If you lived through Hurricane Hugo 35 years ago, you might have an inkling of what the people of western North Carolina are going through.
The Lowcountry’s recovery from the mammoth hurricane took several weeks. Western North Carolina’s recovery, unfortunately, likely will take much, much longer for the simple reason that critical infrastructure — highways, smaller roads and bridges — just aren’t there anymore. Huge water pipes are tangled on the sides of these pathways. Power lines hang like yarn. Before life can approach normal, there’s got to be a way for people to get in and fix things.
One woman’s touching story that’s making rounds on Facebook is particularly numbing.
“Today, I saw true devastation and death and I am not O.K.,” she wrote about what typically is a 40-minute drive from her mountain home into Asheville. It took more than two hours. She passed through places that seemed to have been smashed by a zombie apocalypse — Chimney Rock, Lake Lure, Black Mountain and Swannanoa — driving over and under multiple downed power lines. She faced collapsed roads and said she felt her car was sliding at times. Then it got worse.
“As I drove through several areas where the storm had hit the worst, I saw bodies — bodies of animals, wild and domestic. And then I saw human bodies who had gotten caught in the storms and the rivers. (No I’m not kidding or exaggerating.) At first, I thought they were Halloween decorations or just clothes or something, but as I got closer I could see they weren’t. They were real, real victims of Helene washed away by the storm. I saw their faces.
“Words cannot describe how much I was affected by those sights … I am horrified. I am not O.K. Those two hours this morning completely changed me. It’s one thing to hear of these kinds of disasters and a complete other to see it, truly see it.”
Western North Carolina is going to need lots of help in the months ahead. Officials say the best way to help now is to donate to an organization working to help people recover. Volunteers are welcome through organizations like the American Red Cross or Salvation Army, but officials say waves of trucks with supplies could bring more people into harm’s way. Here are some organizations you might want to consider giving a donation:
Unmet needs: N.C. Disaster Relief Fund
(pay.payitgov.com/ncdonations); American Red Cross (redcross.org); United Way (unitedway.org/hurricane-helene); Salvation Army (salvationarmyusa.org).
Food: World Central Kitchen (wck.org); Manna Food Bank (mannafoodbank.org).
Legal help: Legal Aid of North Carolina (legalaidnc.org).
Pets: Charleston Animal Society (charlestonanimalsociety.org/helene); Brother Wolf Animal Rescue (bwar.org).
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