During Hurricane Florence we endured relentless rain, dark clouds and ominous forecasts.  In Chapel Hill and nearby surrounding towns we were spared from the high winds, the worst weather was being seen along the coast.  Cabin fever began to set in, even with the occasional quick trip to the gym or drive around the neighborhood.  Just when we thought the worst was over... All that rain had to go somewhere and so the creeks turned into rivers and the rivers turned in to, well massive rivers.  Heartwood Holistic Health is located in Chapel Hill next to East Gate Shopping Center, which is an area prone to flooding.  Our office has been lucky over the years, occasionally after a heavy rain the waters of Booker Creek will rise, and past hurricanes have caused the waters to crest the banks.  This hurricane was like none other, despite being downgraded to a category 2 when it reached our coast, it’s size was what made it such a force.  It was as large as the entire state of North Carolina.  The storm moved very slowly, at one point Hurricane Florence moved at just 3 miles and hour, which meant more rain for North Carolina.  In Chapel Hill the meteorologist at the local news station warned all residents and businesses near flood prone areas to beware of flash flooding.

On Monday September 17^th we were notified at 6:00 am by Mr. Mariakakis that the creek behind the office was considerably higher, due to the all night heavy rain.  At 8:30 am we received another email stating that the creek “appears bad” and has risen “onto the back corner of the property”.  We were notified that the East Gate parking lot was filling with water.  We had seen conditions similar to this in the past with East Gate flooding and remained cautiously optimistic that we would not see the water rise onto our doorsteps.  At 9:00 am we received an alarming email from Mr. Mariakakis, “Everyone...things have worsened, and we are taking on water on the parking lot and back lot!”  I jumped in the car and headed to the office.  The water level was so high I had to park on Fordham Boulevard, because the access road and our parking lot was flooded.  I waded through at least a foot and a half of swift moving water to reach our front door.  We had placed duct tape around the front and back door, with plastic and sandbags.  At that point we had water up to the front door, so I entered through the rear door.  I removed my shoes and ran through the office to lift filing cabinets off the floor, moving our computer and electronic equipment onto the tops of desk, and prepared the lobby for the water to enter.  At 9:30 am, I called my wife to let her know that we had begun to take on water and that I had a bad feeling that this was not going to turn out well.  By 10:30 we had a foot of water rushing past our front door and 4 inches inside.  The turbulent water outside made its way past our front door and then made a sharp right hand turn running the entire length of our building's side.  The water began to enter in through our back door and I felt a sense of defeat and loss.  There was no stopping the rising water and all I could do was sit on my desk and wait.  All the while, my 6 month pregnant wife sat in her car parked on Fordham Boulevard watching what she later told me was like watching our dreams getting washed away.

I write this today as a sort of expressive therapy.  Many of our patients have been through similar events and we as practitioners try and help facilitate their healing.  Today I find myself needing to write about those events in order to move on and forward.   We have had so much help from the community and I am so thankful for that.  Alexis and I have made great improvments to the office space at Heartwood Holistic Health over the last month and we are so proud of the work we have put into making it our own.