Hurricane Matthew has been devastating much of the east coast of the United States in addition to the many islands that it nearly destroyed in its path to the states. Hundreds of lives have been claimed outside of the United States and the death toll for the US is at 17. Governors of SC, GA, NC, and FL have been put in a state of emergency and are beginning to receive federal funding for damages currently sustained and those expected.

In the chaos of dealing with a huge tropical storm/hurricane throughout the deep south, many people who have been forced to evacuate have moved upstate and ended up in cities similar to Greenwood, SC. The storm has given my family the opportunity to open our home and help those who have had to evacuate from their homes due to a natural disaster. My grandfather was enjoying some time with a cousin of mine and that cousin’s aunt down in Sarasota, FL, and with the impending weather they had to flee unexpectedly. My father called my grandfather Tuesday of this week, the 4^th, demanding that for their safety that he call off their vacation and try and head back home. After a bit of arguing between the two, my father was able to convince him to try and gather what they could from their vacation home and head to Greenwood the following morning. My parents then proceed to try and house three people for one night to leave in the morning.

After they left that morning, my father got a call from a past co-worker of his, who has become family friends of ours, are having to evacuate from Charleston and needed a place to stay. We then open our home up to three more people, Deek, Dee, and JP. Deek who work for an independent company alongside the state of South Carolina which is where my father met him close to two years ago. Dee, his wife, accompanied him and I’m honestly not quite sure what she does. I don’t think it was a point of conversation between us, unfortunately. JP is a high school senior who is looking for a college to attend and I found with him being in town I should show him around Lander’s campus. JP commented on how he liked the idea of a smaller class size and a reasonably sized campus.

Just because you haven’t had to experience going through a natural disaster directly, doesn’t mean that you can’t help in tremendous ways. My family’s week has been a bit hectic, but the fact that at the end of the week we know that we directly assisted six individuals that were in an unfortunate situation makes everything worth it. Be safe, and look for your own opportunity to help someone who has been directly affected by Hurricane Matthew.