Diary of a Flood Survivor

The world’s weather seems to be going crazy at the moment. Floods are stretching right across the northern hemisphere from Nepal, Japan, Tunisia and Europe.

I have a friend who lives in Florida’s Big Bend area, where the state’s ‘panhandle’ transitions to its peninsula.

I’ve seen photos of her house and have admired its gorgeous water views, but she now has that water all through her house thanks to Hurricane Helene. They have lost everything.

I wrote to her with a heart full of empathy as it was quite triggering to see a video of her house now with water gushing through it.

It took me back to how we felt the frst time we forced open our water swollen front door to discover that the whole ground foor ceiling had collapsed.

It reminded me of the smell we experienced as we walked up the stairs and squelched our way on the carpet to see furniture covered in mould or knocked over and sodden from the water that swirled its way up to the second foor.

I ached for my friend and her husband as I know the days ahead for her are going to be hard. They will need to navigate their own nightmare. She told me they have saved their photos but lost their furniture and cars. She asked me what

I could share with her to get through it.

I suggested she deal with only what she could handle at the time, to not look at the whole picture too often, as it can be overwhelming.

I told her to celebrate the little wins and don’t hold back on grieving, as it is a natural process.

I’ve noticed since the food of 2022 that it’s not easy to just bypass what happens around the world now. What we experienced is the same as what is happening to people across the globe and I see it with a much deeper understanding.

The only way my friend can deal with her experience now is with… Little Steps.