Walking carefully through the pile of debris that was once someone’s home, I was overcome with sadness at the utter destruction I was witnessing. From a distance it looked like a huge pile of rubble, one of many that marked the path of an unstoppable monster storm. In some places there were only foundations left, the homes and buildings gone, swept clean by wind and water.
But many homes, like this one, looked like they had been smashed by an angry monster hand, crushing everything inside. I grieved for those who had lived here as I observed furniture reduced to a pile of wood, tangled with soggy blankets. Clothing lay in a puddle of muddy water with shoes and a hat. Walls were gone where rooms once held belongings that were now twisted into mangled heaps. I realized there was little chance of finding anything worth salvaging for this family. I hoped and prayed they had evacuated and were safe and warm with a friend or relative, or in a shelter.