Some time soon, someone is going to come up with the final numbers.

The number of homes destroyed—those damaged beyond repair, those that can be salvaged and those suffering only slight damage. The total loss in dollars. The number of people displaced. The number of storm-related injuries, both serious and minor. Unfortunately, we already know the death toll—three—and hope that number does not increase. The number of school buses destroyed and the cost to repair or replace Page Middle School. The number of volunteers. The hours they worked. The meals they served. Et cetera.

The human tragedy caused by a freak of nature on Saturday will finally get sorted out and categorized and filed away as the Tornado that Leveled Parts of Gloucester.

The human touch—the sense of loss, the sudden feeling of vulnerability, the gratitude for acts of kindness small and large, the impulse to help—can easily be swept aside by these figures.

One Gloucester woman who ...