Atlanta’s been getting a lot of rain lately. This is no secret.

I left Atlanta to play in Texas while it was raining. Woke up flying into Houston to blue skies and lots of sun.

I was surprised to hear that a large majority of Atlanta was flooding on Monday. Classes were being cancelled, roads were shutting down. My roommate, Kyle, informed me that our house was ok, but the neighborhood wasn’t doing too well. Neighbors across the street had water up to their front door, covering the bottom level of their houses. Kyle sent me these pictures:

This was the view from our front door. You can see the street is gone and water was making it’s way towards the house.

This was the street (or where it was) and a neighbor’s house.

And this was that same neighbor using a kid’s pool to save his dog. You can see his house in the background. He has suffered some great loss.

I cannot believe this is where I live. I was getting upset because the rain was messing up our yard when we had to park in it before I left. Who would’ve known that this would be the least of my worries? I’ve heard people say, “why can’t we see this rain as a blessing?” and other comments condemning people complaining about the rain in Atlanta. When the rain is hitting people’s houses like my neighbors and my own, it’s just not easy to see it as a blessing. Yeah, it’s nice that Atlanta isn’t in a drought state (at least not now), but it’s just harder to see it as a blessing when people’s houses are flooding when they don’t have flood insurance.

It’s so easy to become so calloused. I’m tired of reading Tweets and hearing stuff about Kanye West, Atlanta’s rain and Obama’s healthcare. However, when it gets personal, it changes. I’ve learned a lot through all this. Even by being 1,000 miles away.