The sun came up after the storm. Katherine and her family began to assess the damage, but they were lucky. Their home was elevated and higher than the level of the water, but their neighbors were not as lucky.

Katherine watched the news coverage of areas up and down the coast where the surge was high. She watched first responders rescue people from homes that were submerged in water. She thought about the adults, children, and pets, as they rode in boats to safety looking dazed and confused. She talked to neighbors who were walking through their homes, overwhelmed by the damage.

As the day progressed, people began to remove things from their home and place it on the curb. Their furniture and memories were now ruined and trash. Lives were falling apart, and hope draining with the water.

Campers started appearing in driveways. Homes were no longer livable, but people had work to do. They began the process of recovery, removing the damaged things from their homes, and starting to think about repairs.

There was still no power, with no plan for power to be restored. With the level of the water, it was now dangerous to turn on the power as it could spark fires. Multiple homes in the neighborhood had burned during the storm because, with the water, there was no way for the fire department to get to the homes.

Generators hummed around the neighborhood, keeping some lights and other things running as people tried to recover. They worked to salvage what they could and threw the rest away.

Neighbors helped neighbors, as the vultures began to circle. People started to interview contractors for help, weeding out the ones just there to take money to find genuine contractors that would help put lives back together.

Anxiety was high and tempers had short fuses. The area was devastated with a wide range of power outages. Gas was limited, and many stores were closed. Hotels didn’t have power and were not accessible, forcing some great distances to find a safe place to be while they tried to decide what to do.

The communities impacted didn’t have power or ways to even do basic things like laundry or clean dishes. Even taking a shower was a luxury many didn’t have.

County resources struggled to develop a plan to restore power to the community. The utility company didn’t want to be liable related to possible damage to electrical systems from the flooding. Power restoration was delayed as they developed a plan to restore the power.

As positive things began to happen, news of another storm came on the news. There was another storm heading for the same area. As the power was restored, people were starting to prepare for the next storm.

With piles of debris as far as the eye could see, what would this storm bring? Would the wind be significant enough to pick up the debris? No one knew. It was a mystery, but everyone knew that it wasn’t good. They were just beginning to recover and were now forced to face another storm.

The next storm was different from the first. What would it bring? Would it bring more water? It was hard to predict. The community had to regroup, and just get to a safe place. They needed to evacuate, and this time, most people did.

There is more, come back next week for the next part of the story.