Helene One Year After

 It is hard to put into words the impact that Helene had and continues to have on Western North Carolina. We are all changed. Some of us have returned to a new but comfortable normal and others are still living in tents with no running water or power. Many are still without jobs. Many still don't have access to help. Most of us are amazed by the love and support private citizens of the world have showered on us. 

More of the Blue Ridge Parkway has opened, but it is still heavily damaged.

 Forty percent of the trees along the Parkway have fallen or are damaged.

A few statistics as to how WNC stands today ~

• There were 8,000 private bridges and roads destroyed in Helene. Today, 7,000 roads and bridges are still destroyed, leaving thousands of people without access to fire and EMS rescue services. Yes, their houses are intact...but when a crisis strikes, there is no way for help to get to them. 
•  More than 180,000 homes were destroyed in Western North Carolina. 
•  Ninety percent of homeowners who lost their homes didn't live in a flood plane, so they didn't have flood insurance. That means that home insurance won't help them. Unfortunately, our current administration won't help them, either. People are relying on private donations. 
• The federal government has only released 7% of the funds it gave to Sandy or Katrina survivors and cities to rebuild, even though Sandy was significantly smaller and Katrina was similar to Helene. The federal government usually provides about 50% of recovery fees. WNC has received 8% to date of the overall cost in damages. Appalachia is a very poor part of the country and many of us feel utterly forgotten. 
•  At least 108 died; 43 of these deaths came from my county (we don't have a definite total of how many homeless were lost because they often lived near the flooded rivers). 
• There were over 2,000 landslides in WNC. Officials stopped counting at 2,000, because there was more important work to be done. Of those who died on that fateful day, landslides were responsible for about 50% of the deaths. 
• Our community has collective PTSD. We live in a temperate rainforest so it rains often. With every ordinary rain storm, many become frantic and worry.
• Our water treatment system that serves Asheville is temporary. It costs $6 million a month to run the temporary system! FEMA is currently saying that they will not continue to fund the temporary system. As of today, there is a lot of confusion about what happens when FEMA pulls out in October. The worst case scenario is that we will only have chlorinated raw water (not drinkable but toilets will  be flushable). 
• Most people I know, including ourselves, are still drinking and cooking with bottled water, because our water tastes bad.
• There are so many areas we haven't been able to visit, because the public roads are still closed and the routes around are for residents only or take triple the time to travel. For instance, we live about 35 minutes from Chimney Rock, but the most common way to get there is washed away. It now takes almost two hours to get there from our house. 
• Private organizations ~ the Amish, Spokes of Hope, Samaritan's Purse, Beloved, Precision Grading and so many more volunteers have really helped. There are individuals who arrived here the first week and are still here trying to help!
• The unemployment rate in our county was 2.5 percent before Helene and soared to 10% after Helene. That number has come down to about 5% -- partially because so many have left this region.     

NOTE: ALL THE PICTURES IN THIS POST WERE TAKEN OVER THE LAST THREE DAYS. 

This is what much of the area still looks like within 2 to 5 miles of our home. 

Landslide

Landslide

This is a caved-in roof in the River Arts Distract, which used to house artist galleries.

Moe's is obviously not open.

A favorite playground sits waiting for the joyful sounds of children again. 

Windows are boarded up.

Recovery is slow...so slow and some will never come back. There are patches and blank areas where nothing remains. However, there are spots where rebuilding and relocating is going on. Mountain people are strong and we are doing our best to recover with very limited resources. 

Please don't forget us!

Blessings, Dawn