I am still here -- down on the farm

The national news coverage has shifted back to other storms (the political kind…) but the storm effects continue here.  We are, thankfully, high and dry, but many of our friends and near neighbors are flooded, and the waters continue to rise.  It is hard to fathom how much water came from the hurricane.  Never in 65 years has the creek on our farm flooded the road until now.  We are able to start cleaning up with power restored and a good supply of food, buckets, rakes, and chain saws.  Others have nothing left to clean and we grieve for them.  Two years ago, Hurricane Matthew forced many from their homes, and recovery was still happening even as Florence flooded them again. This is an area with a lot of poverty; many will have nowhere to go and no money to rebuild.  It will be years, not weeks or months, before things even approach normal.  And for some, normal is gone forever.