Day 8 of the Apocalypse, Gerton, NC, Pop. 231

Yesterday was hard, Friends.

The adrenaline rush of the hurricane is slowing down, and our residents are finally starting to respond emotionally to the disaster that struck us last week. When I was at the Fire Department for our daily community meeting, several people came up to me in tears, not knowing how to process their new reality.

I led our community, volunteers, and first responders in prayer. I reminded us to be kind to ourselves and compassionate with one another. I reminded us that we are strong and that we will come out stronger on the other side of this.

Then my adrenaline started slowing down, too. By mid-afternoon, I had a raging migraine.

Our Fire Chief Jay came and checked on me, and our Assistant Fire Chief Norris sat next to me and held my hand. I’ve been working as a team member with these men, and it was so thoughtful of them to take a break in the middle of their very stressful responsibilities to attend to me.

They brought over Dylan, a Tom-Cruise-level ripped, tanned, shirtless cardiac nurse in his 60s to check my vitals. I’m not sure if Jay and Norris were trying to distract me from my pain, or if Dylan was the only medical professional available. (No, no one knows why the heck Dylan was shirtless 😉 )

Dylan told me I needed to take a break from the chaos. And yesterday was hours of constant chaos. I knew he was right.

David, one of our local firefighters took me home to rest via ATV. He’s been sleeping at the firehouse because his home is on the other side of the mountain, and what used to be a 25-minute commute now takes 1.5 hours.

The migraine passed, and I’m better today. Last night I slept 8 hours solid, the first restful sleep I’ve had since this all began.

Our Fire Department is now full to the brim with too many supplies and volunteers - so different than just a week ago when there were only 4 people running rescue missions, and no supplies.

All of the support is overwhelming. Jeff is doing his best to coordinate supply donations online through his Facebook group, “We are Gerton, NC.” As he was responding to messages on his phone - for literally hours yesterday morning - he burst into tears, overwhelmed by how graced we are, and how real this is.

Having so many people trying to help our community is allowing us to see how bad things really are here.

When you’re in it, it’s harder to see that clearly.

So many people are trying to come into Gerton, that NC State Patrol is now blocking the road for us, to keep out non-essential people.

Yesterday a ridiculous-looking purple cyber truck from Atlanta, full of self-proclaimed “influencers,” drove into town. They started taking videos of people’s destroyed homes and the devastation - in the name of raising money for us.

Graham, our friend down the mountain, who is a former prosecutor, went after them, knowing full well they were scammers and frauds. I’ve never seen him so upset. He made them leave town.

What we’re going through isn’t something to gawk at, or use as a way to get more followers.

Many of our residents have lost everything.

After yesterday’s community meeting, I was speaking with Will, a guy in his mid-50s with a leg brace and cane to help him walk. He lives next door to our community center, which is alongside a creek. Will lost his workshop as well as two of his cars when the creek flooded. They are now upside down a half-mile from his home.

Will’s home, a trailer, is still standing, but the inside was destroyed by water. He and his girlfriend were able to get out of the trailer before the water got too high. They scrambled up to higher ground and watched as the water rose as high as the trailer roof.

Will showed me a video of his workshop, floating down the River that the creek became overnight. It was surreal.

Will was matter-of-fact about what happened to him, and his property. Will’s spirit is tremendous. He says that he is going to survive this because that’s just what you do when these things happen.

Will is right. Every day, each of us has a choice about how we are going to show up and respond. Every day, we have the opportunity to choose possibility and grace.