A Flood of Silence is an ongoing series of digital stories from those personally affected by the 2011 flood in Bloomsburg, PA. The third vignette being released today is titled, “Just Like That, It Is Gone.”

This scene features Sarah Rudolph and her 12 year old grandson, Clay, in a story that shares the pain of losing everything and an amazing willingness to do things that are well beyond the expected. Mrs. Rudolph told us that her back yard opens to the Fairgrounds. Her neighbors had a hot dog cart on Leonard Street and used it to feed workers during the initial clean up. Her neighbor’s house has been condemned and only a handful of families are back in their houses on her street. At 76 years old, she is completely relying on the kindness of others to help put her life back in order. Her house is on higher ground than most in her neighborhood, and she didn’t evacuate earlier because she felt safe at that elevation. Mrs. Rudolph said that during the flood the families were communicating with each other by yelling out the windows on the second story and passing information down the street like a big game of telephone.

This is a story of great sadness and of intense hope.