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PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- It's a season of joy, but the holidays can be hard for those grieving the loss of a loved one.

Therapists say everyone grieves differently, and the first part of coping is recognizing what you feel.

"You're physically feeling the loss of them not being there. It also just might represent something that's missing in your life in general," Jody Baumstein, a licensed therapist, said.

Experts say grief can come in waves, and it's important to give yourself a sense of control by having an exit plan for holiday gatherings or events.

"Thinking about if there's a quiet space, you may be able to go and be by yourself for a minute, or if there's somebody there who can support you. Or if you need to leave that event all together, what would that look like? Do you have your own transportation? Would it be easy for you to get home?" Baumstein said.

If it feels right, do something to honor your loved one, Baumstein advised.

"If you are enjoying talking about them, talk about them more, listen to their favorite music, cook their favorite meal, look at videos, pictures, whatever you want to do," she said. "Or if you want to do something in their honor, you can do a project or volunteer at an organization that meant something to them. And these are all ways that you can maintain that sense of connection."

Stephanie Stahl

Stephanie Stahl is an Emmy Award-winning health reporter. She can be seen daily on CBS News Philadelphia and Philly57.

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COLUMBIA – Gov. Henry McMaster and administration officials announced a long-awaited plan to respond to the impact of climate change on a growing population. Released June 29, the plan focuses on beefing up the state’s data collection efforts and conserving the state’s natural defenses against rising seas and stronger storms.

The hefty report, which runs 746 pages and contains more than 50 recommendations, focuses on better data collection efforts, mitigating flooding by conserving natural environments like swamps and forests and encouraging local governments to introduce regulations that reduce risky development in flood-prone areas.

The new effort is the direct work of the state's Office of Resilience, a cabinet agency that was created in 2021. Building resilience to increasingly strong storms is an ambitious goal for a new agency. The question remains: what will change for communities most affected by hurricanes?

A new focus on anticipating storm impacts is one of them.

"This work and our history is very tied to hurricanes," said Carissa Cochrane, the communications director for the South Carolina Office of Resilience. The predecessor of her current office was a temporary agency that went by another name — the South Carolina Disaster Recovery Office — which was formed in 2015 during the aftermath of Hurricane Joaquin.

Cochrane said the term "resilience" came to the forefront in the years the temporary agency was responding to Joaquin and later on hurricanes Matthew and Florence. In addressing hurricane recovery, she said, the state realized it needed to do a better job at collecting data, anticipating flood waters, increasing community awareness and safeguarding protective area that already exist.

They also were intentional about defining what resilience means for South Carolina.

"We define resilience as the ability of communities, economies and ecosystems to anticipate, absorb, recover and thrive when presented with environmental changes and natural hazards," said Cochrane.

One of the visible changes that coastal communities can expect as a result of the plan is a new flood hazard signage program. This will provide road signs that point out the high water mark in places with high storm surge. The height of the sign will be the height of high water mark, said Cochrane, and will help increase public awareness of hazard areas.

Another visible outcome will be the conservation of undeveloped natural areas, like coastal wetlands and forests, that already provide flood protection and mitigation.

The resilience office plans to hold public meetings within the state's eight watersheds to get local input on which areas should be prioritized for conservation and other resilience planning decisions. At the beginning of 2023, the office received a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Federation to hold a series of public meetings in the Salkehatchie River Basin. Cochrane said that could be a model to replicate in the state's seven other watersheds.

Coastal communities will not see these new flood signs or conserved areas pop up any time this year. Those projects will take time to roll out.

But state officials and the governor insisted that plan will provide an immediate benefit for this year's hurricane season: a much expanded effort to collect better data on flooding and flooded communities.

"Our state has a lot of water," McMaster told the press. Mostly, that’s a good thing, he said. "But we will have a problem if we don’t take the steps to find out what water we have, where we have it, when we have it."

The state's resilience plan is backed up some $200 million in funding McMaster secured from the legislature in this year’s budget negotiations for resiliency efforts.

The office also hopes to move quickly to drastically increase the number of weather stations and river and groundwater monitors around the state. The move will improve understanding of water patterns and how they’re changing, as well as improve the state’s ability to adapt and predict, said Alex Butler, the Office’s Resilience Planning Director, who led the creation of the report.

For instance, recent studies have shown that not only are South Carolina’s tides rising with climate change, the state’s coast is sinking, Butler said. But there aren’t any on-the-ground sensors measuring the phenomenon. It was discovered through remote sensing, which is often done with aerial or satellite observation, he said. The office hopes to change that, and fast.

Finally, the state hopes to use education, outreach and encouragement to local communities to introduce more stringent building regulations to ensure more homes and businesses aren’t built in risky areas. Butler said the office also hopes to create a “pre-disaster buyout” program that would offer cash to homeowners in flood-prone regions to move out before catastrophes. The current program only buys out homeowners after storms.

The resilience office intends to take the new plan on a statewide “road show” in the coming months to coordinate with local officials and watershed districts, Butler said.

The strategy offers another view of McMaster’s approach to climate change, which none of the speakers mentioned directly during the announcement.

McMaster has focused on adapting the state to climate change with a strong emphasis on conservation, while efforts to stem carbon emissions are not directly mentioned. Yet, McMaster has become a national leader on promoting electric vehicles and hosted a recent energy summit in Columbia that featured significant discussion of nuclear technology.

The resilience report itself contains myriad references to climate change and climate science.

“Here in South Carolina under the governor’s leadership, we’ve been able to dispel that you have to choose between economic and environmental sustainability,” Tom Mullikin, the former chairman of the S.C. Floodwater Commission and who has been deeply involved in shaping the state’s resilience policy, said June 29.

South Carolina is the second to last state on the Eastern Seaboard to adopt a resilience plan. But Ben Duncan, the state's chief resilience officer, stressed that they have been working on many of the initiatives outlined in the report since the office was founded in 2020.

"Every state has taken this differently. I wouldn’t say we’re late to the party, but … certainly there’s no time to lose," Butler said.

Hurricane Wire is a pop-up newsletter during hurricane season that delivers anyone who lives on the East Coast all the information they need to know as storms brew in the Atlantic and beyond.

There’s a moment each year when we feel the first kiss of summer.

It scorches our shoulders. We relax them. It flushes our cheeks. We lather them with sunscreen. It burns the bottom of our bare feet. We let the lapping ocean cool them. At that moment, some of us believe summer is a cure-all. It signals freedom for children, vacations for the lucky, and for the optimists – perpetual sunshine.

It’s so convincing that it’s easy to forget the major snag: Summer is here to stay. And it’s brutal.

In the Lowcountry, everything that made those first moments feel like a panacea can become a source of distress that can drag into October.

Temperatures hover in the 90s. Cloying humidity makes it feel at least 10 degrees warmer, sparking tempers and impatience. Frequent thunderstorms can dump inches of rain and cut power. Hurricane season is in full swing, triggering anxiety-provoking phone alerts and warnings.

Beyond physical exhaustion and lack of comfort, do months of unrelenting heat, storm advisories, hurricane threats and the changing climate have an impact on psychological well-being?

Cindy Lahar, a University of South Carolina-Beaufort psychology professor and program coordinator, doesn’t hesitate with the answer.

“Absolutely,” Lahar said. “There is no doubt.”

From a 30,000-foot view, research confirms what many may know.

As the weather warms, crime, aggressive behavior and domestic violence increase. Devastation from hurricanes and tornadoes can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder. And high heat increases symptoms of depression and affects sleep, according to the American Psychological Association.

Though, more commonly, it’s the little stressors that build and compound with everyday hassles.

“Today there’s a hurricane warning, and tomorrow it’s a whole week of 95 degrees, and now there’s the wildfires,” Lahar said. “We can handle stress, our body naturally manages stress, but not if it keeps going.”

Maybe the mind also races to fear of a loved one in Texas or New Mexico, experiencing daily heat waves, or the hundreds of wildfires in Canada that have triggered air quality alerts in the United States for weeks. Some people may even have Eco-anxiety, which the APA says is the “chronic fear of environmental doom.”

Stressors are especially high for people who are experiencing food and housing insecurity, and other socioeconomic factors, said Anna Baker, an assistant professor of psychology at Clemson University. When you add extreme weather, there are situations that could leave a person unable to evacuate or temporarily house their family in the threat of a hurricane.

Any way it’s filled, there’s trouble when the proverbial cup of micro-stressors overflows. It becomes too much for the body to adapt to, Lahar said, which never allows the body to come down from a heightened state. The dysregulation can cause depression and anxiety.

“Most people think of depression as a winter thing,” Baker said. “But down here you don’t have the issue of not getting the sunlight, you have the opposite issue.”

The summer sun is blazing and perpetually miserable.

One health survey of millions in America found that for every couple degrees the temperature rose, there was an increase in self-reported mental health problems.

Another study, reviewing medical records of 2.2 million people who visited emergency departments across the U.S. between 2010 and 2019, showed a link between rising heat and visits for mental health issues. Proportionately, as temperatures ticked up, so did visits for issues such as anxiety and mood disorders, self-harm, and substance abuse.

Not only is it emotionally draining to deal with volatile weather patterns, the stressors surrounding them can take a physical toll beyond heat lethargy and dehydration. Lahar said stress causes blood pressure to rise, a racing heart and a weakened immune system.

“A lot of times we use our physical state to interpret our emotions,” Baker said.

Heat exhaustion causes lethargy, making a person feel so bad that they avoid the outside altogether. The isolation, and mental and physical feeling of tiredness, can worsen depression symptoms.

But with dangerous heat boiling the South, deadly flooding decimating parts of the Northeast and experts saying climate change will only make both worse, it’s hard to avoid not feeling something – physically or psychologically.

There’s no magic pill, but coping isn’t as Herculean a task as it may seem.

It’s difficult to reckon that a day at the beach – a place promising healing and rejuvenation – could create new problems.

Navigating the mentally and physically taxing Lowcountry summer heat isn’t about isolating in a 72-degree room for five months. Well, it could be. But for Lahar and Baker, it’s about strengthening physical and emotional resilience.

Part of that is what your momma told you. Eating well, staying hydrated and exercising work wonders. The big one, and maybe the hardest in our whirlwind, plugged-in and screen-obsessed world?

“People underestimate sleep,” Baker said. “It’s huge for cognition (and) for mental health.”

Then there’s what meteorologists want people to do: Prepare and do what you’re told.

Have emergency bags ready. Locate evacuation routes. Start hoarding water jugs and non-perishables early. Know where to get up-to-date, accurate weather information before a tornado warning sounds. Know where shelters are located. Is there transportation to those shelters?

“Preparation is the first thing when we look at our own survival. ” Lahar said as the first step to lessening anxiety around storms. “You’ve got to take care of your own safety.”

Without it, when a weather emergency is rumbling its way in, meeting those safety needs can feel too overwhelming.

Find a strong social network – neighbors, friends and family to laugh with and stay positive, Lahar said. Check on them often. And check on the people you don’t know. Helping others, such as volunteering at a shelter or handing out supplies after severe weather hits, is an effective way to work through mounting anxiety and depression.

“Depression is living in the past, anxiety is worrying about the future,” Baker said. “When we have that focus on either helping someone else or engaging with friends, we’re in the present moment.”

This story was originally published July 20, 2023, 9:20 AM.

ROCK HILL, S.C. — A Rock Hill family is getting hope, thanks to the community, after a devastating diagnosis: Derek Ingram, a young father of three, is battling ALS.

The Ingrams say they were stunned at the outpouring of community support- after their story was initially detailed on WCNC Charlotte, but that was back in December. It's unbelievable how much Derek has lost just in the last few months.

It is the little things that seem so big now.

PREVIOUSLY: Charlotte father of three hoping for a second miracle this Christmas following ALS diagnosis

"Kate loves to eat snacks with him, she gives herself a cracker and then her daddy a cracker and she loves that," Derek's wife, Amber, told WCNC Charlotte.

2 1/2-year-old Kate and Elle, who just turned one, are so young they don’t really understand what’s happened to their dad in the last year.

"It's like a flash you were able to do something two weeks ago that now is a challenge," Amber said.

Young father of 3 diagnosed with ALS

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WCNC

But 7-year-old Beau knows exactly the toll ALS has taken on his dad. Just a year ago Derek was coaching Beau's little league team. Now he can only watch as his wife Amber subs in.

"It's hard for him, baseball season is gearing up and this time last year Derek was coaching," Amber explained.

You can stream WCNC Charlotte on Roku and Amazon Fire TV, just download the free app.

Derek has lost so much just in the last few months.

"Still feels like I’m in a bad dream that I can’t wake up from," Derek said.

He can barely talk now. The couple is trying to record his voice while he still has one.

"So he can record himself saying things like 'I love you.' Simple things he won’t be able to communicate if his voice continues to decline," Amber said.

"It's like being a prisoner stuck in my own body," Derek said. "My mind is still sharp."

When we first met the couple last November, Derek could get around on his own using his motorized wheelchair. Now he needs someone to put his hand on the joystick.

"It's not even day-by-day a lot of times, it's minute-by-minute," Amber said. "We have really good moments and some really defeating and all the things in between."

MORE NEWS: North Carolina 8-year-old to leave the hospital after January shooting

Derek says the hardest part is not being able to be the hands-on dad he was before. His 7-year-old quietly stepped in.

"In some ways [they] have reverse roles, he's picked up a lot of the things Derek would do, helping me get the girl's shoes on," Amber said."We're just hanging on to every little thing and refusing to give up."

Still, she says, they are hopeful the disease will slow its wrecking ball path. That’s in part because they know so many people are joining their fight. After our initial story aired, donations poured in to their GoFundMe.

"The encouragement we’ve received, people who have walked the same journey who get it who have reached out for encouragement, prayers, financial contributions, it’s just been a tremendous blessing for our family- we’re able to now afford a caregiver Monday-Friday," Amber said.

Local non-profit All Things Possible helped raise money and gifted them a wheelchair accessible van.

As another Valentine’s Day arrives, supply chain issues continue to plague small businesses around the Midlands. Floral shops are no exception.

Due to a high demand for flowers, increasing shipping costs and lack of supply, Floral Elegance by Jourdain in Columbia has had to raise prices this Valentine’s Day. Owner Ruby Jourdain said she hasn’t seen anything like this during her 35 years in the floral business as she has gone from vendor to vendor searching for flowers and vases.

While demand is about the same, she said, “the cost is a lot more and securing the product is a lot harder this year than ever before.”

Floral Elegance is not alone in struggling to find Valentine’s Day musts. Nearly 42% of wholesale small business respondents reported foreign supplier delays in late 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This includes Jourdain, who says she gets her roses from South America.

Jarrett’s Jungle, a florist in West Columbia, also buys a lot of flowers from overseas. According to Jackie Macaulay, the owner of the shop, shipping delays have resulted in quality and quantity issues.

“We’re not having that big of a problem because we’re not that big of a volume business, but I know it’s affecting everyone who’s a florist right now,” Macaulay said. “Not being able to get the quantities and qualities that you were always used to.”

Keith Skowronski, an assistant professor in the University of South Carolina’s Darla Moore School of Business, said a lot of supply chain issues are due to labor shortages and a decrease in demand over the last couple years.

“All supply chains, in general, are tough things to change or turn them off to turn back on. It’s not a light switch,” Skowronski said.

These supply chain issues come at an unfortunate time for florists who say February is the busiest time of the year for flower orders. However, Macaulay said she has adjusted by getting her flowers from more accessible places like Florida and California.

Despite this year’s setbacks, Floral Elegance has had more orders this Valentine’s Day compared to years past, said Joe Price, a delivery driver for the shop.

“People are going to buy for their loved ones even if it means budgeting other places,” Jourdain said. “You got to have flowers for Valentine’s Day.”

Other Valentine’s Day gifts – such as stuffed animals and gift bags – haven’t been much of a problem to buy for Jourdain.

Both Jourdain and Macaulay encourage customers to order as soon as possible. Macaulay says with a limited amount of flowers this year, customers may miss out if they order too late.

“I think we have 550 or 600 roses ordered, so once I sell all of those dozens, then I don’t have anymore and I’m not sure if I can get anymore,” she said. “Plus, I’m not sure if I can make them all if I do get more than that.”

Amid these challenges, Jourdain remains positive with just a few days until Valentine’s Day.

“I think we’ll be able to pull it off,” she said. “I’m optimistic.”

Ruby Jourdain, 86, has owned Floral Elegance for almost 35 years.

ABOUT THE JOURNALISTS

Cam Adams

Cam Adams is a senior multimedia journalist from Greenwood, South Carolina. He writes at Metsmerized Online, part of the USA Today Network. Adams has worked as a sports writer and an assistant sports editor at The Daily Gamecock, the student paper at UofSC. In his free time, Adams enjoys watching Marvel movies and keeping up with sports. He plans to become a sports writer at a daily newspaper where he can use his skills to best serve that community.

Abigail Brandon

Abigail Brandon is a multimedia journalist from Columbia, South Carolina, with a passion for radio. She has worked at UofSC’s college radio station WUSC as a DJ and as a reporter for WUSC News. She is known for telling a good story and plans to transfer that talent into telling engaging and informative audio stories.