A few days ago, Mahmoud Saeed boarded a plane for a trip that is sure to be filled with trepidation.

He wasn't a Californian returning to a wildfire-singed Sonoma County town, or a Puerto Rican going back to a home that collapsed in Hurricane Maria's fury. Still, he knew what he might find. And at the same time, he couldn't fully prepare for the scenes of devastation that would await him.

The acclaimed Iraqi author had not seen his beloved hometown in six long years. And while Mosul had been freed from the so-called Islamic State, it would never be the same. He knew that when he finally arrived, the city that shaped him from a young boy to manhood would be unrecognizable. Mosul had survived thousands of years of myriad rulers and cultures, but ISIS dealt it a death knell.