Minot, ND, flooding

Instapundit has an interesting story on the flooding in Minot, ND, with a political twist.

The only silver lining to this disaster has been the response of the community. I am not from this part of the country (I hail from the East Coast) and nowhere that I have lived has ever faced this kind of adversity. But I would be proud to call this town my home. I have not seen one person whine or complain. I have not heard one hopeless person ask when the government or FEMA would rescue them. The town mobilized itself days ahead of the impending disaster and began planning for the worst; secondary levees and sandbag walls went up with breathtaking speed, and thousands of homes were evacuated without incident. Think of it as the anti-Katrina. Once the townspeople saw that their worst fears were about to be realized, and their homes and livelihoods destroyed, instead of giving up, they have only redoubled their efforts to save what can be saved. Their stoic determination in the face of absolute catastrophe amazes me.
I think liberals view conservatives and libertarians as some sort of Randian caricature: every man for himself, all government is evil, etc. But this, to me, is closer to the truth. Not a community that shuns the government, but a community that is willing to fight for itself rather than wait for the federal government to show up with a checkbook. It will probably take years, but I have no doubt that this place will rebuild itself.

See this AP story.