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Hurricane Helene threw a wicked curveball when she descended upon the Southeast week before last. In west Georgia we were dreading something even worse than 1995’s Opal. It looked like Helene would travel straight up our side of the state and into Tennessee. But she had other plans.

My husband and I were in Charleston that week for a long-planned getaway. We had an adventure getting home on Friday. I’m calling it an adventure and not complaining, because it is in no way comparable to the suffering of thousands of people in Helene’s path. I tell the story to spotlight helpful angels and lessons learned.

Charleston was windy but bright on Friday morning. We looked at radar readings, and Atlanta was still getting wet but the moisture was lifting northward. So when the Maps app sent us on the longer route home, skirting Savannah instead of Atlanta, it made sense. We had half a tank of gas and a plan to get into Georgia and stop for a rest break and a fill up.

We had no idea what the eastern bands of Helene had done to southeast Georgia the night before. Traveling west outside of Savannah on I-16, our fuel started getting low. If you know that part of I-16, you know that exits are few, far between, and quiet. Trying a couple of exits, we came across closed convenience stores and disabled gas pumps. No power and no cell service.

Approaching a Statesboro exit and the hope of power in a larger town, our gas needle was dipping below the E. But the gas station at that exit was another fail. There were random people hanging out there as there had been at the previous locations. Something drew me to a man beside a truck, who told me that there was power about ten miles down the road (in Statesboro proper) but that cars were wrapped around it in long lines. I didn’t think my car would make it ten miles, much less sit in a line, but, running out of options, we headed that way.

Miraculously, we made it to the Walmart Market where the gas was, parked the car, and wandered into a Hampton Inn. The sweet young ladies at the desk said we were welcome to a room for the night IF they could get someone in to clean the rooms that had just been vacated by guests departing early. They offered us a cool place to sit and a beverage. Since I had cell service again I called my daughter, who was dog-sitting for us. She offered to come rescue us, but that seemed too much to ask.

I’ll have to briefly mention the angels who appeared next. My ex’s wife contacted a Georgia Southern student who came to sit in the gas line for us. The busy Market had no gas cans, but helpful employees hooked us up with a giant water jug and a funnel. We got out of Statesboro but immediately encountered trees downed across the interstate for about four miles which turned into a two hour stop-and-start drive through holes cleared by highway crews. Still no power on the other side of that mess, and we were running out of gas again. We had reserved just enough in the jug to finally get us to a working gas station. We made it home late that night after a 13-hour journey.

Lessons learned: Top off your gas tank before embarking on a road trip. Keep your cool and embrace the kindness of strangers (angels?) when in a predicament. Say grateful prayers for how inconsequential your inconveniences are when others are dealing with disasters. And look for ways to be someone else’s angel.