It seems like a bad dream. It seems like yesterday. It will be a year this August, and we need your help telling the stories you cannot forget, the ones no one should, the ones that need telling and saving.

On August 9, 2024, Debby, downgraded from a hurricane to a post-tropical depression, ripped through our area with high winds, flooding, and general havoc. It happened fast, and its intensity caught us unaware. Emergency declarations were declared. Evacuations were organized. And, as the sun came out and waters receded, stock was taken, blessings counted, animals found, and losses mourned.

Throughout the devastation and the recovery that followed (and follows still), stories were shared. The August issue of Mountain Home will commemorate the anniversary by publishing stories in our readers’ own words about what happened, how it felt, who they met, and how they got through it.

We are asking for stories of 300 to 500 words that focus on a slice, a moment, an image, a person. Using your best descriptive skills—colors, textures, smells, sounds—bring us into that moment with you. Ground us in where and when it is. Tell us how it changed you.

WE NEED STORIES AND PHOTOS BY JUNE 16

We are also looking for photos. These do not have to accompany a written story. We do need them to be of a resolution we can print. That means, the highest quality possible which would be straight from your camera or phone, not a screenshot or saved from social media.

We would prefer to receive them via email, at [email protected]. If you must use snail mail, our address is 39 Water Street, Wellsboro, PA 16901, ATTN: Flood Stories. Be sure anything handwritten is easily readable. For all submissions, include your name as you’d like it to appear, phone number, and where you live.

We know we won’t have room for all that we want to publish. We will select what to include based on the variety of subject matter, geographical spread, and which stories stick in our minds late into the night. If we decide to use your story or photo, we will contact you. If we edit anything, we will show you before printing (another reason email submissions will have an advantage). It seems only right that this anniversary be marked by a creative collaboration, because working together is what got us through. Thank you for trusting us with your words, images, hope, and grief.