Several weeks ago, many of us were humbled by the good works of our neighbors who donated their time and energy, their money and their desire to do good, to those who were affected by the tornado that destroyed the homes of several Belhaven/Pantego residents.

Little did we know that that tornado — though certainly disastrous — was merely a mild warning of things to come. So here we are, just a few weeks later, again reeling from the sheer power of such a storm. One so powerful, in fact, it reduced homes to splinters, tore roofs from houses, twisted the wide trunks of pine trees in half, as if they were no more substantial than twigs — all within a matter of seconds.

The response was amazing. By 9 a.m. Saturday morning, there were armies of people all over the county helping tornado victims pick up all that had been scattered in the winds of an EF3 tornado. At Douglas Crossroads alone, there must have been 30 chainsaws running simultaneously, run by people who simply showed up with their tools to see if they could help. Others could be seen simply handing out water and food to those busy with the recovery process.

It seemed like everyone pitched in.

Often, at the Daily News, we get to report about such things. But rarely are we active participants or recipients of such. After all, there is no reason to be — as newspaper, it’s our job to stand back and simply tell what’s happening.

That is, until tonight.

Today, as part of downtown Washington was plunged into darkness because of a tragic fire — one that took the church home of roughly 250 active members of the First Christian Church — the Daily News had a dilemma. We had no electricity and thus, no way to put together a paper. We would have to find a place to move our newsroom on the fly, a place with electricity of course.

We found it. As we sit in the back of the Inner Banks Artisans’ Center on Main Street in Washington, in a room more commonly known as the Union Alley Coffeehouse, more commonly used to entertain music lovers with live performances, the newsroom staff of the Daily News is putting together a paper.

We asked, and without hesitation, Inner Banks Artisans’ Center owner Bob Henkel said, “Sure, come on over.”

It’s long past closing time at the Inner Banks Artisans’ Center and we may not have put together a work of art, but like many people in the county over the last few weeks who are the recipients of those who just seem to give and give and then give some more, we are humbled by the generosity of the people in our community.

Thank you, Bob. And thank you all.