Tupi walked into the sport arena and saw that there were still some people there. There was quite a bit of mess and there were many people still leaving. There was a stench of dampness in the air. "Everyone needs to go!" A man said. "The flood is over, and power and water is back soon."
"Excuse me sir," Tupi asked the man. "This boy's home is destroyed and his mother is in the hospital."
"We don't take in unaccompanied minors, and this shelter will be closed tomorrow." The man said.
"So what can we do?" Tupi asked.
"Call FEMA, call City Hall..." The man said. "Get your insurance claims."
"But he needs a place to stay." Tupi said.
"We are closing tomorrow, he can stay for the night." The man said. "We are a shelter to keep people safe during the hurricane. Hurricane is over."
"How can we help if the people are leaving?' Tupi was rather disappointed. "Don't worry, we'll get you a safe place to stay tonight."
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Tupi approached a family that is still in the shelter. "Hi, I was wondering what you were going to do when you have to leave this place."
"Our home is destroyed." The man said. "Most of us over here live in mobile homes, and the hurricane destroyed the whole area. If we can't stay here, we probably have to find a cheap motel. Currently filing some claims and getting some relief, but my workplace is also damaged and I'm probably not getting paid for the next month as well. Don't even know when the relief and insurance would come."
Tupi's heart sank. He would not even know what to do if his home was destroyed yet this man seemed calm and collected. "I bought some rations and water, hopefully this would help a bit." Tupi said. Tupi did not know what else to do and went over to Justin. "So, what can we do? Those people were leaving as well and they were just going to find a motel or sort."
"The boy can stay at my place for the moment, should not be a problem." Justin said.
"That sounds like a good idea." Tupi said and felt much relief. "Lets also give out the rations to these people here, their mobile homes are destroyed."
The boy walked over and asked. "Can I go to the hospital to see my mom?"
"Sure, lets go..." Justin said and gave out the last few boxes and went up the truck.
"Let me sit out in the back." Tupi said as he looked at the empty truck. "Looks like fun..."
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The truck drove for 10 minutes and Tupi smell a strong stench like sewage or an open trench. "Ewww...." Tupi said and looked around and saw an area with the destroyed mobile homes.
"Wow, how did they survive that?" Tupi said pointed at the destruction to Justin who stopped.
As the windows went down, Justin immediately could smell the awful stench. "Oh my god... it stinks..." Justin closed the windows but it did not help much.
Justin drove away to avoid the smell.
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Tupi was still in awe. The destruction and the smell can be very overwhelming. Tupi knew he was just a visitor and the residents who had their homes destroyed have to live in the consequences.
"How did the people survive the destruction?" Tupi asked Justin. "Those mobile home seemed so destroyed."
"They probably went into the shelters before the storm." Justin said.
"Duh..." Tupi muttered. "I feel so dumb..."
The boy went into the hospital and Tupi said. "We will wait for you here. Don't worry, you can come stay at our place today."
Tupi was physically and emotionally drained. The situation was overwhelming him but he felt good. There was so much conflict internally and he really felt like leaving this place as it was sad, but internally, he felt glad that he was not affected by the disaster.
"Am I a bad person?" Tupi asked Justin. "I am tired and feel really sad for the people here, but I feel good somehow... even when I'm not sure if I did enough."
"At least you took action and did something." Justin said. "I'm sure you did more than those thoughts and prayers that were sent."
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