MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
We're going to turn now to the natural disasters that have devastated parts of the Midwestern U.S. and Southeastern regions of Africa. First, residents of Nebraska are attempting to recover from the bomb cyclone that swept through the state causing historic flooding. Ann Marie Kepler is a cattle rancher assessing the damage.
ANN MARIE KEPLER: We lost around 155 acres of hay ground that we would typically put up in June and July. And that is a native grass hay meadow pasture. We mow that down and put that into big, round bales. And that's hay all winter for our cow herd.
MARTIN: Keppler and her husband are fifth-generation cattle ranchers. Their property's damage was significant, but some of their neighbors were worse off. Throughout all the destruction, Kepler, along with many Nebraskans, are coming together and rebuilding.
KEPLER: Sadly enough, when disasters happen, it does take sometimes that for the best of people to be brought out. So that's definitely showing in our state. And there's been a #NebraskaStrong hashtag and saying going around, and it really is true. People are really pulling together with each other to help each other out through this.
MARTIN: Across the globe, parts of Southern Africa are also experiencing severe flooding. More than 600 people have died since a cyclone hit parts of Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi.
CORRIE BUTLER: You're seeing absolute devastation - debris, trees, telephone poles along the low. Houses are completely destroyed, farmland lost, so people's livelihoods, and a lot of families that are just trying to find loved ones.
MARTIN: That's Corrie Butler. She's doing aid work in Mozambique with the Red Cross. She told us that as floodwaters recede, people are focused on rebuilding.
BUTLER: They just want to get back to their lives. They want to get back to their homes. They want to pick up and try to, you know, continue. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.