“What was also wonderful is that nobody was asking if you were left or right, blue or red, or what color your skin was,” Crystal said. “Instead they asked us what our needs were and how they could help meet them. It was absolutely wonderful.”

“From the moment of the flood on, the generosity of the American took over,” says Toma, lowering his forehead to his hands. “Even now, people ask me if we’re comfortable enough. We have clothes! We have a roof over our heads! What more could we want?”

In the short three minutes it took him to reach his house, floodwater swept through the valley bottom below and crashed into the family home owned by his father Roy, 86. Steve had no idea. But the phone was ringing, and it was his sister, who’d gotten a call from

The family waded to safety, and the Pressleys were relatively fortunate compared to some of their neighbors. Still, the water destroyed one room – a garage Carroll had meticulously remodeled as a kitchen and family gathering spot for Mary Ellen, who cooked for her family on its wood stove. Water

“It was a tiny house when we bought it,” said Donella, “nothing special about it, just a collection of nooks and crannies, but even then it felt like home, and it’s really home now. We just hope it feels like home again.”