The students gathered in the predawn darkness to board two Liberty buses for the four-hour journey from Lynchburg to Columbia, SC.
It was an easy enough drive to Columbia, and even through the flood-damaged area to the house where the students were to help clear out possessions and tear out moldy, damp walls and floors. However, just a few yards past, a bridge had vanished completely, bringing the road to a rather dramatic end.
Homeowner Thomas Williams tells the story of his close escape from the flood with his wife and grandchild. Everything else was left behind ... and ruined. He watched, thanking the students for their help, as they took everything he owned to the curb.
