CHARLOTTE, NC — The Catawba River in northwest Charlotte has receded only to reveal the extent of the damage for people living in the Riverside Drive community. Residents there are now allowed back in their homes. “It took everything. I mean, it took not even just my present, but my past,” said Whitney Olivares. Chris and Whitney Olivares have only lived here a year but their whole lives were in this home. “I just wanted to get home. I wanted to get working. I wanted to start clearing out. I want to save what we can because every day that stuff was underwater we were losing things,” Countless items in their garage was caked in mud, some of it costly, some of it priceless like family photos, wedding dresses and journals. While Riverside Drive resident, Julie Rollins, was cleaning up, she found these photos along her damaged fence line. Problem is, it’s not her family. “I was very emotional because these people probably don’t have they probably lost all everything in their home,” continued Rollins, “hopefully we can we can give this gift back to them.” Charlotte Emergency Management was in the neighborhood giving out cleaning supplies along with food and water. With streets covered in debris, cleaning and keeping a positive attitude is all that can be done when so much is lost. ‘If you let life knock you down, you’ll never get back up one foot in front of the other. Take a bite out of the elephant and move forward one day at a time,” Rollins said.