News From W. North Carolina - Our Friend Wendy
Surviving The Disaster In Appalachia North Carolina
What follows below is an account received via email from one of the Lords Trustees Fellowship Members. Her name is Wendy Johnston, living in the Appalachian region of NC and experiencing the horrors of the Hurricane Helene disaster. Please consider a contribution towards support of her efforts and cause for which she is writing. Wendy's life and that of her fellows has been impacted with hardship that will burden them for years to come.
Hi Everyone,
My name is Wendy and I have been living in Barnardsville, NC (a small unincorporated community 30 north of Asheville) for the past 4 years. My town was one of MANY that was hit hard by the recent historic flooding event (other towns were Black Mountain, Swannanoa, Fairview, Old Fort, Lake Lure, Marshall, Hot Springs, Spruce Pine, Burnsville, Pensacola, Erwin, TN and more). The damage is indescribable. It looks like a million tornadoes touched down and left massive piles of debris and destruction everywhere. People, animals, vehicles, barns, equipment, sheds, and entire homes were washed away. Telephone pole lines were lying across the roads in the entire region, transformers twisted, and poles snapped everywhere. Brick buildings were smashed apart and filled with debris. Parts of North Carolina were under 30 feet of water at the height of the flooding. No one had ever seen or experienced anything like this before.
The rivers and mud that have filled many buildings is toxic from sewage, decomposing bodies, chemicals, industrial plant waste, and nuclear materials.
Asheville won’t have potable water anytime soon. A mayor of another county said they won’t have a water system for 4 years. A lot of Buncombe county, including me, still has no internet, and cell service is nearly non existent where I live. After the height of the storm, all of our cell towers were completely turned off for more than 3 days leaving us no way to send out or receive any news or information.When it came back on, the signal was too weak to send any texts out, and only intermittently receive any. Roads and bridges were destroyed leaving no way to get into a town. Many people could not leave their homes due to bridges and driveways washed away. With no power in town, there were no stores open, no traffic lights working, etc. I had no power or water for 2.5 weeks. Our lives were completely halted as no business can be conducted with no power, internet, or town services. We immediately shifted to survival mode.
We only had our direct neighbors to communicate with. And all of the early help was from local individuals and organizations that came to our aid. A local construction company in my town rebuilt an entire road that was washed out. And it is still volunteers and private aid that have been doing the most to help us out.
We received many donations of bottled water, canned food, unwanted clothes, cleaning supplies, diapers, and other items from all over the country in the first few weeks, which was amazing and heartwarming. Those items met initial basic survival needs, However, the recovery road ahead is enormous and it will take so many more resources and money to clean, repair, rebuild, create shelters for those who lost their homes, etc. This event has created incredible losses from homes, possessions, lives (SO many more than are being reported…), animals, businesses, jobs, income, and more.
I wanted to contribute some funding to my community to help the recovery process. One place in need is an organic family vegetable farm that has selflessly donated its produce to low income families here for many years, and which had already taken a huge loss from a strange weather event in May when softball sized hail fell, wiping out the entire lettuce crop, among many other plants. The damage from the flood was even greater- destroying a lot of their infrastructure, soil, crops, and decades of work.
I designed several products that reflect the resiliency, spirit, and teamwork of the people in western North Carolina that I am hoping to be seen by as many people as possible to help raise funds. I have selected several local groups that are directly helping individuals and animals most in need to receive proceeds from any sales. In order to make an impact, we will have to generate a lot of sales. I am hoping that the link can be shared widely. I can also be contacted at and can receive donations by PayPal at the email shown below which I can distribute locally.
(Login to your Paypal or set up a Paypal account with the link below to send support to Wendy, at wendy.thruhiker@gmail.com )
I can provide social media accounts that give better visuals on the destruction that occurred, as well as the repair process. One interesting one is old Marshall jail on Instagram which gives the point of view of a business owner in downtown Marshall, NC which flooded to 27 feet, destroying or badly damaging every building in its downtown. I can also be a resource for how to prepare for events like this with extended power outages. I advise everyone to start becoming at least minimally prepared!
It will take YEARS for western North Carolina and parts of eastern Tennessee to recover from this event and we worry that the rest of the country will forget about us (or has already!) after the initial news coverage ended and donations provided. Most everyone in this area is experiencing trauma in some form from what we experienced, witnessed, and still see on a daily basis. This experience reminds me of the grieving process after the loss of a loved one. It is hard to comprehend how the rest of the world is continuing on as usual, while our world has halted and been forever altered.
Please keep us in your thoughts and if you are able, remind others that help will be required for a long time as the recovery phase will be years.
If you are inclined, please share the link with as many people as you can and ask them to share with their communities, as well.
https://appalachian-support.printify.me/products
Thank you SO much for your support!
It is so greatly appreciated!
Sincerely
Wendy