Who's responsible?

I watched the news tonight, and felt bad for the many people in the northwest suburbs who were hit hard by this past weekend's storm. Many of their basements took on water, and their loss, in some cases, were pretty substantial. But I also listened to them ask for help in a town meeting; wondering when assistance would come from FEMA or the government to help them repair their homes. It made me wonder, who's responsible?

How have we gotten here, that when tragedy happens, as it often does, that we don't know how to help each other and ourselves anymore; instead, we look for a bailout. I know that may sound harsh, but I don't know what else to call it. Since when is it the governments responsibility to financially help us when our homes are hit by flood, tornado, hail, or other tragedy strikes? How have we gotten here?

I remember growing up, and if a flood would hit like this in our neighborhood, we would all come together to help each other out, and we would make repairs as we had the money to make them. I thought that was the normal way of doing things. When has it become anyone's responsibility, besides mine and our insurance company, to make the necessary repairs to anything damaged, least of all the government?

This all just seems rather odd to me. It's like we don't know how to take care of ourselves anymore. Does this strike anyone else as odd? I'm just saying.