By Lois Hewitt

Last night I had my first hurricane related nightmare.  I dreamt that I was trapped and could not get rescued.

I can’t speak for anyone else but I think that many people in the area may be having the same such dream.

As the days pass, each of us becomes more aware of what really happened during that horrible hurricane.  Another assumption is, like me, many of us probably never experienced such a devastating storm.

It’s hard to wrap your head around it.  So many houses with giant dumpsters in their driveway full of furniture and memories. All headed to a landfill.

Windows boarded up.  Cars tipped over and smashed.  Downed trees literally everywhere.  So much destroyed.

This is a resilent area, they will rebuild but no one will ever be the same.  Too many lives lost.  Too many lives changed.  You just can’t go back to the way it was.

My truest belief is that God has a plan.  I thought about that this morning.  I and everyone in the path of Helene were just living our lives.

Going to work.  Going to school. Making plans for the fall season.  Thinking about Christmas.  And all the things we people do on a regular day.

I remember hearing that Helene was headed our way but I could not conceive of a hurricane coming this far north into the mountains. But  I have been around enough to know to hunker down and ride it out.

But when the storm clouds disappeared and the bright sunlight illuminated the area, I do not think anyone could have imagined what Helene left behind.

The early days were just panic and frenzy.  With communication lines down, the inability to check on loved ones was truly the worst part.  Add no power and water.  Weeks later, some still out.

After the initial shock, we all learned about a growing death toll.  Makes having to brush your teeth with bottled water seem like not a big deal.

We were blessed. We were spared. But so many were not.  Even the coldest of hearts has to feel a twinge of sadness.

Beyond the terrible loss of life, businesses totally destroyed. Jobs lost maybe permanently.  How do you live and support your family if your job floated down the French Broad River? 

Two weeks after the storm, on my way to my surgery, we passed tanker trucks full of water at the hospital.  As the city water facilities were decimated and water had to be trucked in.

Nothing is back to normal. Normal is going to have to be reimagined. 

Taking things for granted is not an option anymore.  Priorities change.  Your world view shifts.  And you realize all the plans and schedules you made can change in an instant.

God’s plan, obviously, is not my plan.  There are times when you get upset.  And you ask why?  The answer doesn’t come.  You just have to have faith.  Oh that sounds so hollow when you think of the loved ones lost. But I could not go on if I didn’t think that there was a bigger plan in place.

There will be a new normal.  The events of late September 2024 will take a long time to be forgotten. 

I will continue to believe in God’s plan even if I don’t understand it.  We are called to believe which is really easy when everything is kittens and sunflowers. It is not so easy when the storm clouds roll in.  But you have to take the good with the not so good.

Thank you to everyone who has supported this area with gifts, donations and prayers. As we all try to move on, move forward, we will continue to rely on those precious prayers sent on our behalf.

Today I will try to fully accept God’s plan and thank Him for the kindnesses and love He gives.  I may not understand it all but we must walk by faith and not by sight.