Day 73 of the Apocalypse, Ground Zero, Gerton, NC pop. 231

I’ve never had so much fun picking up trash.

Gerton residents and others gathered together yesterday for a cleanup in the downtown area of Gerton. Our friend Shannon donated a dumpster, and over 30 of us spent several hours cleaning up trash.

I worked along a creek with my friend Julia. We sorted through rummage caught on the now expanded creek bed, managing to save a couple of stuffed animals and other toys belonging to a neighbor whose home was destroyed by flood water.

It was a big emotional event to come together as a community 10 weeks after the hurricane, with still so much to clean up.

Once Jeff and I came home, I walked the dogs and then promptly fell asleep. Even today, after 10 hours of sleep, my body is quite fatigued.

I think during the clean-up yesterday, my body was remembering the early days following Hurricane Helene, when "downtown" Gerton was crowded with folks wanting to help.

Seeing so many people yesterday, who I didn't know three months ago, was intense. I am now deeply connected with people who used to be strangers. We are in this recovery together.

There is so much trash, and so much storm debris still left in our area. Armed guards still restrict access to Gerton. Our roads are still littered with fallen trees, and downed power lines. The evidence is impossible to ignore.

I had a long conversation last week with the Executive Director of Mennonite Disaster Service - one of the first volunteer groups to come to Gerton to help with rescue and recovery.

He shared with me an interesting "math equation" used to determine how long it will take an area to recover following a natural disaster (also known as the Disaster Recovery Phases).

(Note: I may be botching this slightly, but hopefully you'll get the idea.)

• If it takes 3 days to conduct the Search and Rescue Phase (saving lives and ensuring public safety and well-being)...
• Then it will take 30 days to complete the Emergency Relief Phase (ensuring road access for emergencies, and removing trees from homes)...
• 300 days to complete the Early Recovery Phase (rehoming people, longer-term solutions for food and water, kids going back to school, etc.)...
• And 3,000 days to complete Long Term Recovery (building new homes or fixing old ones, removing storm debris, and restoration of normal social structures).

In our case, in the Hickory Nut Gorge, it took 30 days to conduct the Search and Rescue phase (as so many people were missing).

Using the math equation of Disaster Recovery, it is possible that it could take up to 82 years to fully recover from the impacts of Hurricane Helene, and complete Long Term Recovery.

That is a mind-blowing calculation.

People keep asking me if I'm okay and if we have recovered yet. Really, that's the question that all of us are getting - are we recovered yet?

My friend Stan said that he has started to respond that, yes, physically he is okay. But mentally he is not. And then his next comment is to say, "Please don't try to fix me right now."

I'm with Stan. We're not okay. And we don't need to be fixed. We are in this for the long haul.