Amanda Lamb: Children of the storm

We’ve all seen the video, the pictures-homes destroyed by flood waters, desperate people with nowhere to go, nothing to eat.

And now they are cleaning up, picking up debris, picking up the pieces of their lives and trying to figure out what is next. And while the adults will make those decisions, their children are left wondering when their lives will be normal again.

From the shelters to the food lines, you see these kids with their parents, tired, wide-eyed, wondering what is next. School is still out in the hurricane-damaged areas, and so they go from place to place with their parents, waiting for some sense of normalcy to return.

It’s hard enough for adults to process a natural disaster, but imagine being a child torn away from your home, your neighbors, your friends, your school. This is something we will need to consider as the hurricane victims pick up the pieces. These children, who may not be able to put into words what they’ve experienced, will need special attention, special care.

Even the children who did not experience serious damage or dislocation from the storm will still have anxiety from just being in an area where everything changed so dramatically. As adults, we would love to be able to say: “Don’t worry, it won’t happen again.” But we can’t.

I think the best thing we can do is to encourage our kids to help where they can - to donate time or resources to people who have been affected by the hurricane. I saw children and their parents with a group of volunteers Sunday called Port City Proud who are helping people in the Wilmington area clean up from the storm. I think it’s a great way to expose children to the needs of others, and to allow them a small part in making the lives better of hurricane victims better.

Only in kindness can we grow and heal from tragedy. And who better than to lead us than those with the purest hearts...the children.