1983 flooding was a state emergency. This time? Not so much CO Gov. Gary Herbert didn't tell Weber County to "go ahead and drown" on his Tuesday visit to the area's flooding rivers, but a cynical person could view his comments that way. I'm often accused of being cynical. I was reminded of when New York City asked President Gerald Ford for help in 1975 because the city faced a financial tsunami. Ford said no, and told New York to cut spending. This prompted the New York Post to banner the headline: "Ford to City: Drop Dead." The headline was neither accurate nor fair, but it caught the feelings of New Yorkers nicely. What Herbert told Weber residents Tuesday was that while the state was behind them, "Nobody cares for their own backyard like the people who own their own backyard." He reminded the owners of those backyards, some already ankle-deep, that, "We've been asking people for over a month, 'If you don't have flood insurance, get it.'" That's how you comfort someone with wet feet: Remind them you told Charles Trentelman Wasatch Rambler them to buy galoshes. Does this mean Gov. Herbert is leaving Weber to its own devices? No. The man is not cruel, Utah is full of good people and reality eventually demands action. Two months after telling New York "no," President Ford did approve federal aid for the city. Some say his initial stand shocked New York into cleaning up its act, but Ford's apparent heartlessness made him lose New York State, and thus the presidency, to Jimmy Carter in 1976. I suspect that, while preparing Tuesday's remarks, Gov. Herbert sipped some of the tea going around that says too many people expect government to take care of them and my tax money shouldn't be used to pay for other people's needs. If I felt that way, I would say that since my home in Ogden sits on high ground, flooding in the county is no concern of mine. "Don't use equipment my Ogden taxes bought to bail out those swamp-dwelling slobs in Marriott- Slaterville," I might say. I don't say that. I fully hope and expect my city's equipment, employees and residents to help the fine people of Marriott-Slaterville, Plain City and anywhere else, just as they surely would help me. If my taxes go up to help my neighbors, fine. Gov. Herbert could take a lesson from President Obama, who carefully dispatched Federal Emergency Management Agency officials with emergency aid before he visited flooded and tornado- ravaged areas of the Midwest last week. People in those areas are doing all they can, but no single city, county or state can bear the price Mom Nature exacts. People in Utah's Washington County are independent and self-sufficient but they, too, seem happy to have millions in FEMA aid to repair flood damage done last December. Can Weber, or Davis, or any other county, go it alone? Weber anticipates $90 million in flood impacts and figures to spend $22 million on road, levee and runoff work. The entire 2011 county budget is $100 million. Herbert said flooding is a local problem, but it's not. What hurts my neighbor hurts me and my state. The Legislature used to know this. In the July 1983 runoff that body, led by Republicans, was already talking about raising taxes for grants and flood relief. What does the state offer this time around? So far, it has a website (www. bereadyutah.gov) and a governor who reminds us that he told us to buy flood insurance. The flood's here, dude. I hope your website can fill sandbags. Wasatch Rambler is the opinion of Charles Trentelman. You can call him at 801-625-4232 or e-mail ctrentelman@standard.net. He also blogs at www.standard.net. no r\3 o