Hats off to the folks in Carrsville who have helped one another out this week during the “dark” aftermath of Hurricane Irene.

Much of the town for several days was without electricity, just like much of Western Tidewater.

Carrsville residents and the American Red Cross opened the town’s community center and served hot meals, and passed out cases of water. Volunteers served about 100 meals on Monday, 200 at lunch and dinner Tuesday and expected as many or more on Wednesday.

A church in Hampton donated the food, while 100 cases of water came from Christian Outreach in Smithfield and 40 cases of water came from the Red Cross.

Some Carrsville residents also delivered meals to shut-ins and the elderly.

When times are tough, it’s always nice to know you can count on a neighbor.

seems like a tight-knit community. Sure, it’s probably a town where everyone knows everything about everybody, but that’s one of the trade-offs to the good that we see from small towns.

We hope you and everyone else affected by Irene made it through OK. Always find the good in the bad.