hello titus: The rains came down . . .

Monday, October 19

The rains came down . . .

You know how the song goes . . . And the floods came up. Two weeks ago, Columbia, SC was hit with one of the worst rain storms in it's history. It rained for days on end and we accumulated something like 21 inches in a matter of a couple days. Every lake and river was 20 feet past flood level and the city was flooding majorly in many parts. It was scary. We woke up morning to watch the news and see that the road just down the hill from us was literally 12 feet under water. Cars were getting swept away and buildings were being destroyed.

Because of the flooding, Josh didn't work all week, which was a huge blessing from the craziness. We were pretty much home bound for the first three days. Most of the roads to get out of our neighborhood were closed due to floods or road damage. I think the highest count was at one point, 389 roads closed. We couldn't get anywhere. We were very blessed to not be in an area that flooded. We had about 4 inches in the garage and the backyard flooded, but besides that, we stayed safe and dry.

Our power flickered on and off a few times, but we never lost power consistently. Our water did go out shortly into the flooding and we didn't get it back for three days. It makes you appreciate running water so much. We washed our hair with pool water and brushed our teeth with bottled water. I'm thankful to be part of a family who has a large supply of food and water for situations like this. We had ample amounts of water. Then, once the water did come back on, it was contaminated water. So we couldn't drink it or brush teeth with it. That lasted another week and a half. But, as of two days ago, we are officially back on track with clean water!

It has been quite the couple weeks here. All the damage and suffering and loss has given many people the opportunity to serve and it has been incredible seeing people from many faiths and walks of life come together and serve their community members. Josh and I had the chance to go to a strangers house last Sunday and help gut their home. They live on one of the roads most affected and the water levels were to their roof. Their entire house is being gutted to the studs and rebuilt. There are command centers set up around the city for volunteers to go and be assigned work and help others out. They feed the volunteers and provide tools and supplies. It's really incredible. I was so thankful to get to do a small part of work to help. And I'm proud to be a part of a church that has been so hands on and involved in the cleanup and helping process. Church that first Sunday was just the first half of sacrament. We showed up to sacrament in our work clothes, partook of the sacrament and then were dismissed to the gym to be assigned groups to head out to work. We worked from 10 until 5 ripping out walls, ripping up floors and tearing out tiles of someone's home. Unbelievable.

The cleanup will probably take years as they fix and rebuild buildings and roads all over the state. But I will say, being so new to this state, I'm proud to be a part of South Carolina. It's been a beautiful site.