Navigating Natural Disasters: Insights on Droughts, Wildfires, and Empathy with Expert Ash Davis

Natural disasters are increasingly reshaping lives across the United States, and we've got Ash Davis, a seasoned expert and chief coach from New Jersey, to shed light on this pressing issue. From wildfires in California to hurricanes in Florida, and now even droughts in unexpected places like North Central New Jersey, Ash shares his firsthand experiences and paints a stark picture of life under drought advisories. As lawns turn brown and water conservation becomes a state mandate, he discusses the surprising yet serious threat of wildfires creeping into areas not typically associated with such incidents, like Northwest New Jersey and New York City.

Imagine New York City shrouded in an orange haze, reminiscent of past Canadian wildfires—Ash recounts this eerie phenomenon and its implications, including health advisories and the cancellation of everyday activities like youth sports. The conversation highlights how these natural disasters impact vulnerable populations, particularly seniors. We discuss the importance of awareness and empathy, particularly for those involved in sales, urging listeners to stay informed about these disasters to foster understanding and compassion in their interactions. Join us for this important discussion that emphasizes preparedness and understanding in these challenging times.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:02

So you know we're talking about how natural disasters and other disasters for that matter happen all over the country these days, whether it's the fires in California, the tornadoes that have gone on in the Midwest recently this is all in the last month the hurricanes in Florida and also in Western North Carolina and a lot of the cell recently here in the last month or so We've also got Ash Davis, who is our amazing chief coach in New Jersey, on the line. So tell us about your area, because I keep seeing it in the national news, ash.

Speaker 2: 0:40

Yeah, we've been under a drought advisory for probably 60 days now. We have a foreign exchange student that lives with us. He came back I think September 2nd and he just said to me the other day I don't think it's rained since I've been back. We had one slight overnight rain that did nothing. So we're under fire restrictions no outdoor fires and we just went under, um, uh, mandatory water conservation, so no non-essential water use at all anywhere in the state of New Jersey and I'm in North Central New Jersey, our zip code 07924.

Speaker 2: 1:18

And, um, yeah, it's. You know, you, you, you go around and you see everybody's yard is completely brown, the leaves are coming down and you have all those leaves and extra twigs and things on the ground and we've had wildfires. New York's had a couple of really serious wildfires Northwest New Jersey. It's very rural and almost mountainous, very similar to where you are, roe, in Asheville, and we've had some wildfires up there as well. So it's dangerous and you don't, like you said earlier, you hear about the hurricanes, you hear about the wildfires. You don't when you think about drought, you don't really think about the impact, but it's very impactful.

Speaker 1: 1:53

It really is, isn't it? So it's not being nervous about the fires happening, it's that you do have fires happening, have you seen? I mean, obviously it's happening.

Speaker 2: 2:02

I'm not suggesting there's some, no yeah, yeah, there's actually none near us, but we're about 25 miles from New York City. It takes about an hour to get in more southwest of New York City, but in the northern part of the state there have been some wildfires in lower, uh, new york state and new york city. A few weeks ago I think it might have been a week ago they were under a health advisory for outdoor air quality because the smoke was kind of getting over toward new york city. So it's, uh, it's definitely there.

Speaker 1: 2:34

It's definitely a problem I've seen that before as well, a couple of years ago. I'm trying to think what, what um event it was, and it was quite a ways away, but the, the smoke was actually coming across western north carolina and it was so bad, it looked like fog, it was incredible.

Speaker 2: 2:51

So two years ago in our area two years ago, there were those canadian wildfires and it was so bad that it literally looked like everybody joked it was a nuclear holocaust. It was. It was, um, the new york city was orange. If you looked into the city from one of the vantage points where you could see the city the whole, it was just covered in an orange film it was. It was quite scary actually. And they canceled youth sports. I was coaching baseball at the time. All of our games got canceled because they didn't want kids outside playing and playing baseball in this. So, um, if it gets bad, it can be really bad it's particularly hard for our seniors as well.

Speaker 1: 3:31

So, yeah, they always say you know anybody that's impaired in health in any way, obviously, but also for our seniors. They don't want them outside or or around in anything like that. That's happening. There's some pretty famous stories recently of seniors being rescued from the senior living facilities. I think that was on the west coast of Florida there. So, yeah, pretty amazing how these things are going on.

Speaker 1: 3:54

And we were just talking offline about how important so many of us are in sales or know our family members are in sales and how important it is to just have a little bit of knowledge about what's going on around the country and just be a decent human being.

Speaker 1: 4:09

You know, and check in with your friends in california, check in with your friends in florida, check in with your friends in the northeast and it keeps going definitely western north carolina as well, because all these things are happening and if you're in sales, make sure you've got a protocol of what your company does in anything like this happening.

Speaker 1: 4:22

And one of the most simple things you can do is look at the are happening and if you're in sales, make sure you've got a protocol of what your company does in anything like this happening and one of the most simple things you can do is look at the area code. You know you may be on the phone with people a lot. Make sure you know what those area codes are in those areas Because, as somebody who's been on the receiving end of it recently in Western North Carolina people calling to me to sell to me that have no clue about what's just happened here it feels awful. So make sure you know those area codes if you're in any kind of sales and just be a nice human being and reach out to your friends.