When sudden, record-breaking flooding tore through the Baton Rouge area in August of 2016, a city struggling to recover from another major tragedy stood up once more to join hands. Landscapes that had never taken on water in recorded history suddenly found themselves submerged, with houses, cars and furniture going under with them. Thousands of Louisiana citizens lost everything but the clothes on their backs, but thanks to a surge of community sentiment and the rapid response of volunteers, some intangibles—family, friends and unsinkable pride—remained.

With the timely and artistic efforts of photographers Collin Richie and Frank McMains, inRegister captured images of flood victims and their devastated homes in a series of photos that soon caught the attention of national media outlets like USA Today and NPR.

Each photo demonstrates the resilience shared by victims and volunteers of all genders, ages, races and creeds, and the quotes and backstories shed light on the remarkable efforts to rebuild not just the city, but the social bonds within it.

To see more images from our photo essay, “Faces of the Flood,” revisit the cover story of the September 2016 issue of inRegister.