the flood.

Hello from a very wet Columbia!

Thanks so much to all who have checked in on us. It’s been a crazy few days. About a hundred of us from CPC went on a church retreat this weekend. We heard the forecast of record rainfall and possible flooding before we left, but didn’t comprehend the magnitude of it. Our retreat was at Ridgehaven camp in Brevard, NC, and we got lots of rain, but nothing major. We were tucked away in the mountains — wet, but thoroughly enjoying ourselves — when on Sunday morning we began to get word of the flooding back in South Carolina.

Some people left the retreat early, many went to friends or family’s homes outside of Columbia, and a few of us stayed at Ridgehaven until the afternoon to get an idea of what the roads were like. We finally made a break for it Sunday afternoon. We heard that some of the interstates were closed and there was a city-wide 6:00 curfew, but wanted to get as close as possible.

Thankfully some church friends got back in town before we left and reported that our house was okay except for some flooding in the basement, so David and I weren’t as concerned for ourselves as for other homes.

We got to Columbia at 6:30, right after the curfew, and it felt like a ghost town. 1-20 and 1-26 into downtown were blockaded off, but we found a way toward our neighborhood. After several detours, we were thankful to be able to get home.

We’re shocked by the damage that has been done to our city: dams have burst, homes are destroyed, whole chunks of road washed away. At the same time, most people we know have been spared so much. We’re still waiting to hear the final damage from a couple of displaced families; many are completely unaffected, and for others it seems that damage is limited to HVAC units and ductwork.

It continued to rain all day yesterday, but today has been so sunny you’d almost never believe our city has been flooded. David and his dad have cleaned out both our basements, and they spent the last couple days with our other pastor, John, out helping people and making grocery store runs.

I feel very, very grateful that we were spared a flooded house. David and I look around our home and wonder what on earth we would do if we lost everything. It’s a sobering thought. I’m so sad for those for whom that’s a reality this week. And I am also heartened by the hundreds, probably thousands, of people here and elsewhere who are already generously offering help.

Thank you for your prayers!