Helene Update #2

Fields of splinters

Hello friends,

I now have cell service at my house, though power and water are still down. I am writing this on my phone.

Yesterday, I managed to get out and venture on foot into town. The destruction surpasses description. I cannot begin to articulate the devastation. Entire neighborhoods — particularly trailer parks — are gone. People who already had very little now have nothing. I’m pretty numb from the shock. My beautiful mountain town is ripped apart in ways that I simply couldn’t imagine, and I’m very sad.

But the destruction here is nothing like other places in Western North Carolina. Entire towns — like the beautiful Chimney Rock — are almost completely gone, reduced to soggy fields of splinters. Friends have texted me telling me that their houses are missing. The radio is full of desperate call ins from families and elderly trapped on roofs needing medical care. The skies above my house are full of emergency helicopters. Entire communities are trapped in the hollers, and hundreds of people are still missing. The death toll continues to rise.

A significant part of the shock is that we had no warning. WNC is a climate haven. High up in the mountains in this vast damp forest, we are safe from hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, and fires. People move here because it is extremely safe, unlike the coast. We weren’t prepared for this because this isn’t supposed to happen. The last major flood was in 1916.

On Wednesday and Thursday, the first I knew some weather was coming was when my partner Jon called me to let me know that there might be some heavy rain and to be careful on the road coming home. Thursday, we let out work early to get home before the heavy rain hit. All I heard was, “tropical storm” and “some flooding.” That’s it. That’s all I knew. Without fail, tropical storms in the mountains have always been lively but mild affairs.

And then I woke up Friday morning to a literal apocalypse. I walked down the hill after the rain had let up some to discover a massive flood plain, entire houses submerged.

The entirely of Western North Carolina is in shock. If you can, please donate to North Carolina Red Cross, which is providing desperately needed medical care.