ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. — Hurricane Dorian pounded parts of Elizabeth City, North Carolina.
On Thursday, there were downed trees, downed power lines, and power outages across the city.
Heavy rainfall turned a stretch of Flora Street and Riverside Avenue into a lake, creating dangerous road conditions for drivers.
Neighbors said the road is no stranger to flooding, neither is the tiny shed on Margie Sawyer’s front yard, which stood feet away from the flooded road.
Sawyer didn’t want to take any chances with Dorian, so she had its foundation raised the night before the storm made landfall.
It’s not your typical shed filled with tools and lawnmowers.
Within its wooden walls, there’s a perfectly out-of-order art studio which holds her most prized possessions.
“I mean, it’s the world to me. It’s just my world,” said Sawyer.
Sawyer paints landscapes of different places, changing seasons, and different walks of life.
“If I’m painting, I’m in a good mood. If I’m not painting, I’m in a bad mood,” said Sawyer.
She sawyer anxiously waited for the storm to pass inside of her safe haven, hoping the floodwaters wouldn’t creep into her studio as they have in years past.
Dorian turned the lights off for many people throughout the city.
But inside of Sawyer’s studio, the colors within each framed painting are the center of her universe.
“It’s just everything. It’s just who I am, it’s wonderful,” said Sawyer.
For her, the paintings are worth riding out the storm.
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