If you’ve lived in Wayne County long enough, a hurricane has likely taken something from you — something irreplaceable.
Some lost loved ones.
Others saw their homes and businesses reduced to rubble.
Family pets went missing.
Precious photo albums vanished.
Mold-covered family heirlooms turned up when the floodwaters receded.
We have suffered our share of heartache and despair.
So, as Hurricane Dorian made its way up the East Coast this week, memories of all that tragedy came flooding back. It wasn’t easy.
But then residents woke up Friday morning.
Sure, there were some trees down — a handful of power lines snapped and a few thousand residents without power. Yards were littered with leaves, small branches and pine straw.
A Thursday afternoon tornado damaged property in the county, too.
But, in the grand scheme of things, we were lucky.
So it would be easy to exhale — to mark ourselves “Safe” on Facebook and go about our Friday preparing for Saturday’s college football games and Sunday’s NFL slate.
But that’s not really who we are.
Wayne County remembers.
We have been on the receiving end of random acts of kindness on our darkest days.
We were handed pizzas at Herman Park and provided shelter by the countless organizations that responded after Floyd, Matthew and Florence ripped through our little slice of Eastern North Carolina.
We were rescued by first-responders and, in some cases, taken, by boat, to dry ground.
We saw neighbors check on neighbors — lending a hand, or chainsaw, or water pump to those in need.
We held each other and cried on one another’s shoulders.
We were a community.
We still are.
So in the wake of Dorian, we will surely show the world that we won’t forget those who picked us up when we were down.
School and church groups will, undoubtedly, raise money for those who took the worst of Dorian’s wrath because they know that dozens have been confirmed dead in the Bahamas and hundreds more are unaccounted for.
Residents will flood the Red Cross with blood donations and reach into their bank accounts to chip into the many reputable relief efforts unfolding to our south.
And they won’t ask for a thank you. They never do.
Because what those on the receiving end of those acts of kindness might not know is that we are doing it as our show of gratitude for those moments when strangers ensured our low points were a little more bearable.
Yes, Wayne County remembers. And those who uplifted us in our time of need are the silver linings in those dark memories.
To donate to the Red Cross’ Hurricane Dorian relief efforts, click here.
To donate to the Salvation Army’s Hurricane Dorian relief efforts, click here.
The following photographs reflect some of the damage Hurricane Dorian inflicted upon Wayne County.
