WHEN MY 59-YEAR-OLD NEIGHBOR KNOCKED AT MIDNIGHT, I THOUGHT I WAS FIXING A PIPE, BUT I WAS REALLY SAVING MY OWN LIFE…

half hidden behind an old snow shovel, I found the main shutoff.

It took both hands and a muttered threat to get it turning, but finally it groaned and gave.

When I climbed back upstairs, my T-shirt clinging to my back, Caroline still stood in the middle of the flooded kitchen with that useless bucket held to her chest.

“It’s off,” I said.

Her shoulders continue reading …