The numbers from the past ten days are hard to absorb. More than 11 inches of rain east of Indianapolis in a matter of days. The White River cresting at 23.96 feet at the Noblesville gauge, breaking a record that had stood since the Great Flood of 1913. More than 60 roads closed across Hamilton County. Families evacuated from Wapahani Drive, Luxhaven, Riverwood and beyond.

But the number I keep coming back to is 1,300. That is roughly how many people registered to volunteer through Noblesville Serve within days of the water rising. In a moment when it would have been understandable to stay home and count our own blessings, our neighbors lined up to help.

I recorded a special edition of my podcast with Mayor Scott Fadness, Fire Chief Ky Ragsdale and Police Chief Ed Gebhart, and later with Police Major Mike Janes and Fire Battalion Chief Chad Abel. What struck me in those conversations was not just the professionalism — though it was everywhere — but the humility. These are people who conducted dangerous water rescues, evacuated residents and their pets from rising water, and coordinated a response unlike anything in this city’s history, and they spent much of our conversation crediting everyone else.

So let me do some crediting of my own.

To the nonprofits: Noblesville Serve mobilized an army of volunteers almost overnight. The Hamilton County Community Foundation opened the door for financial contributions to flood relief. The Good Samaritan Network coordinated donated supplies so they reached the people who needed them. This is what a mature nonprofit community looks like — not scrambling, but executing.

To the faith community: churches across Fishers and Hamilton County collected and coordinated donations, opened their doors and did what congregations do best — showed up quietly, without needing recognition. They have it here anyway.

To the volunteers of the Fishers Fire Corps, who kept first responders fed and supplied through long hours so police officers, firefighters and rescue crews could stay focused on protecting lives: you were the support beam nobody saw and everybody needed.

And a special thanks to the Fishers Department of Public Works. Public works crews rarely make the highlight reel. But while rescues were underway, DPW employees were out in the same dangerous conditions — closing and barricading flooded roads, clearing debris, and keeping the city’s infrastructure functioning so emergency crews could do their jobs. When the mayor and chiefs talked about the teamwork behind this response, public works was named alongside police and fire, and deservedly so. When the water recedes, they are the ones still out there putting our city back together.

Fishers crews rescued residents from dozens of homes, brought 27 adults, five children and 20 pets to safety, and then — this is the part that gets me — traveled to Pendleton and Anderson to conduct rescues and delivered supplies to Pendleton and Tipton. In the middle of our own record-setting emergency, this community exported help.

The road ahead is long. Homes suffered extensive damage, and some neighbors face months of recovery. The test of this community will not end when the news cameras leave. But if the past ten days told us anything, it is this: when the water rose to historic levels, so did we.