The Aftermath of Helene in North Carolina

You might want to read this description of the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in North Carolina by Nancy Rommelmann at RealClearInvestigations. Here’s a passage I found telling:

Ramsey had been in Weaverville, a town of about 5,000 people 11 miles from Asheville, at her elderly mother’s home when Helene hit. As for how terrifying it initially was that morning: not very.

“I slept through it,” she said. Her main concern, when she woke up and saw the power was out, was being unable to make coffee. She decided to walk to a nearby Bojangles.

Forty-five minutes later she was back, the scene she encountered outside both impassable and making no sense. Dozens of big trees lay across the suburban street. Climbing over limbs and under fallen power lines, she came across three men using chainsaws to cut a hole in the fallen trees. Did they know what had happened? They did not; they had no cell service. Ramsey checked her own phone. No signal. Overhead, she heard the whomp whomp of a Chinook helicopter. What the hell was going on?

It was not until that night, when a neighbor used a power inverter to hook a car battery to his television, that Ramsey would begin to learn of the damage caused by Hurricane Helene. The flooding appeared to be the worst since The Great Flood of 1916 when the region experienced 26 inches of rain. Helene would dump 30 inches, or more than 40 trillion gallons, though Ramsey would not know as much for days; no one could, not with all communications cut, and roads crisscrossed with downed trees, and some washed away entirely. Other than by helicopter, there was no way in or out, and in some cases, people could not reach their closest neighbors, to say nothing of the outside world.

Help nevertheless got through. “That first day, people brought us gas, water,” said Ramsey, who let those who could not get home, or no longer had homes to get to, crash on her floor. Where some blamed the government for not immediately rushing to the rescue, Ramsey praised the self-reliance of her neighbors.

“Hillbillies and rednecks are a community. They want to talk about how Podunk we are and backwards. But no, we got this,” she said. “We need outside assistance, obviously. But we came together immediately.”

It is neither an indictment of the federal government response to the disaster nor a lionization of it but rather an account, largely relying on first person accounts, of how ordinary people came together under extraordinary circumstances.

3 comments… add one
  • steve Link

    We went through this with Andrew. Government people and efforts will focus on the larger issues. Making sure that enough water, food and energy arrives and enough roads are passable. Last mile distribution will rely much more upon local people and groups plus whatever volunteer help arrives. Major medical help will be largely government and minor help will be local. Rebuilding of major staff govt but housing and local stores by local people including some private contractors who are regional. The ones who sort of amaze me are the linemen who come from all over. They are getting OT or even double time pay but it’s hard work and they did really long hours. My group was medical bot once we were set up a number of guys went to help with grunt work or keep people out of the way.

    Steve

  • TastyBits Link

    Just because you are above sea level does not mean you are safe from water damage. Again, get flood insurance.

    Many people have gotten the idea that FEMA is a superhero organization, and it swoops in after a disaster to save the day. Disaster relief requires preparation and planning at the state and local level. It takes a lot more than most people realize, and it costs a lot more, as well.

    I really cannot imagine what it is like for these people. We keep insurance and other important documents ready to go at any minute. As soon as I saw the damage from Katrina, I was on a landline phone, cellphone, and laptop putting in claims and filling forms and applications.

    We know the drill, and it is still a nightmare. I feel for them. For many, life will never be the same.

  • TastyBits Link

    Also, the article states that only 2% had the much hated federal flood insurance. This does not mean that only 2% will get federal aid. it means that 2% paid for their federal aid.

    So, many of you all should be very happy. Billions of tax dollars will be spent, and very little will come out of the flood insurance fund. Since their homeowners insurance will not be paying much, re-insurance will not increase, and that means my homeowners insurance should not increase.

    From what I have been told over the years, they should not have lived on the side of a mountain. Rather than rebuild, it is time to move to that safe area – fairyland, I guess.

    It is easy to hate. It is a lot harder to understand. It can take a lot of work to understand why another person lives where and how they do. Karma has a way of instantly providing the understanding, but I do not wish it on my worst enemies.

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