DILLON, SC (WBTW) – Thanksgiving celebrations are taking on a special meeting at many Pee Dee tables this year, where many are still recovering from Hurricane Matthew’s devastation.
“Father God we thank you for once again bringing us here together in the name of Jesus,”
The prayer before dinner at the Manning family home on 1st Avenue in Dillon Thursday served as a stark reminder of just how far this family has come in the few short weeks since the storm.
“God giveth, and God taketh away,” said Diane Manning. She and her family said they’re thankful their landlord along with the rest of the community gave this street the help it needed to rebuild.
“From 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. whenever it got dark, they quit and the next morning they was up here.”
Manning said the whole neighborhood was surprised at how quickly the repairs happened with their landlord’s help.
:He’d put in fans, he’d knock out bricks from under the house to let air in to dry them up, and they worked them straight through,” she said.
Manning’s home, along with many others’ on this street was heavily damaged by rising floodwaters as Hurricane Matthew passed over the area.
Now just over a month since the storm, Manning said she always knew that not having Thanksgiving at her house was not going to be an option.
“We would have had it on the outside, cause they always come here,” said Manning
