Hurricane Helene

[Ravenlocke]

https://x.com/AppVoices/status/1840108883529908651

https://appvoices.org/helene-relief/

Catastrophic impacts from Tropical Storm Helene devastate Appalachia

In a period of three days, Southern and Central Appalachia experienced unprecedented rainfall from a combination of a historic rain event and Tropical Storm Helene. Catastrophic flooding, landslides and extreme wind gusts have ravaged the region. Entire towns are isolated as access to roads has been shut off by flooding and landslides while cellular service has been degraded, shut off or overwhelmed. Reports indicate that some areas received up to 30 inches of rain.

Climate change is fueling the increased size and severity of these storms. These are our homes and communities that will have to recover from the damage for months — perhaps years — to come.

As information continues to trickle in on the havoc caused by this disastrous event, we are sharing efforts to get relief to impacted areas. We welcome information on places that are accepting donations, if you would like to contribute, please email us at: floodresources[at]appvoices.org. Below are some ways that you can help during this difficult time.

Resources

Crisis Cleanup Assistance
Virginia: 1-844-965-1386
North Carolina: 1-844-965-1386
Red Cross: to report people affected by Helene, please call 1-800 RED CROSS, select ‘Disaster’ and provide as much information as possible to assist in helping.
North Carolina Emergency Management
North Carolina Cooperative Extension Agriculture Weather Emergency Hotline: 1-866-645-9403
Buncombe County Register of Deeds has set up a missing person report line: 828-820-2761
University of Tennessee Cooperative Extension
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children: to report a missing child during a disaster 1-800-843-5678
Tennessee Emergency Management Agency
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation: to report a missing person in the areas affected by flooding in Eastern Tennessee 1-800-824-3463
United Way of Southwest Virginia
Ways to give

Verified organizations accepting online donations for relief:

Appalachia Funders Network
Southeast Climate and Energy Network – Donations should be tagged with “Helene.”
Mutual Aid Disaster Relief is a grassroots disaster relief network based on the principles of solidarity, mutual aid and autonomous direct action.
Hurricane Helene Airlift Relief
Operation Air Drop
American Red Cross Hurricane Helene Relief
Lutheran Disaster Response: Hurricane Helene
Salvation Army Hurricane Helene Relief
Samaritan’s Purse International Relief
Democracy Green
Day One Relief
Kentucky

Kentucky Baptist Convention Hurricane Relief
North Carolina

North Carolina Community Foundation Disaster Relief Fun
Mountain Projects
WNC Regional Livestock Center
Working to help farmers and livestock affected by flooding
Asheville
Beloved Asheville
Manna FoodBank
Foothills Food Hub
Asheville Buncombe Community Christian Ministry
Homeward Bound
Democracy Green
Boone
Health & Hunger Coalition
Hospitality House
FARM Cafe
Tennessee

East Tennessee Foundation Neighbor to Neighbor Disaster Relief Fund
Tennessee Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster
Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee
Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief
Shelters:

Tennessee

Johnson County
First Christian Church 401 W Main St. Mountain City, TN
Cocke County
Newport Community Center 433 Prospect Ave. Newport, TN
Carter County
Cloudland Elementary School 8540 Highway 19 Roan Mountain, TN
Elizabethton High School 907 Jason Witten Way Elizabethton, TN
Happy Valley High School 121 Warpath Lane Elizabethton, TN. temporary shelter; charging and showers
Greene County
Ashby United Methodist Church 201 S Main St. Greeneville, TN
McDonald Mission Center 75 Ailshie Lane Mohawk, TN
Washington County
Cherry Grove Baptist Church 104 Cherry Grove Rd. Jonesborough, TN
University Parkway Baptist Church 219 University Pkwy Johnson City, TN
Unicoi County
Clinchfield Senior Adult Center 220 Union St. Erwin, TN
Sullivan County
Bristol Motor Speedway
Medallion Campground
151 Speedway Blvd
Bristol, TN
Virginia

Fort Chiswell High School 1 Pioneer Trail Max Meadows, Va.
Marion Senior High 848 Stage St. Marion, Va.
Brookside Baptist Church 5523 Sugar Grove Highway Sugar Grove, Va.
Carnes Gym 505 E 5th St. Big Stone Gap, Va.
Coeburn Middle School 518 Centre Ave. NE, Coeburn, Va.
Christ Episcopal Church 106 Clinton Ave Big Stone Gap, VA 24219 (Charging Stations for those without power and free coffee/refreshments)
North Carolina

WNC Agriculture Center 1301 Fanning Bridge Rd. Asheville, N.C.
Appalachian State University Dining Hall 480 Rivers St. Boone, N.C. Open to all, no university affiliation required, for food, power, internet access
Athletics and Activities Center 708 South Grove St. Hendersonville, N.C.
Glenwood Baptist Church 155 Glenwood Baptist Church Rd. Marion, N.C.
National Guard Armory 235 Armory Drive Clyde, N.C.
First Baptist Church Swannanoa 503 Park St. Swannanoa, N.C.
Trinity Baptist Church 216 Shelburn Rd. Asheville, N.C.
Oak Hill Methodist Church 2239 NC 181 Morganton, N.C.
West Caldwell High School 300 West Caldwell Dr. Lenoir, N.C.
Jackson County Department of Aging 100 County Services Park Sylva, N.C.
Lincoln County Middle Schoo 2361 Startown Rd. Lincolnton, N.C.
Polk County High School 1681 NC 108 Highway East Columbus, N.C.
South Toe Elementary School. 139 South Toe School Rd. Burnsville, N.C.
West Yancey VFD 6557 US Highway 19 Burnsville, N.C.
Holmes Convocation Center 111 Rivers St. Boone, N.C.
A-B Technical College 340 Victoria Ave., Asheville, N.C.
Henderson County Recreation Center 708 S. Grove St. Hendersonville, NC 28792
Cashiers Recreation Center 355 Frank Allen Rd. Cashiers, N.C.
Madison County Wellness Center 5734 US 25-70 Hwy. Marshall, N.C.
First Baptist Church of Old Fort 203 E. Main St. Old Fort, N.C.
McDowell County Senior Center 100 Spaulding Rd.Marion, N.C.
Rutherfordton/Spindale High School 641 US 221 US Hwy N. Rutherfordton, N.C.
Swain Community College 125 Brendle St. Bryson City, N.C.
Pisgah Forest Baptist Church 494 Hendersonville Hwy. Pisgah Forest, N.C.
Kentucky

Perry County First Presbyterian Church – Red Cross shelter East Perry Elementary
Floyd County Jenny Wiley State Resort Park Floyd County Community Center
Breathitt County Breathitt County Courthouse
Knott County. Knott County Sportsplex
Letcher County Letcher County High School Pine Mountain Grill
Pike County Valley Elementary School East Kentucky Dream Center
Leslie County W.B. Muncy Elementary
Wolfe County Wolfe County Middle School
Donation drop-off centers:

Right now, government officials are warning people to stay off roads in Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee. Donation centers in areas not affected by the flooding are available. We are adding donation areas in some places affected by the flooding for local use. Do not travel to areas affected by flooding without first confirming with local officials — this is for your safety and to preserve critical resources for priority local needs.

North Carolina

Concord Walmart Parking Lot
5825 Thunder Rd NW, Concord, N.C. 28027, starting Sunday, Sept. 29, for Operation Airlift
Cox Mill High School
1355 Cox Mill Rd. Concord, NC 28027
Back Alley Bikes
100 Boyd St. Carrboro, NC 27510 Open Tues. thru Sat. 11 a.m.- 6 p.m.
Rumah
415 Hillborough St. Raleigh, N.C. 27603 Drop off during events, see calendar for more information
Art Post
718 Iredell St. Durham, N.C. 27705 Accepting donations starting Monday Sept. 30 Monday-Saturday 12-6
The Scrap Exchange
2050 Chapel Hill Rd. Durham, N.C. 27707. 10:30 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Village Family Chiropractic
717 Graves St. Kernersville, N.C.
Mountain Mule Packer Ranch
call 910-885-1402 Mount Ulla, NC 28125
Democracy Green Drop-Off Site & Distribution Center #1
NC Diaper Bank 437 Dimmocks Mill Rd. Suite 1 Hillsborough, N.C. 27278 Mon.-Fri., 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Democracy Green Drop-Off Site #2:
The SwatchWorks, Inc 453 Oakhurst Rd. Asheboro, N.C. 27205 Mon.-Thurs., 7:30 a.m. – 4 p.m.

The rest is here,

https://appvoices.org/helene-relief/

[Ravenlocke]

https://x.com/NCEmergency/status/1840750385168060810

https://x.com/NCEmergency/status/1840790041838100820

https://x.com/NCEmergency/status/1840538408524857349

https://x.com/haywoodcountync/status...32921080017278

[Ravenlocke]

https://x.com/CityofAsheville/status...01089253179510

[Ravenlocke]

https://x.com/myTDOT/status/1840754052545544543

[Ravenlocke]

https://x.com/fema/status/1840410015523274806

[Ravenlocke]

https://x.com/FLGuard/status/1840791106377678969

https://x.com/TNMilitaryDept/status/1840788333984702643

https://x.com/NCNationalGuard/status...05806054289638

https://x.com/fema/status/1840825267469668759

https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/1840823329160040460

[Marianne]

A tidbit from an Asheville local…

I saw a friend today who has family in both the Carolinas, one being her son outside of Asheville. He said there is no power, water, and spotty cell phone coverage. He walked a mile to finally get a signal to let his family know they are okay. The roads are mostly impassable.

[arwen]

Here’s how Helene and other storms dumped a whopping 40 trillion gallons of rain on the South

More than 40 trillion gallons of rain drenched the Southeast United States in the last week from Hurricane Helene and a run-of-the-mill rainstorm that sloshed in ahead of it — an unheard of amount of water that has stunned experts.

[Inversion]

This is an update from Lillian Govus, director of communications for Buncombe County, North Carolina. The key words she mentioned were devastation & impassable.

09/30/24 (3:09)

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=f6-4qqFruL4

[Ravenlocke]

Text:
This gentleman hiked 11 miles to check on his parents— read his story of what all he saw.

—-

My parents are ok but completely trapped. Yesterday, I hiked up to check on them. Brain spew coming; I'm still processing it all and was just locked in on go-mode yesterday.

Still not having heard from my parents in 48 hours, I was drowning in worry. My parents live in an absolute gem of the NC mountains -- the Little Switzerland, Spruce Pine, Burnsville area -- halfway between Asheville and Boone. Under normal circumstances, it's pleasantly very isolated.

Little did I know that up there, Helene has demolished roads, homes and utility networks. **This area is completely cut off from resources in every direction.** I tried multiple routes to drive up but had to settle on parking in Marion at the base of a closed road (Hwys 221/226) and hiking 11 miles and 2,200 feet to find my parents thankfully ok but surrounded by devastation. I have never been so relieved to see anyone ok.

Crews weren't even close yesterday. I can't tell you how many failing roads and deep mudslides I had to cross, how many fallen trees I had to take off my backpack for and navigate through. While hiking up 226A, I met multiple people trapped by devastation in both directions of the highway.

In this part of the mountains with steep terrain rolling off the Blue Ridge Parkway, not only did water rise, it RAGED to tear up roads, earth and homes. Then, the winds (I'm certain tornados in some places) have brought down up to half the tree canopy.

I'm still processing it all. I've never seen anything like it. Power is a couple weeks out. I cannot fathom how long it will take DOT to repair the curvy roads that hug steep mountainsides with the most amazing views. Most of all, I want my parents to have the same basic needs they always provided me -- food, water, shelter (house is mostly ok) and the ability to explore! But they can't even leave their home right now. The steep part of their gravel road has braided channels only 18" wide but up to 5' deep from rushing water.

It's just a waiting game now. If you are or you have family in the mountains, I feel for you. Know that crews are chipping away.

#helene #ncwx #wnc

https://x.com/Mashburn4NC/status/1840748131891425612

[Ravenlocke]

https://x.com/DougMackeyCase/status/1840779225365692798

[Ravenlocke]

https://x.com/accuweather/status/1840785006421254431

[Bill Ryan]

Just reading the last few posts, OMG. The folks at Redacted in the opening section of their report a few hours ago said that this is 100 times worse than Katrina. It really seems to be.

[shaberon]

Posted by Moemers (here)
out of curiosity and genuine interest...what would people like the federal government to do in this situation?

Vanish.

It is a valid question since the first five American presidents were reluctant or refused to allocate anything federal for disaster relief.

That is because they were in the job of shrewd management of money. It only had certain ins and outs. There was far less of it because its source was almost solely tariffs.

For some reason, in the intervening time since then, it began to charge income tax.

When that happens, I expect a near slave. I am always disappointed.

In this case, I think you have to start with helicopters for rescue and supplies. I saw a Chinook in one of the pictures which is Army, so, this seems to be a given.

I don't think we quite have the complication of Katrina, which was that the levees had more or less failed inspection, but repairs were ignored, so we are able to find fault here. Helene was a little different, because you don't realistically expect a bridge to survive a sixty-foot river surge.

It's touching because with articles flowing in on Little Switzerland, Old Fort and 9, and all this, I really do consider it part of my "neighborhood", even though I currently live far enough away to have suffered not the slightest thing. I asked our "boss" today about running a collection drive, and received the answer "I don't know". This was while I was literally throwing food in the trash and he said we throw away a lot of stuff. Suggested we use some kind of production guide. I told him that was useless because I know how to manage "stuff". Remember, that's not what he does--he can't take the initiative to start a collection drive, because nothing on paper empowers him to do this, like the first American presidents.

I'd do it for free. Just need to find someone with a truck. As if we don't have trucks, but I could find it. All it takes is that same space you give the Salvation Army to irritate me with those bells. Super easy! But how much easier for everyone to do it, because we already do the same thing for other reasons!

It's super creepy...remember, "day after" 9/11 and how freaked out everyone was, and now in the face of a real cataclysm, they go mute.

As you can see, it is super weird where I live, since for example I know some of the posted collection centers like the back of my hand. Nothing local. The farm store is not a "center", but probably is going to send the stuff *to* a center.

Right now you are going to get the lack of water and food starting to take its toll. Then infectious diseases and parasites. Then you will have a water table full of flushed out aluminum slough, and, whatever comes out of thousands of smashed-up cars and trucks. This is the best-case scenario. Only on the higher peaks where the springs come out is anything actually clean to begin with. What about, for example, the Candor paper mill? Please don't answer that.

This is not like "starting over". This is a level of cleaning that you better believe comes from the "uninhabitable" stage.

[Jaak]

Anger over Tennessee Guard's MENA mission 'helping Israel' amid hurricane havoc
The recent deployment of 700 soldiers from the Tennessee National Guard to the region has sparked outrage in the wake of Hurricane Helene.

The US announcement of the Tennessee National Guard Task Force deployment to the Middle East has sparked widespread criticism, with many arguing that they would be better tackling the state’s ongoing hurricane disaster.

Last Thursday, Tennessee's Department of Ministry said that over 700 soldiers would leave their home state later on Saturday to receive training in Fort Bliss, Texas over the coming weeks before being deployed to Kuwait.

According to the military, the initiative will span a year and is reported to be in support of the US Central Command’s Operation Spartan Shield, where US forces have been defending Israel from potential attacks by Iran.
https://www.newarab.com/news/anger-o...urricane-havoc

[mountain_jim]

https://x.com/TonySeruga/status/1841133772059676826

Elon Musk

@elonmusk
·
10h
Since the Hurricane Helene disaster, SpaceX has sent as many Starlink terminals as possible to help areas in need.

Earlier today, @realDonaldTrump alerted me to additional people who need Starlink Internet in North Carolina. We are sending them terminals right away.

//////

(my comments)

Last night CBS News claimed Trump/Musk were taking credit for sending cellular terminals to Asheville, when actually they said actually FEMA had already done that.

What they did not disclose was that the FEMA terminals were Star Link terminals! - I never watch US MSM Network news but wanted to see some NC damage coverage and was appalled at how slanted their overall coverage all was against Trump and Musk.

https://www.wfmynews2.com/article/we...c-7d6610e67c0f

FEMA providing Starlink satellite systems to western North Carolina
One Starlink will be deployed per county Emergency Operations Center.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — As part of the ongoing recovery efforts in western North Carolina after Helene devastated much of the area, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced it is providing 40 Starlink satellite systems to the area to help with responder communications.

FEMA said additional satellites are also being shipped to "assist with communication infrastucture restoration."



https://x.com/CoryMillsFL/status/1840936597497201149

Cory Mills
@CoryMillsFL
Quick update: DAY 1 Wrap-up

Tomorrow we will drop Starlink systems to areas that’s been on “SOS” or has no connectivity. We will go out first thing in the morning to assist in search and rescue in hardest hit areas as we await our fix wing asset with additional supplies to land in Greenville, SC.

Thank you again
@Mercury1Charity

@bennyjohnson
and all who’ve helped.


later add proving my point

https://x.com/CBSNews/status/1840878063321567710

Emergent Perspective
@_emergent_
·
2h
Imagine going to a disaster zone, just to take cheap shots at Trump for helping, not finding anyone unhappy, and trying to throw ineffective shade about it "not registering."

Meanwhile, Biden's asleep.
Kamala's with celebs, and faking photos.

You don't hate journalists enough.





CBS News
@CBSNews
Donald Trump’s visit to Valdosta, Georgia, on Monday brought a massive security presence to a city devastated by Hurricane Helene, reports
@MacFarlaneNews
.

Much of Valdosta — known for the success of its high school and college sports teams and for serving as home to Valdosta State University — is struggling to recover from the storm, and for many there, MacFarlane says the former president’s appearance “didn’t register.”

[wondering]

I don't know the truth of this, but I have read that some of the most devastated areas in NC are sitting on Lithium deposits, which I believe are mined for high profits. It reminds me of some of the devastated areas in New Orleans being cleared after the hurricane for high end condos.

[Ravenlocke]

Text:
It’s 3 am here in Western North Carolina, and I’m just turning in for the night.

Today was EYE OPENING.

We’ve already delivered multiple Starlinks to several emergency centers across the region who had been TOTALLY offline prior to our arrival.

The fact that there are still fire stations and first responders TOTALLY DISCONNECTED from colleagues in the same county is INSANE. We’re rapidly fixing that.

In addition, we distributed over $2,000 worth of
@WaffleHouse
meals to hundreds of victims and first responders. One man we found in the mountains near Riceville was attempting to fill up water jugs so he could flush his toilet, and his face lit up when I offered him fresh hot Waffle House 🙂

The stories I’ve heard are just incredible. And the joy we’re bringing keeps me going.

I can’t thank NC State Police enough for giving us a full police escort through all these remote towns ravaged by Hurricane Helene. These troopers are absolute heroes.

@ChrisHallWx
has been an INCREDIBLE partner through this mission. I couldn’t ask for anyone better.

And lastly, thank you
@elonmusk
for this absolutely mind blowing technology that has saved countless lives out here.

EVEN BIGGER THINGS COMING TOMORROW!!!

https://x.com/nicksortor/status/1841016063208669568

[Ravenlocke]

https://x.com/ChrisHallWx/status/1841113343156764934

[Ravenlocke]

https://x.com/CoryMillsFL/status/1841125088361361896