Around 5 a.m. on October 11, Salem resident Grant Bradley received a call from his mother who lives in New York City.

“She mentioned that she saw on TV that Southwest Virginia was going to get some significant rain,” Bradley, 49, said. “She just wanted to make sure that I was adequately prepared.” Tropical Storm Michael, according to the National Hurricane Center, left nearly 500,000 Virginians without power. At approximately 8:45 a.m. on October 11, the National Weather Service issued a flash flood emergency for both Roanoke County and Salem. Many Southwest Virginia residents received several inches of rain, which caused some to seek refuge at the Salem Civic Center until the floodwaters receded.

Occupants living in Salem’s River Walk Apartments had to be removed last Thursday as the Roanoke River continued to rise. The Salem Fire and EMS Department evacuated more than 100 local residents and the department’s Swiftwater team performed 24 rescues and aided stranded citizens in Roanoke County, as well. Unlike Hurricane Florence, which hit Virginia in early September, Michael was identified as a high-end Category 4 storm. An estimated $8 billion in damages throughout the United States was caused between October 7 and October 16.

As soon as Nick Lawson realized that several inches of rain were likely to hit his Salem home, he stocked up on emergency supplies and talked to his family about protecting their personal belongings. The married father of three lives only a mile away from the Salem Wal-Mart. “I looked at it as an opportunity to have a teachable family moment,” Lawson said. “My kids asked a lot of questions, and I made sure that they understood everything.” Before leaving for work at 8:30 a.m., Michael Morrow also stocked up on emergency supplies and had a talk with his family. “I basically told them that even though it’s just a few inches of rain, don’t underestimate the type of damage that it can do. By the end of the day, I had gotten my point across.” Willie Johnson, a Salem resident for over a decade, described Tropical Storm Michael as “a small reminder of why it’s important to never doubt the impact of a storm, regardless of how it’s identified.”

Part of what makes Salem such a unique city, according to Willie, is the hospitality shown to each other. “Several of my neighbors called to check on me and asked if I needed anything, including my friends Grant (Bradley) and Nick (Lawson),” Johnson said. “I’ve lived in other parts of the country and trust me, that is not always the case.” Some Salem residents captured footage of the rising floodwaters and posted it on social media. For Curtis Banks, he did so partly to inform his family on the West Coast that he was just fine. “I wasn’t as prepared for the storm as I should have been. That won’t happen again. Hopefully, everyone learned something from Tropical Storm Michael.”