BRATTLEBORO — Last year, when Hurricane-turned-Tropical-Storm-Irene hit Windham County, the flooding-to-the-point-of-catastrophe part happened so quickly. Only after predicted widespread flooding from actually happened did the prospect become real for so many of us, past the point where it was too late to do anything but react.
This time around, our nerves have been on edge. For almost a week, those of us who survived that terrible ordeal have been waiting for the other shoe to drop.
For those of us who lived through Irene, for those of us who are still coping with the aftereffects of that terrible storm, having a few days' warning was a blessing. But for many of us, these few days have also been filled with foreboding and escalating dread and powerlessness.
And as the new storm approached, photos of damage from this terrible storm have been flying around the Internet, just as they did in the aftermath of Irene.
Except this time around, the photos are not of Vermont.
They're images of New York City and a battered eastern seaboard: water pouring into subways and Ground Zero, cars submerged in city streets, building façades crumbling.
We had every reason to expect the worst from Hurricane-Now-Tropical-Depression Sandy, and in varying degrees, of course, we have experienced some of her wrath. But on balance, as the storm moves past, we breathe a collective sigh of relief.
It could have been us. Again.
But it wasn't.
* * *
This week, we did not see our beloved landmarks washed away, entire streets under water, homes and vehicles flooded, toppled, or washed away, our businesses destroyed or closed for months, power out for days, our roads and landscapes wounded by nature.
As Sandy heads north and dissipates, it is impossible to pack away our emergency water bottles and inedible protein bars and flashlights and other supplies without wondering if this threat is the new normal, without wondering what that new normal might mean for our health, for our safety, for our well-being.
For now, those who survived Irene know what the survivors of Sandy are facing.
We are experiencing the relief and joy of missing this catastrophe - relief and joy that can come only from the firsthand, intimate knowledge of the pain of having experienced similar loss, trauma, and tragedy.
Yet we temper that relief and joy with empathy for the millions of victims of this storm - empathy that can come only from that same firsthand experience.
There are fewer of us, but we've been there, and in the days, weeks, and months to come, we will surely send love, kindness, and aid to those who this time were not as lucky as we were.
That, truly, is how we all can be Vermont Strong.