Letter: Blessed to see island recovering

It is amazing to see how an area survives a natural disaster. In the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew, neighbors are helping neighbors, cleanup and repairs are progressing, and our beautiful Hilton Head Island is in recovery.

I want to send a personal thank you to Jeff West, who the day after Matthew, drove around with a camera, running a live feed on how our island was damaged. It helped all of us who were safe outside the area see the aftermath. It also convinced many of us to try and stay out of the area long enough to allow all the first responders to do their work without interference, and to allow utilities to get our electricity and water back up and running.

Now that we are home, we are blessed to see our island recover. Thank you to all the crews, and volunteer teams, who have come from great distances to put our island back together. We appreciate all you are doing for us. As Pastor Larry Eckart said on Monday night at Island Lutheran Church, “Now it is time to be patient.”

This story was originally published October 27, 2016 at 9:38 PM with the headline "Letter: Blessed to see island recovering."