It has been a full year since "The Flood of 2006."

For many of us, the memories are still open wounds. The last thing we needed was a reminder of the damage massive torrents of water can do.

But that’s just what happened last week in Delaware County where four lives were taken in a flash flood.

Only two bodies have been found, but days ago, officials stopped calling their efforts a rescue operation and started calling it a recovery operation.

That meant there was no hope of finding the two missing people alive. The next step came Monday, when even the recovery operation was called off.

More deaths, more property damage _ an estimated $17 million in the Colchester area _ more lives disrupted, more roads closed.

More of everything we had to endure a year ago in a much-larger flood.

We can see two lessons from what has happened recently and a year ago.

The more obvious one is that for all of man’s pride in being on top of the planet’s food chain, for all our inventions and intelligence, we are constantly at the mercy of our environment.

It could be a snowstorm or a heat wave or a massive flood. Whatever it is, we will have to adjust to it, rather than it adjusting to us.

The second lesson is that whatever we do, we are at our best sticking together to do it.

Our area came together remarkably well in the wake of "The Flood of 2006." People helped people. Folks took in neighbors whose homes were destroyed.

Charities received incredible amounts of contributions to help those affected most by the flood.

We are proud of the people who have worked so hard to do so much. We’re also proud that this newspaper did its small part to help us all come together. First, as a conduit of news and eraser of rumors about dams that didn’t burst and looting that didn’t happen.

The Daily Star website, which usually receives about 50,000-60,000 page views a day, averaged more than a million per day for the first two weeks after the flood.

In addition to our daily coverage, we published a special section and a book on the flood that helped raise $3,000 for local flood relief.

Part of the proceeds from the DVD version of the book now on sale will also go to flood-relief efforts. A special section commemorating the year’s anniversary of the flood can also be found in today’s Daily Star.

Three lives were lost a year ago as a result of the flood. Estimates of the property damage go well past $100 million. We are, in fact, still recovering.

But we are a tough, compassionate people. We have been equal to the challenges of the past year. We will be equal to the challenges of the future.

As long as we stick together.