Hurricane Florence

Hurricane Florence has destroyed Eastern North Carolina. Yet it seemed she spared one part - where I live.

On Wednesday morning, meteorologists changed the predictions of Florence's landfall and inland course from hitting at Cape Hatteras and running straight through North Carolina after stalling at the coast, to hitting at Wilmington and turning to move through South Carolina after the same stall. This didn't change projections for many in North Carolina, but it drastically changed projections for us. What was originally supposed to be 9 inches of rain and 98 mph winds became 4 inches and 52 mph winds. My roommates had made plans to leave town, and I certainly wasn't staying on my own, even with the change in projections, so out of town it was!

I went to PA with my roommate to her parents' house, and there on the news watched the devastation unfold. Places were people live. Places where people grew up. Places where people vacation. Underwater. Gone. I haven't been to any of these places. But people I know LIVE in these places. The former MACU campus minister and my church pastor who moved to Jacksonville. The MACU education grad who lives in Wilmington. My hallmate from junior year who lives on Hatteras Island. My neighbor who lives in Lumberton. All down to my co-worker from last year who moved to New Bern in July. These places are my friends' homes. And all of these places are STILL getting destroyed.

While EC only ended up with 2 inches of rain and 35 mph winds and everyone returns to work today, I feel wrong. I feel like this isn't right; it isn't supposed to be this way. Elizabeth City was supposed to be destroyed just like these places. We have a storm surge right now and 13 roads are flooded. But it's just 13. We're a coastal town. We're on the bay. We house the COAST guard. We evacuated the Coast Guard. And yet we weren't destroyed. We weren't underwater. And we praise the Lord for that. We know that others weren't lucky. Aren't* lucky.

Hurricane Florence continues to move. And it continues to rain in North Carolina. So while we return to work and school (tomorrow for EC schools - 13 roads out is still too many for buses), we'll donate all our hurricane supplies. Because we didn't need them. But we know others do. And we need them to know, you're not alone.