Tales From the Flood: “In A lifetime I couldn’t return this generosity”

This is the story of Toma and Clara Pop, who came together in Haywood County, nearly lost each other, and found extraordinary grace in their community afterwards.

When the Pop’s Mundy Field home was swept off its foundation in the catastrophic flood of August 17, Toma, 73, went with it. He swam free at the last second and lashed himself to a tree, where he was battered and scraped by floating debris until help came. Clara, 57, waited in a panic at a roadblock near Frank’s Grocery in Bethel, where she’d been stopped by emergency personnel.