One year ago, WUOT News met Joy Lambert in the town of Hampton, Tennessee in Carter County. She and her husband, Karlas, lost everything to floods wrought by Hurricane Helene. Now, with the help of their community, they’ve managed to get back on their feet. But their lives have unquestionably been forever changed.
Here is Joy’s story, in her own words:
Hello, my name is Joy Lambert. I live here in Hampton. And the day that Helene happened, I was here at home. Me, and, at the time, I had my dog with me. And I was planning on staying. But when I lost power, and didn’t have no TV or scanner, I said, “I think it’s time for me to go.”
So I called my husband, who works over in Johnson City at American Water Heater. I talked to him, and I told him he needed to come home. And he said, “If you let me work til 10 o’clock, I’ll be at home.”
Well, when 10 o’clock came, my husband wasn’t at home. And it took him over an hour and a half to get to come home that day. And he said that he was going down to his mother’s. At the time, we had a building. And we had two cats that we had taken in. So he had his cats in his truck and I had our dog in my car. And so we went to his mother’s.
But he said, “I’m going back.” And when he said he was coming back up here in Hampton I said, “well I’m going too.” And he told me to go over here at the, well, they call it the ‘Rock Church,’ but it’s the Church of God that’s right behind our home. And so I went over there.
That day, I was looking around and I couldn’t comprehend what was happening. All these people was around – people that I know should have been at work – and they was over there. And I seen my neighbor’s double-wide wash off of its foundation. It was on a block foundation and it washed out into the midd le of the road out here.
Ours was still sitting where it was supposed to. Until these apartments that’s on the next street broke off. And when they did, they hit our mobile home. And I seen it go. And everybody said, “There it goes.” And I seen it, but yet my eyes couldn’t … I couldn’t fathom what I had seen.
And it landed next to some trees down here, and as soon as that happened the water left. And everybody came, and it was just a mess.
I couldn’t believe that I had lost my home that we had worked for for 37 years together. I lost everything that day.
That night, what did y’all do? I know it’s hard to know what to do after losing your home.
That night that it happened – it happened on that Friday – we slept in our vehicles. The next day this man that we know, he said I’m gonna find this woman a place to stay. He found us an apartment over a garage. It was up Stony Creek. And we stayed there for, I guess a couple of weeks.
But my husband, he wanted to come back to Hampton. So a friend of his gave him a camper. And they brought it. And they set it up. It was a hard thing to do, but I made peace with it that I was going to endure that. And I did.
But that was a rough time there, staying in the little camper. I had to go elsewhere to take a shower and wash my clothes and stuff and everything. But we made it, we made it through it.
And this year, in February, they brought us a new mobile home.
But in the process, in October of last year, the 17th of October, I lost my dog. If she’d have lived, she woulda been 14 years old. So I had her for 14 years. Just the stress of what happened and her being displaced from her home, it was just too much for her. And I lost her.
But I wouldn’t have her back. Because she had health issues. She couldn’t hear. And I think she got to the point where she couldn’t see. But just the stress of the change, and everything. She didn’t have no home.
But now we got us a new mobile home. We have to get used to it, and getting things back to normal. We’re trying to get back to normal.
Those first few months were really difficult. What kept you going?
What kept me going was my faith in the Lord. When they brought the camper, I felt like we didn’t need to be in a camper. But my husband was determined to be back here in Hampton. It was my faith in the Lord, and holding onto him, and believing, and trusting in him and just living day by day. That’s how I got through it. And that was my faith in my Lord and savior. And that carried me through it.
Where did you receive the most help, when you needed help the most?
There was a lot of people through my church. People donated water so we had water to drink. It was rough going. But I had friends that opened their home to me and I was able to go and wash my clothes and take a shower. Different ones helped in so many ways. It was unreal. I can’t name names or anything because I’m afraid I’d leave somebody out. But so many helped us and I appreciate everybody that did anything for us.
But the main thing is I appreciate my Lord and savior because he sent the right people at the right time to help. And got us through it.
How did you come by the house?
We went down here at Clayton’s, and my husband picked it out. It’s laid out something similar to our old home, in a way, and in a way it’s not.
We had to replace our furniture, and they was so good. They was good about working with me, and when we did get our home they brought it immediately to us.
How has your life changed since the flood?
Well, it’s changed in so many ways. I’m more thankful. I thought I was thankful before it happened. But I am more thankful and more appreciative now more than ever of things – of simple things like hot water – that I thought I was thankful for before.
When you have to go without things for so long, and then you get it back, you’re more appreciative and more thankful of things and people. If it wasn’t for my lord and savor, I could not have made it. I could not have made it through it. Because he helped me to take it one day at a time. I’m just so grateful for him, and more appreciative.
But I miss my old home. Me and my husband have been married thirty-something years, and we lived here close to 30 years. But this is a new thing. And I’ve got to get used to it.
How have you seen Hampton heal and grow since the flood?
I believe people has come together and we all helped one another. But I believe now the community is more together and more caring. They was caring before, but it seems like more now. The people are helping one another. They’re reaching out to each other. And we’ve got a good community here. A real good community of people helping one another.
What’s next for you?
I am living one day at a time. One day at a time. That’s all we can do. Because we ain’t got no promise of tomorrow. To make the good of what I can do on this day. Yesterday’s gone. And tomorrow’s not mine. And to help me do my best for today. And to live a way the Lord wants me to live.
What does healing after Helene mean to you?
Just to trust the Lord more, lean more onto him, and let him lead. That’s what I need to do. That’s about the only way I can say it. Healing for me is just to trust the Lord and leave it to him.
This interview and transcript have been lightly edited for clarity.