TRIGGER WARNING: This story contains some stark descriptions of a natural disaster. If you find that confronting (like me) then this may not be the story for you.
Disclaimer: All characters etc are property of DC Comics, Warner Bros and anyone else that has a stake in them... which doesn’t include me.
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They had no warning.
One moment it was a regular day, and the next they were fighting for their lives as a wall of water smashed down on top of them.
I hang in the air, swallowing hard against the lump in my throat as I survey the area of unspeakable devastation.
I tried to help. I tried. I’m Superman, but even I couldn’t stop this. I wasn’t fast enough, wasn’t strong enough. Wasn’t enough.
People have died down there, I know it.
When cars have been deposited in trees.
When bridges have been washed away.
When whole houses have been thrown around like toys from the force of the water.
What chance does a person have?
Somewhere, in that seething, swirling mass of debris and thick brown water, there are people that need my aid. I’ll dive again and again to find them. I’ll bring as many of them to safety as I can. Saving them and failing them simultaneously. I can save their lives, but I can’t bring back what they’ve lost. I can’t heal the trauma of what they’ve been through.
I spot movement, the frantic attempts of a man trying to pull a child out of the waters and onto the precariously tilted roof of what used to be their home, and I dive towards them. I can save the lives of this family. It’s not enough; will never really be enough.
But it has to be.
