"MY TEACHER MADE ME SIT IN THE RAIN FOR AN HOUR BECAUSE MY HOUSE FLOODED. I THOUGHT I WAS ALONE UNTIL A 5-YEAR-OLD BOY WALKED INTO THE STORM WITH A THERMOS. The water didn’t come all at once. It crept. By 3:00 AM, the basement of our small rental in suburban Ohio was a lake of sewage and ruined memories. I spent the whole night wading through chest-deep water, trying to save my mom’s old photo albums and the only heater we owned. When I walked into English class at 8:00 AM, I was shaking. I was