After Hurricane Harvey, we began the clean-up effort. It’s still going on today, over five months later. The first week the stores opened after the roads were clear, we all clamored to get the basics. No, not milk and eggs. The electricity was still off. Basics like bleach and disinfectants. Thankfully, I only had to clean my moldy freezer and refrigerator. My bathtub needed attention because the water reservoir I had saved up grew yuckies (so much for “clean” water!).
Many people had it much worse. My friends with over five feet of water in their homes had to gut it all out and start over; or sell it for next to nothing and find another home. They tired of standing in line for help. Even today, post-traumatic stress disorder is rampant. People look like they are waking up from a long sleep. Like Sleeping Beauty. Or maybe they’re not waking up and it’s more like sleepwalking.