The weeks following Isabel, are filled with work, little food, more work, and not enough sleep. Luckily, our electric was restored rather quickly after the brunt of the storm, but was sporadic for the next few days. Neighbors, who had lost everything, cried, and hugged, each and everyone saying that it could have been worse.

 One memory that will always stay with me is of a neighbor who had only moved into the neighborhood earlier that year. Right after they moved in, the young newlywed couple had experienced a fire and lost everything. They rebuilt their home and replaced what they could. One of the things they had replaced was their wedding album. On the morning after the storm, I watched as the wife tried to dry her wedding photos on the roof of her car.

We live in an area where there is one road in, and one road out. These roads were filled with what I call "looky loos". People  who want to see the destruction with their own eyes. In other words- a big nuisance to those of us who were trying to pick up what we could save, so that we could move on. These people clogged our roads, pointed and took pictures. The traffic caused by these people prevented access to many rescue workers/county workers and friends and family. A few of our local children had almost been hit by these looky loos. Finally, some neighbors who had not been affected by the flood, had taken it upon themselves to block the flow of traffic coming into the neighborhood. Within several hours, local officials started to show up to assess the damage. Local news helicopters flew overhead for days, and the media invaded our lives. The National Guard was soon to follow (although not early enough to prevent the first wave of looters).  By daybreak, on the morning of the storm, looters came in by boat, car and on foot.