I guess I don't really know where to start with this blog. It kind of all started on late Friday afternoon (10.2.2015) when the rain really began to come down in Columbia. The network news was calling for a really big weather event. Some sources said that we could see as much as one foot (1') of rain on Monday. It all seemed weird, and unreal. My friend Jim and I were at work talking about the potential rain. It seemed unreal to both of us. Jim chimed in that he couldn't imagine that much rain. We both thought that it might be a max on one foot over the weekend, but neither of us could fathom the idea of one foot in a single day. Nor could we have imagined over one foot in a six hour span.
When I left work on Friday, Trish was dialed in and she was putting together kits for the storm. I was initially like, "Ok. If you think so." I still couldn't get my head wrapped around the idea of a flood. Sure the hurricane was off the coast, but it wasn't going to hit land in the US. I thought to myself that this would be the usual tropical depression with the usual amount of wind and rain. You know, a couple of hours, a couple of gusts, a few anxious moments of the howling and bending of trees, but then all clear. Even as we went out to pick up some supplies, canned goods, food, medical kit, batteries and flash lights I was not convinced of the need. I was convinced that Trish was convinced, but I didn't know... I just didn't realize.
By Saturday the rain was picking up, and the advice of the news was to take shelter, get out of low lying areas, and make sure you had bottled water and supplies. I got up and I headed out to Manna Station anyway. I couldn't see how the rain, heavy at times, was a reason to stay at home. As we went to Manna Station on Saturday 10.3.15 the rain was hit or miss. Sometimes it came down in sheets and sometimes it came down in little spurts and mists. I was still unsure about all the build up and all of the concern from everyone. I wished my sister happy birthday, laughed with friends, served with those who were out guests and prayed in the prayer room as usual.
But then, the picture started to become clear when a friend (Ed) came in and said that his apartment had flooded before last week and was in danger of flooding already again this week. His apartment was already near flooding - and suddenly I realized there must have been more rain coming down than I realized. Maybe my roof was insulating me from the sound, and the ground and creek were hiding the amount of water. After talking with Ed, another person talked about flooding and potential closures. More and more the picture was starting to make sense or at least I could sense that it was potentially serious.
And then... Sunday came!
After we returned from Manna Station the rain continued to fall into the night. And over night it really began to come down. At different points in the night the sound of it all startled me awake. It sounded like we were under a waterfall. Each time I got up, Trish was staring at the iPad, checking the weather, reading the reports. From all accounts and sounds, it was like the sky was crying in buckets and barrels. The water kept coming. I could hear the rain pouring off the roof and into the gutters. And then it began to overrun the gutters, bouncing off the windows, gutters, roof top, and eventually pinging and pounding on the siding and even the ground. Normally the rain is soothing and comforting. Usually the rain is the sound that puts you to sleep and you feel this sense of peace and comfort. But, as the morning continued on, there wasn't a lot of comfort from the rain drops.
The flood alerts started sounding. Warnings and Alerts! Seek higher ground! Flood warning in your area. The news hosts seemed anxious and excitable. The constant pounding of rain suddenly indicated that truly there was a plot twist developing. Something was about to happen that I had never seen before.
When morning came I turned on the television. Even the sound of rain throughout the night didn't prepare me for what I saw on the television and for what followed. For the next three or four hours I watched as roads were overcome with water, creeks swelled, ponds flooded, rivers looked gorged and fat, and even lakes began to see record levels of water. If the rivers were a belt line - watch out its gonna blow.
News anchors were out warning people to stay in. At first I felt like, "NO! I'm going to church!" But then the cameras panned around and showed the streets. I saw images that still stick in my mind. Cars with the hazard lights on. Some cars empty and abandoned, and others eerily still, as they had become trapped in waters that suddenly overtook them. I saw one car trapped and I couldn't imagine how anyone could have made it out alive. I saw people being rescued from rivers with familiar names like Devine Street, Garners Ferry Road, etc. I saw black tops become swirling brown tops covered in water and cars - big cars and trucks being tossed around. I had wrestled with going out and Trish wisely won the contest. While inside the house we were gripped by the television images - massive flooding.
All day Sunday we saw reports of floods, roads closed, roads damaged, bridges washing out and then... while we watched, a dam broke and businesses became completely drowned in water. Even one building collapsing into a heap as water viciously punched and clawed, grabbed and kicked though the buildings frame and walls. People say that water is powerful, and I've always seen images of water damage- somewhere else - but never here and never like this. For many hours I sat stunned.
I have the I survived Hugo t-shirt, but even Hugo couldn't prepare me for this devastation. Cars and trucks were tossed around like toys in the current. A Camry was tossed up against a tree and wedged like a lego block on a corner peg. Boats, canoes, and life rafts were out rescuing people from rising waters. Two story houses were up to the 2nd floor in water. An apartment building was completely flooded. There were homes with the roof top barely visible from the water. I saw an image of a raging river, only to realize that this was actually the middle of a road that had washed out in the flood.
Monday wasn't the end.
The water continued to come down. Flood waters continued to travel, cutting new roads and paths wherever they wanted to. But the worst part of Monday was discovering that some of the cars that were once buried in water had become a tomb. As I write the count is 14 with people being recovered from some of these same cars and trucks, others being recovered from homes, and still more being recovered after being swept away.
Horrible! Unthinkable! Unreal!
Whatever word you want to use, the news has been hard to stomach, hard to swallow and hard to take. There are some moments where I don't even have the words.
Difficult. Emotional. Tragic.
However I try to describe it the same gut punch happens. Someone died. Someone's home is gone. Roads are closed and people are now cut off from each other. In some cases it was reported on Tuesday 10.6.15 that people are now afraid that they won't be able to get to life saving resources (dialysis, doctors, water, food, insulin). As if the slow and fearful view of flooding and damage were not enough to worry and dread.
Unbelief!
There are moments when I pray and I feel like, "Wow! Did this really happen here!" There are these moments when I sit, working, writing, checking on friends and family, sitting in my home and I wonder does the world I left on Friday and Saturday still exist.
I decided to write this post because these few days have been very emotional. The ups and downs of being safe, and then wondering who else may not be safe. The ups and downs of being thankful and grateful, while deeply empathetic and sympathetic to those who are not. This has been very emotional and we are still not done with it all yet. The water has stopped coming down (except tears), but the rivers are still swelling, the lakes are still rising, and the dams are still threatening to burst and pour out another round of damage, chaos, and mayhem. I decided to write today before before I get to far down or too far in the weeds of the chaos. I decided to write today to reaffirm the facts
God is still God. God is still Sovereign. God is still in control. God is still with us.
I post to tell my soul that God is still God. This storm didn't catch him by surprise. God is still Sovereign and this storm didn't knock him off the throne. God is still in control and he is still with us to work and to transform this experience for our blessing, our greater good, and His glory. I don't know how, but that isn't my job - "The secret things belong to the LORD God (Deut. 29.29)."
I post to tell my soul that God is a refuge and strength an ever present help in time of trouble (Ps 46.1). This is our time of trouble and this is our time to call on, rest in, and run to God - our refuge and strength.
I post to tell my soul - hope in God and wait patiently for Him, even in the midst of the storm. And I post to pray:
May God, the Lord Almighty bless the families of those who have been forever affected by this tragedy. May the God who created life give life and light to those who travel beyond this realm, whose last moments were snuffed out in the storm. The God of mercy - I praise you for your mercy, knowing that this storm could have been so much worse if not for your mercy. God of grace I thank you for the grace the spared our home, spared our lives and gives us the strength and power to begin the process to rebuild and restore. Lord, be with us. Lord be for us. Lord direct, guide and have great compassion on us. Lord God, even now protect us as we wait the rest of the storm to pass.
In Love (& in triumph),
Cassius
though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging... God is in the midst of her and God will help her... ~ Ps 46.3,5
" So, how are you doing? How is your day going so far? If you had to rate your week on a scale of 1 to 10, where one is good and 10 is "OMG! What did I do to deserve all this kindness and grace", how would you rate your week?