So many of us remember Sept. 11, 2001, the terrorist attack on American soil. People immediately began to cocoon because they felt that home was a haven, a place to feel safe. In March 2020, a pandemic shut down everything except the essential workers. Students attended virtual classes as everyone was locked down, “safe” at home.

It is now a month since yet another catastrophe has occurred, settled over Columbiana County — the train derailment in East Palestine. This environmental disaster has been compared to Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. Some of us have been around long enough to remember those crises as well. Children from Chernobyl were brought to our county and to host families all over the United States, to provide vitamins and nutrition to boost the children’s immune systems before returning to their homeland. The humanitarian effort was what grass roots here could do to help.

“For the people of East Palestine, the unknown factors seem insurmountable,” says Carolyn Givens, chief of operations at Family Recovery Center. “So much uncertainty, whether they can continue to live in their homes, or if their homes will ever be worth anything in the future, let alone drink the water or even take a bath or shower for fear of the water, has become their reality overnight. This is post-traumatic stress.”

But the event that occurred does not affect only East Palestine. Cause and effect: What happens at this point trickles down to what happens at a point farther down the line. What doesn’t impact you at the moment, may eventually affect you.

The train derailment has shaken this entire region. There still are no real answers for the families in the worst-stricken area, an area of mostly lower-income families, said Samantha DiCello, a Family Recovery Center staffer who lives in East Palestine. All they have are their homes, and there is no reassurance that home is safe for them, for their families, their children. It is not easy to just pack up and leave.

She ordered groceries for delivery during the weekend. The delivery time kept being pushed back and pushed back, and she realized that it was because nobody wanted to deliver in East Palestine. In contrast, she said, here are Erin Brockovich and former President Donald Trump coming in. There are contradictions that shake trust. Who can be trusted to give these American citizens the truth? One day the residents are told the air and water are safe. The next they are told not to drink the water. There is so much uncertainty, and it is weighing on the mental health of many.

East Palestine’s school officials have offered students the option of returning to virtual classrooms for the rest of the school year.

Mental health is of concern as the days turn to weeks with no solid information to make major life decisions. All anyone seems to be able to do is wait. And it could be 20 or 25 years before anyone will know the full impact of this disaster.

The Columbiana County Health Department and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services have opened a health assessment clinic at the First Church of Christ, 20 W. Martin St., East Palestine. Residents can talk about concerns and receive a health assessment by calling (234) 234-564-7755 or (234) 564-7888.

Family Recovery Center staff, noting that this crisis takes them back to our COVID days, is ready to help with the stress and strain on the residents. Students who need someone to talk to. Families struggling emotionally to get through each day of insecurity.

“Where will they be in three weeks?” asked James Stitt, director of FRC’s education department. “They need to know they can talk to someone.” He advised that FRC has lessons that teachers can use to send out to their students. To continue interaction with school, Zoom meetings can be arranged by calling FRC. Families also can call FRC to learn how the agency can be a resource for them. Clinical’s doors at FRC are open during daily business hours and four evenings a week for anyone needing someone to talk to.

Family Recovery Center has professional staff who are ready to listen when you have no one else to talk to. The goal is for the health and well-being of all. For information about the agency’s treatment and education programs, contact FRC at 1010 N. Sixth St., Steubenville; by phone at (740) 283-4946; by e-mail at info@familyrecovery.org; or by visiting the website at familyrecovery.org. FRC is funded in part by United Way of Jefferson County.