When work begins on Monday to remove debris from the Lumber River that might again exacerbate flooding should the worst happen for a third time, then it will have taken 1,045 days since Hurricane Matthew provided in devastating detail what Mother Nature is capable of when the stew is properly brewed.

At least in Robeson County; the removal of debris downstream, in neighboring Columbus County, was recently competed.

So this much is clear: Floodwaters rise much more quickly than government, local, state and federal, can engage to mitigate potential damage from a catastrophic event. We see no reason for it to have taken this long, but celebrate that something is finally being done.

It took a second hurricane, Florence, to remind us again of our vulnerability and to mobilize the troops. Perhaps that is because we fooled ourselves when Matthew hit, convinced it was a once-in-a-500-year event, and the problem of a cluttered river could be left for generations to come.

The work is for removal of debris, downed trees, branches, litter, cars, sofas, beaver dams, anything that might get stuck in the river and impede its ability to flow. The river will not be dredged, which is not permitted by the U.S. Corps of Engineers, so there will be no deepening or widening of it. It will be interesting to see what is pulled from the 80 miles of river in this county, but very little would surprise us.

A secondary benefit will be that the river, a state park deemed wild and scenic, will become even more beautiful, scenic and inviting for those who enjoy it for recreational purposes, such as fishing, canoeing, kayaking or camping beside it.

The big question, one that no one with whom we have spoken seems to be able to answer with conviction, is how much will this snag-and-drag effort help should Lumberton and Robeson County again experience the kind of rain we saw during Matthew and then Florence.

We have our own opinion, as uninformed as it likely is, and it can be shared in a single word. Some.

Removing debris from the river can only accelerate its flow during heavy rains, a tropical storm or a hurricane, but how much it would mitigate the messes made by Matthew and Florence is a calculation beyond us. During both hurricanes, the problem appeared not only with the river’s inability to empty itself of so much rain so quickly, but that tributaries that fed it were also clogged and slow-moving or stagnant.

That prompted an ongoing effort to remove debris from those canals, streams and ditches, much of that work being inside Lumberton at a cost of $2 million.

If little else, the effort to unclog the river should provide a bit of comfort to skittish residents of Lumberton, Robeson County and the surrounding area as we get deeper into the hurricane season, and we are left helpless to watch week after week as storm systems brew off the coast of Africa and meander in our general direction.

If another epic storm does punch us in the gut, then we will know better if unclogging the river did more than provide false comfort. Our wish is that we can never know its benefit with precision.