On Monday afternoon, people packed the civic auditorium to attend a community meeting to get answers to their pressing questions of evacuation orders, what’s next and who is in Shasta County to help.
One couple attending this meeting lost their home off Iron Mountain Road after living there for only 11 months.
“You kind of go numb. You grab stuff like, ‘Why did I get that and not that that was right next to it?’ you know,” said Kathy Williams.
She and her husband moved to Shasta County from South Lake Tahoe. They evacuated at a moment’s notice after their son-in-law came pounding on their door.
“Friday night we found out that our house was gone and we’ve just been crying and don’t know what to do. I hate that thing where people cry on TV,” Williams said.
They lost everything, but their lives.
“Sad thing is, we lost everything. My husband and I have been together for 51 years and we lost our history. We lost all my mom’s stuff. Everything we’ve inherited. We have basically our clothes and bills and paperwork, a few odds and ends,” Williams said.
Now, having to rebuild their lives and rebuild what was lost, Kathy has to humble herself.
“Now is the time that we are to receive. I think that’s what life is, is you give and you receive and right now we have to humble ourselves enough to be able to receive all the love and support and strength from everyone else because we are weak, we are heartbroken. There are no words,” Williams said.
Somehow, in between the speechless moments, there’s hope.
“I think we’ll be OK. Once we get over the shock and hurt and I think we will be OK,” Williams said.
What also gave Kathy and Steve hope is the sight of a family of ducks inside their pool at their destroyed home. The ducks are alive, but black from all the ash. The owners of the ducks are overjoyed knowing their pets are OK.
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