Guest blogger Joyce Scotten, who resides in Greenwood, writes the following:


Trying to find the proper words to describe the devastation I have seen in my home county is so difficult.  First of all, I live in Greenwood—we have no rivers, only creeks, ponds, and a few lakes.  It is unbelievable to see the force of Mother Nature, and to realize we cannot control these situations.  My personal home was not affected and how fortunate I am.  My yard was a river—as my neighbor  told me Sunday—I now know why we have drainage easements—the fast flowing water carried all our mulch and any other debris quickly downhill.  While this was a scene I had never experienced, I was totally shocked when I left home Sat. evening for a quick birthday dinner with my family.  The park down the street is destroyed—fences smashed by water, ball diamonds in ruin, and the basketball courts totally covered with debris.  The creek with barely enough water to keep our fish wet, was now a raging river and moving so quickly and with so much force that anything in its path would be carried away.  Our neighbors had serious flooding.  My co workers had not only flooding but dead fish and rodents in their yards and most of our roadways were flooded and not safe to drive on.  We actually had the National Guard blocking streets – so many areas look like a war zone.  The picture of Franklin, our county seat, with ruined historic homes, and police cars smashed against each other, is something I won’t forget.  Now the clean up.  To drive through a neighborhood and see personal belongings waiting for  trash pickup—people’s lives right before our eyes—all gone.  Many of these people have lost everything and will be years recovering from this disaster.  I know some of these people.  We all need to pitch in to help our neighbors—we never know when we might be the one in need.