knows are responsible for the dramatic change in Earth's climate.

We're seeing it play out in real time in places like Kerrville, Comfort and New Braunfels, Texas.

Just so you know, I have friends and former colleagues who live in the flood zone. I cannot accont for all of them. Last I heard, the death count has surpassed 70 people, including at least 21 children.

I checked in on my brother-in-law, who lives on the outskirts of the flood zone and was glad to hear he is safe from the ravaging floodwater.

None of this is about me and my particular worries. It is about the Texans struggling to stay alive in the wake of Mother Nature's relentless wrath. This level of flooding doesn't occur usually in this part of the world. However, here it is in the present time.

Money and other forms of relief are pouring into the region. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has kicked in a half-million bucks to provide aid to the stricken residents. Others are chipping in, too.

Everyone else -- at least those of us with a heart -- are left to worry and pray for the safety of those affected by the deluge that has befallen them.

May these good folks find the strength to carry on once the water recedes.