The Aftermath of Helene

 I think we all remember Hurricane Helene and the devastation it caused in the southern US. 234 deaths were attributed to the storm. But that was "way back" in September, and since then, we've had a major election to distract us, and many have moved on. However, the effects are still very present and real to the people living in the area.

Blog friend Danielle at Sweet Tea Reads lives in North Carolina, one of the hardest-hit areas from Helene. On her blog, she recently posted a personal update and suggestions on things you can do to help. She has kindly given me permission to repost those here. The first will be a personal update, and the second will be about helping. The posts are longer than I usually post, but they are full of important, reliable information. In case you are interested in an update, here they are. 

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A Helene Update

First of all, we have home internet again!  We finally got it back at the end of October.  It has gone in and out a few times since then, but it seems to be working overall. 

I’m going to try to answer all of the questions from my last Helene post, emails, etc. 

The first thing everyone wants to know is if things are back to normal.  They’re definitely not.  We have times when it feels like things are normal again, but I don’t think an entire day has been like it was before. 

Everywhere we go, there’s damage.  The city and county aren’t able to keep up with picking up the debris, so there are still trees down all over the place.  People’s ruined belongings are still piled up next to the street, waiting to be picked up.  So many houses were underwater.  There’s a lot to pick up. 

Most of the parks are still closed.  We went a couple of weeks ago to one that was partially re-opened, and there’s still so much damage.  Several of the trails and fields aren’t open.  We took a trail that went under one of the bridges that was flooded during the storm.  We both drive over this bridge almost every day, and it still seems surreal that the bridge was underwater during the worst of the flooding.  You can see where storm debris wedged into part of the bridge.

There’s a street sign in a creek.

There’s still a layer of silt on everything that was underwater.  You can see a lot of it on this tree.

There are still entire roads gone.  Some people are still using footbridges and ATVs to access their communities.  We’re some of the fortunate ones who can drive to home and work.  But there are still so many roads that are down to one lane or don’t have guardrails.  A lot of bridges are still out.  Several bridges are down to one lane or don’t have any kind of guardrails. 

We had our first significant amount of rain since Helene last week, and it definitely made people a little edgy and anxious.  I have a hard time sleeping when it rains at night.  There are still so many things that aren’t fixed and roads and trees that are barely hanging on.  What would otherwise be minor flooding could potentially cause a lot of damage right now. 

Our furnace isn’t fixed yet.  We’ve been denied property damage assistance from FEMA because there was “no property damage reported.”  We’ve gone in person to the disaster relief center, and I’ve called.  Everyone agrees that our application clearly shows property damage.  They told us to appeal the decision, so we’re currently waiting for the decision on our appeal.  My sister was nice enough to set up a fundraiser for us in the meantime.

That brings me to FEMA.  Everyone we’ve dealt with from FEMA has been incredibly nice.  And entirely unhelpful.  Other people have said the same thing, that FEMA didn’t help them at all, but it was almost hard to be upset about it because they were so nice.  No one seems to be able to figure out any kind of pattern or rationale for the assistance people get from FEMA.  I’m only sharing firsthand stories from people I’ve known for years, but some of the examples are:

A friend had a very similar thing happen to their furnace.  They received a significant portion of the cost of the replacement by early October. 

One friend was without power for 12 days and lost all of the food in their fridge and freezer.  They’re on a well, so they also had no water and had to get bottled water for everything.  They have a medical condition that requires daily nebulizer treatments and had to buy a generator for that.  They submitted a letter from their doctor stating as much with their FEMA application.  They were denied all aid, including help with food. 

Another friend had flooding in their basement.  A FEMA inspector came to their house, and they’ve received what they said is more money than it will likely cost to fix all of the damage. 

So, really, I think if you asked five different people about their experience with FEMA, you would get five different answers. 

A lot of people ask about outside help and media coverage.  Initially, there were people from all over.  There were so many power trucks from so many different states and even Canada.  There were volunteers from all over coming to help with things.  But it has been almost two months at this point.  People had to go back to their regular lives, and there have been other disasters and problems. 

The optics are different now, too.  Initially, there was water everywhere.  It’s easy to see that something is wrong when roads are underwater, and people are in lines for bottled water and MREs.  While there is certainly still an unbelievable amount of damage from floods and landslides, some things look normal again.  Some of the places that don’t have potable water have running water. The towns are no longer underwater, so it doesn’t necessarily look like the infrastructure isn’t back to normal.   Take our house, for example; it looked bad when our crawlspace looked like this. 

It looks normal now, even though it isn’t.

I think, too, everyone thinks of hurricanes as a summertime problem.  I certainly never would have thought about hurricane damage causing significant problems heading into wintertime.  This article is a good example of what some of the smaller towns are facing. 

In reading over this post, I feel like it has turned into a total whine fest, which was not my intention.  We are definitely some of the lucky ones.  Our house is still standing, and we got through the immediate aftermath with the best neighbors in the world.

And there are moments of normalcy every day now.

The chickens still come over every day for their snack.

The cats are still being adorable. 

We all know that things will eventually get back to normal.  And I promise my next post will be more cheerful.  

Sunday, October 20, 2024

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Wednesday, November 20, 2024

So, Who Is Helping?

I’ve been asked several times since Helene which organizations have been the most helpful here, and I’m going to try to answer that question in this post.  Hopefully, without rambling too much.

Photo Credit Here

Please remember, though, that I’m one person in one little piece of western North Carolina.  There are over 20 counties in NC alone that were badly affected by Hurricane Helene.  I don’t work in emergency management, and I have no experience in responding to disasters.  I’m just one person sharing my observations.  If you’ve visited much before, it probably won’t come as a surprise that most of the links I share will be for animal rescues, feeding people, and helping first responders.  Those are some of the things I care most about. 

Please also remember that the entire western part of the state was affected.  There are significant terrain and elevation changes between some of the counties affected.  In addition to experiencing differing levels of damage, different places are dealing with different types of weather after the event.  If one local organization has a particular need, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the entire area will have the same need. 

I encourage anyone who plans to donate, particularly money, to do your homework.  Visit Charity Navigator, listen to your instincts, and think about what you’re passionate about. 

My first suggestion is that, unless you are in direct contact with an individual and/or organization in the affected area, don’t purchase supplies, especially now.  From what I’ve observed, it looks like everyone’s first impulse is to run out and buy bottled water to donate.  And that is wonderful.  To a point.  Things and needs change incredibly quickly during and after a disaster.  Distribution sites change.  I know that early on, bottled water was hard to get and desperately needed.  The thought behind the businesses and individuals that gathered bottled water (and diapers, and hygiene supplies) was very kind and well-intentioned.  Unfortunately, it seemed like most donations of specific items were arriving one to two weeks after they were most needed.  Places were literally tripping over cases of bottled water when they desperately needed propane, charcoal, or medical supplies. 

It was incredibly frustrating to see people who had driven twelve or more hours with carloads or truckloads of supplies being turned away from donation sites.  I think that also sent the message that things were fine when that absolutely wasn’t the case.  It wasn’t a case of people not wanting help or donations.  It was simply a matter of space and resources.  Most donation and distribution sites were set up at businesses, churches, or government buildings, and due to the damage, there were limited buildings intact and accessible.  A lot of those places were still trying to go about their normal (and necessary) business while trying to find space for and distribute supplies.  Fire codes still had to be adhered to.  It doesn’t matter if it’s a pallet of bottled water, it still can’t block exits and fire escapes. 

I don’t mean to sound ungrateful at all.  And, honestly, before experiencing this, I was one of the people who thought dropping off bottled water, pet food, feminine hygiene products, etc. at donation drives was a great way to help.  After seeing how long it took to get things distributed, I don’t think that’s the best way to help. 

If donating physical items is something you feel strongly about, I recommend trying to get in touch with a local organization to find out what their real-time needs are.  And be realistic about how long it will take to get supplies to them. 

My next suggestion is to visit Charity Navigator.  There’s a section specifically for Hurricane Helene relief.  You can see the rating for each organization and most have links to their websites. 

My third suggestion is to be very specific.  What is important to you?  Are you worried about people going hungry?  Donate to a food pantry.  Are you worried about animals?  Donate to an animal rescue.  (There are many, many animal rescues in this area, but I’m not familiar with all of them.  These are the ones I’m familiar with and can recommend:  Brother Wolf Animal Rescue, Blue Ridge Humane, and Asheville Humane Society.  Again, this list does not include every local shelter and animal rescue.)  Do you have a particular concern for the medically fragile/vulnerable?  Look for an organization that’s providing medical aid. 

Tara came from one of these shelters.

So did Charlie and Mortimer. 

My next suggestion is to think small.  I know that sounds counterintuitive when the damage is so massive and the recovery efforts are going to take labor and amounts of money that I have a hard time comprehending.  It’s overwhelming to think about that, though, and it can drive you crazy. 

From my experience, it was the small efforts that did and are doing the most good.  Local churches did a great job of getting people fed and supplying water.  Most of the fallen trees in our neighborhood were cleared by individuals long before any official assistance showed up.  I realize that finding smaller efforts to donate to is more challenging.  I know there’s not a great way to vet each fundraiser, but I’d recommend visiting GoFundMe.  There’s a filter for Hurricane Helene relief, and you can filter it down even more from there.  I’ve spent some time browsing the fundraisers there in looking for links to share with this post.  Honestly, some of them sound like scams to me.  Some of them seem well-intentioned, but not practical or well-planned.  Some seem entirely legitimate, there are quite a few for and/or set up by people I know personally, and I know they’re legitimate. Ours is there too, to help replace our furnace.  So, how do you know which ones are real and which ones aren’t?  I don’t have a definite, foolproof answer to that.  My suggestion is to look carefully at the information provided.  Was someone willing to put their name on it?  What do you find when you Google that name?  What do you find if you search that name on Facebook?  Do an image search for the pictures to see if they show up anywhere else.  How specific is the request?  Personally, I find the vague “a family needs money after the hurricane” ones to be a little suspicious.  In my opinion, the real ones are usually very specific about helping a specific person/family with a very particular need.  If it’s a group or individual raising money for others, what is their exact plan for that money?  I think it’s also important to look at what skills they claim to bring to the table.  If a big part of the fundraiser is for travel expenses for the group, and they don’t have very specific skills related to rebuilding, in my opinion, there are more effective things to donate money to. 

I do want to clarify that we live in a small town and lots of people know each other, so someone else’s experience of smaller, less formal efforts versus larger organizations may be different.  I’m basing it on my observations of who helped in our neighborhood, who helped people I know, and who helped the fire departments and other first responders.  When one of the fire departments here was running out of food, it was individuals who took care of it.  One of Nick’s retired coworkers was determined to make sure the fire department didn’t run out of food.  He hitched a trailer to his pickup truck, took his chainsaw, and cut his way down to SC to buy food and gas. 

This segues nicely into my next suggestion, which is to support the local fire departments and rescue squads.  A lot of these departments are tiny and this will have wiped out their budgets.  Many departments lost equipment and stations.  They were also the ones going out and rescuing people.  Here’s a list of the counties and towns affected.  I know it takes time, but look up the fire departments, rescue squads, and police departments/sheriff’s offices in these counties and towns.  These are the people who were out there literally saving lives, and they were doing it while dealing with significant damage to their own homes, in some cases going days without being able to reach their own families.  Nick works in the emergency services, and I can tell you he didn’t miss any work.  These people were working around the clock.  Some of these agencies have set up relief funds for responders who are dealing with significant damage.  I know I’m a little biased, but I think it makes sense to help the helpers.  Here’s a link for the Western NC Association of Firefighters in case it’s helpful to anyone. 

Another way to help that doesn’t cost anything is to contact your congressperson and let them know that getting funding for SBA loans is something that’s important to you.  In case you’re not familiar (I wasn’t before this happened), they’re not just for small businesses.  Homeowners in affected areas can also apply for these loans for necessary repairs.  They have better interest rates and overall better repayment options than typical personal or HELOC loans, which helps make the aftermath a little less devastating.  Unfortunately, because there’s no funding right now, anyone who didn’t get assistance from FEMA is left with only typical loan options like personal loans or HELOC loans.  Letting your congressperson know that this funding is important to you could help. 

One more no-cost way to help is to share links for organizations and fundraisers that are helping.  As many people have mentioned, western NC isn’t in the news much now.  If you come across an organization/relief effort that resonates with you, consider sharing it with your friends, family, and social media contacts. 

Photo Credit Here

Finally, I have a few kind of miscellaneous suggestions: 

My neighbor, Elizabeth, put together a Spotify playlist of western NC musicians as a way to help support them.  She’s part of Moonshine State on the list. 

If you have visited western NC and liked a particular business, look them up.  If they’re closed due to damage, see if there are any fundraisers to support them and their reopening. 

I do not know anything about them and cannot personally vouch for them, but while I was searching for links for this post I came across the Hospitality Workers Relief Fund.  Again, I’m not personally familiar, so do your own research and make your own decisions. 

Finally, please know how much your help is appreciated.  It’s an entirely different experience being one of the people asking for help rather than someone trying to provide help.  It’s hard to describe all of the feelings that come along with it, but I can tell you that it means the world to know that people, in some cases total strangers, care.  

Thank you.  

Photo Credit Here