For this past week, there was little more troubling than that initial flicker of the lights in the house before being plunged into darkness.

And, conversely, the thrill from the lights coming back on and a furnace firing back up could not be a more welcome feeling.

This has been the case for many people across our region, as three winter storms dumped ice and snow into Lawrence County and others in the Tri-State, bringing power outages, blocked roads, damaged homes and a host of problems.

And as, thankfully, is so often the case in a crisis, people stepped up to help out those in need.

Crews from AEP, Buckeye Rural Electric and others have been working tirelessly, in long shifts, to restore power to the thousands in the dark.

While city, village and ODOT crews, among others, have worked to treat and clear roads to make them passable. In addition to these workers, we have also heard of many citizens in the county pitching in to remove debris, whether its an individual with a chainsaw cutting a tree away or those lifting smaller branches out of drivers’ way.

And for those in need of warmth, we are thankful to those who have opened warming centers and shelters to keep many safe from the frigid temperatures, as well as those who checked in on neighbors and the spirit of community found from everyone pulling together.

As Lawrence County digs out and cleans up, we would also urge those who are back on their feet to think of parts of the country that were even harder hit by these storms, such as Texas, and consider donating to relief efforts.

The last year has been a difficult one for many – with the past 11 months seeing people already fatigued by a global pandemic.

A weather event of this kind an especially hard blow, but it has also seen heroism across the board and we are fortunate for all who have done their part.