there is a level of stress that accompanies a catastrophic natural disaster that cannot be explained or understood unless you have lived thru.
This takes me right back to 2005- sitting on a curb outside the La Quinta trying to reach folks by cell/text - boss, friends, family - while understanding I have a wife and 2 yr old up in the room- will i even have a career now? an absolute avalanche of "What now" comes rushing over you and it can be quite paralyzing.
The amount of "unknowns" are more than the mind can handle and it can make any person become enveloped in fear. We spent 10 days in Tupelo MS and the kindness and support we received from those around helped keep a lid on the anxiety. I suspect that the same thing will happen here, just that it may take a bit more time due to access to the areas are very very limited.
All i can offer to those in this state of unknown is to focus on the now, one step at a time, and as you take each step, its accomplishment. It will get better and once you see the kindness and support from folks you have never met, things start to focus a bit better every day.
Ugghhhh. feeling a lil PTSD here after reading that.
Would love for us here to be able to start some sort of collection and maybe donate, en masse, to the relief effort.
PS and this is no lie- part of what kept me "focused" was the thread on this very board back in 2005 where folks were "checking in" and reporting on areas as they were able to return. I would spend hours at the terminal in the La Quinta looking for any news about my home area and office area to give me some level of comfort that things will be ok. And they were.