Phases of Disaster

I’ve seen this graphic all over the damn place. The general ideal is “behavioral health of communities during disasters.” The graph was adopted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration – a federal organization – and published in by the Washington State Department of Health in April 2020.

You know, those early pandemic days.

As of this first publishing, Asheville is 12 days post-Helene. The hurricane rocked so much of the region and most people in the hills have no idea what the coming months will be. In town, in my head, is a roller coaster of anxiety to jubilation, energy to exhaustion.

A collective grief, if you will.