We heard stories today. Lots of stories from people who weathered the storm (they thought), and were thankful they all had generators running, and minimal damage. And then came the storm surge and the water rose with breathtaking speed. They were rescued from their own homes in the middle of the night with all they owned left behind floating in contaminated, brackish water.
What we saw was the graphic evidence of some of those stories… Heaps of “stuff” left when the water receded. Extensive damage to homes that had housed the same families for decades. Kids afraid of the rain, even now, a year later.
And then we met Teresa and Joanne… sisters who are part of a large extended family that mostly all live in Little Ferry. Most of them were in their homes when the water came, and have survived together by sharing pretty much everything since then. Joanne told us that her days are filled with visitors that come to help her, and she is so grateful. By the end of the day, we had put her daughter on our prayer list @ Central, and we all got a hug. We didn’t do all that much, truthfully, but to her it was new friends and a little bit closer to getting her home all back together.
All in all, a good day…