It is almost unfathomable how much Hurricane Florence altered shorelines, homes and lives. Paved streets, thick with storm debris, looked like dirt roads. Carpet and insulation, mattresses and appliances, and countless flood soaked possessions lined roadways. It would be easy and justifiable to drown in the sadness of it all.

But something else was just as striking: people helping people. Neighbors pulling up in a driveway offering the use of their wifi, telephone or even a hot shower. Strangers stopping to ask if you needed something cold to drink just because you wore a hardhat. Church groups spreading tarps on damaged roofs.

Shirley Dean, 83, had just returned home from an inland shelter and cheerfully said, “I had such a lovely time with so many people and they fed us really well.”

On Pelican Drive, neighbors celebrated the return of mail service. Joan Melius said, “It may seem small but it’s another step towards normalcy.”

Driving along River Road in Arapahoe we saw a house toppled over by Florence’s powerful storm surge. Yet further down the road, freshly laundered clothes hung from a clothesline with the now calm and beautiful Neuse River as its backdrop. Another step towards normalcy. Yes, there’s hope in that laundry too.

On September 15 at 6:44 pm, a member replied to one of our outage text message updates with words of thanks and ended it with a Bible verse. “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”

Yes, Florence was a powerful force. We can be more powerful.