Hurricane Helene – Our Family’s Story

Hurricane Helene hit western North Carolina late Thursday, September 26, two nights before my birthday. Early Friday morning, we could already tell an ample amount of downed trees and a lack of electricity in our area would prevent our family from gathering for a birthday celebration. The best birthday gift was learning that all my family and extended family were safe.

However, during those first phone calls to check on one another, none of us were fully aware of the devastation happening around us, especially for our daughter Emily and her family, who live in Black Mountain, NC.

After the rain subsided Friday morning, she decided she’d put her three-year-old in a stroller and walk to a nearby lake to see how much the water had risen. Early into her walk, she saw numerous downed trees and power lines. She could see two roads that had washed out. Immediately, she turned around and went back home.

With no power or cell service, she and her family, along with another family in their cul-de-sac, decided to hike into town. It took a little longer than normal because they had to circumvent the lake due to the flooding.

During their walk, they met another friend. While my grandsons were playing with their friends, the woman quietly informed the adults that the situation was direr than they had imagined. Flooding had caused her to evacuate her home. Even worse, she had witnessed a rescue attempt of someone trapped in a car. But, the water was too swift and too strong.

A dark cloud of fear and uncertainty settled over my daughter. Thinking the hike may be unsafe,  she insisted they turn around and go back home.

Later that day, they decided to drive into town to ask the Black Mountain police for information. As they approached the Town Square, a crowd had gathered. An officer was already making announcements.

They learned there was no way in or out of their area due to flooding and landslides. Stores and businesses were closed due to a lack of power, their interiors flooded, or the raging water had totally swept them away.

Homes from entire neighborhoods had washed away. People were missing. 

Love Your Neighbor

Miraculously, once they arrived in town, Emily was able to call us on her husband’s work cell phone because it used a different satellite service. Still, the calls in the days ahead were sporadic. Sometimes, we were connected for a few moments before the calls dropped.

On that first day, it was so comforting to hear her voice. She let us know they were safe, and the neighbors planned to pool their resources. They had camp stoves and would all eat together whatever needed to be cooked first. To cheer themselves, steaks were first on the menu!

She later told me how wonderful it was to have such good neighbors. One man had served in the Army, had four camp stoves, and helped them during the days they were in survival mode.

Another neighbor was excellent at gathering helpful information. She was able to locate well water they could retrieve for flushing toilets. One of their college friends, who majored in outdoor education, has been called a “Rambo-of-sorts.” He hiked to get water from natural springs. They didn’t drink the water but used it for other things.

A different neighbor had just had construction done on her house. The port-a-john for the crew had just been cleaned the day before the storm but had not been picked up yet. My daughter said that port-a-john was a huge blessing! All the neighbors pitched in paper products and cleaning supplies and kept it pristine.

A friend from college who majored in outdoor education has been referred to as a Rambo survivalist. He hiked to get water from natural springs. They didn’t drink the water but used it for other things.

Their next-door neighbor had just had construction done on her house. The port-a-john for the crew had just been cleaned the day before the storm but had not been picked up yet. My daughter said that port-a-john was a huge blessing! All the neighbors pitched in paper products and cleaning supplies and kept it pristine.

Too Much Water, Too Little Water

To keep the police station and fire station lanes open for rescue operations, the Town Hall was quickly set up as the information station.

On Saturday, when Emily’s family went to town to learn of updates, they saw several helicopters flying over. She noticed they were not landing but continued to fly past them.

When they arrived at Town Hall, each person was given a plastic cup of drinking water. The cup was a 9 oz. punch cup, but each person’s cup only had about 3 ounces of water in it. My three-year-old grandson begged for more. There was no more to give.

On Friday, they had been told that the Red Cross and the National Guard were coming and bringing supplies.

On Saturday, they learned that help was coming–but they did not know when. It was then that they learned how vast Helene’s destruction stretched across North Carolina and multiple other states.

One of the phone calls I remember the most is when Emily called and said, “Mom, we only have enough water for one more day. There is no more water and no more gas to be found. We’ve been told help is coming but they don’t know when.”

Even though my heart was heavy, I immediately replied with what I knew to be true,

“Now you’ll see what God can do.”

And she did. By word-of-mouth, she heard that a BP gas station was open. No gas, but they would sell items inside the store. It was cash-only, and only one person was allowed at a time. Even without cell phones, word spread quickly. By the time Emily arrived, there was a long line. She got in line. Then an employee said they were going to make two lines—one for food and supplies and a separate one for water purchases only. She became the fourth person in line when she moved to the water line. She was able to locate sixteen bottles of water for ten dollars. She was elated.

Another miraculous thing about this is her having the cash. She said the day before the storm, they had received a large cash payment. Unfortunately, they deposited all of it. They always used debit cards.

However, Saturday morning, they found a twenty-dollar bill at their house. She has no idea where it came from because they rarely have cash on hand. She had no qualms about spending half of it on water.

The boys were so appreciative of that water.

Other Blessings

My daughter said other blessings they received during those first four days were:

Friends ran to hug one another when they first saw them after the storm, thankful they were okay.

People checked on one another and helped others whether they knew them or not.

Eating free hot meals at the Monte Vista Hotel and french fries at the Pure and Proper restaurant.

Sleeping well even though it was warm weather and they were without their usual sound machines and fans.

The ability to charge their phones and listen to the news on the radio in their car each night.

The dry weather following the storm.

Having filled up both of their gas tanks the day before the hurricane hit.

When a college friend called and invited them to stay with them in an area of Charlotte unaffected by the hurricane.

Time to Get Away from Helene’s Destruction

One by one, Emily’s neighbors and friends began to leave.

The Black Mountain police told folks that if they had the means to get out and a place to go, please leave. They knew people would want to stay and help but said leaving would free up more resources for their neighbors who could not leave.

It was a difficult decision, but on Sunday night, our daughter’s family headed out to stay with their friends from college.

We were still without power at my house. Our other daughter and her family had moved in with us because they were without power and water. Emily thought it best to go somewhere with electricity and hot water.

We were without power at my house for six days. Emily was without power in Black Mountain for eleven days. Her home had no running water for twenty days.

Black Mountain has water now, but it is still contaminated. Water heaters can’t be used due to the sediment still in the water. It’s estimated it will be clean enough to drink by Christmas 2024.

Emily and her family stayed one week in Charlotte. During that time, she and her friend organized food and supply drives for the residents of Black Mountain. Charlotte folks gave generously. They filled two U-Haul trailers and two truck beds to the max. Our church and another church also sent supplies.

My son-in-law took the first load back to Black Mountain six days after the hurricane. He took the supplies to their church, which was one of several churches distributing supplies in the center of Swannanoa. When Emily called to ask her husband what Swannanoa looked like, he said he couldn’t describe it and didn’t want to talk about it. All he could express was that it looked like a bomb had exploded.

A few days later, the horrors of seeing Swannanoa herself and hearing the heartbreaking stories from friends would haunt Emily’s sleep for many nights.

One day, she came and leaned her head on my shoulder and said, “Mom, I know all the things. I know God is in control, He’s taking care of us, and He’s bringing good out of the bad. But I just need to cry.”

All I could do was hold my baby girl and cry with her.

I had seen photos and videos. But, when I first saw Swannanoa with my own eyes, I told her, “Now, I need to cry. What I saw was after a month of clean-up. Based on how it made me feel, I could not fathom the “shell shock” felt by those who lived there. Overwhelming is an understatement for the conditions.

Emily’s family was displaced for three weeks. The second week, they stayed with her husband’s family. The third week, they stayed with us. Then, due to their jobs and the needs of their community, they decided they needed to go home—even if it meant living without running water.

Time to Go Back to a Temporary New Normal

Both grandsons are back in school. One of their schools did not suffer damage. The other child’s school suffered massive flood damage. They hope to be repaired by January 2025. In the meantime, the students are served in different locations.

It used to take my daughter about ten minutes to drive her six-year-old to school. Now, she takes turns carpooling kids to a location forty minutes away. Sometimes, my grandson must ride the school bus home, which takes longer. Due to closed roads and repair work, driving to any location takes more time.

At home, they have plastic bags taped over all their water faucets so the boys won’t forget about not using the water. Water dispensers are by the sinks, and a huge 300-gallon plastic water tote tank is on the back of their truck for their cul-de-sac to use.

The water tote tank and water filtering system were gifts from churches somewhere in NC that they didn’t even know. God has provided time and time again.

At first, Emily used the filtering system to hand filter 14 gallons of water daily for them to use in their house. Now, they can take and fill their containers more quickly at their church, which similarly filters water from a creek, but the unit can filter much larger amounts in a shorter time.

Every other day, they fill up containers at clean water stations for hand-washing, teeth brushing, dishwashing, and water for the dog.  Bottled water is for drinking. They use paper products as much as possible. If people use water from a faucet to wash their hands, they must thoroughly follow it with hand sanitizer.

After dinner, Emily’s family packs up their backpacks with bathing supplies and heads to the community care center set up by the National Guard. While there, they may do a load of laundry in the laundry tent. While they wait, the family plays one of the games provided in the tent beside the laundry tent. There are several tables set up with a variety of games. Also partitioned off in that tent is a place for physical and mental health checks. Sometimes, they’ll take showers located in trailers at the community care center. Or, they’ll go to a friend’s house with well water and shower there. Either way, it is time-consuming. And they’ve learned it’s no fun to go late at night to get cleaned up after a child has thrown up on you. It’s rough not having running water when a stomach bug is in the house. Thankfully, it was short-lived, and most days have been healthy.

At least twice a week, Emily’s family visits friends in Swannanoa and supports the small businesses that have recently reopened. They also enjoy a few of the delicious meals still being served. They’ve made several new friends at these meals that they would not have met otherwise. Their pastor encourages church members to come for a meal even if they are not in need because it provides opportunities to come alongside those who are. Talking over a meal nurtures their community spirit. The love of Christ shines when people show they care–and actions speak louder than words.

Miles of mud-soaked shredded trees, twisted metal, and debris are piled high along the roadside, but my grandsons are focusing on the progress being made each day. One will exclaim, “Hey, they filled in that big hole!” or “The bridge is fixed!”

Nonetheless, it all still wearies the mind and body.  So they’ve traveled down the mountain the past two weekends and stayed at our house. And that’s a blessing for us!

Prayers and Help for the Long Haul

Hurricane Helene was fast and furious. People have helped in numerous ways already. But your continued prayers and help will be needed for the long haul.

Much is needed. But timing and space are issues. The key to helping is knowing of a specific need and a specific location accepting help for that need. I have heard of several people taking loads of supplies only to be turned around because no one had room to take their donations. It’s about timing and storage. Collection sites need time to move things out to folks who need them before they have room to store more supplies.

I’ve seen some of the people who have lost everything. Some are living in small tents, and they absolutely have no room to stock supplies. Daily, they go to a distribution place to get what they need. So, call ahead and find out who needs what. They may not need anything this week but may be out of something soon.

Black Mountain and Swannanoa need you.  If you can, I suggest you check out volunteer opportunities in the area through organizations such as Samaritan’s Purse and Baptists on Mission. Sign up to volunteer your time and skills. While you’re there, buy a delicious cup of coffee and a scrumptious scone. Do your Christmas shopping!

*****

Final Thoughts

Many of our family members and friends are still dealing with the aftereffects of Hurricane Helene. I shared just a snapshot of my daughter’s story for this post. Hurricane Helene was awful. But we have seen good come out of it, bringing us a better understanding and greater empathy for people living in disaster zones.

Thankfully, my daughter’s family didn’t lose their home, their jobs, or someone they loved. But, during her first phone call to me after the hurricane, she expressed it well when she said, “We’re okay, but we’re not okay.” She said she’s never had to hold such great gratitude and great grief at the same time. She’s grateful for being spared, but she grieves for the losses in her community–loss of lives, homes, livelihoods, nature, and normalcy. And so, we mourn with her.

And we rejoice when she tells us about the good things that are happening. God is working in amazing ways and molding beauty out of the mud.

In my next post, I’ll share with you about an incredible event where we distributed hundreds of Book & Glow Go-Bags to the children and youth in western North Carolina.

I’ve shared a snippet of my family’s experience after Hurricane Helene. Do you have a short story to share? I’d love to hear it. Send me your story via the contact page or share it in the comments below.

Motivated by the power of story, history, and His Story, Sally Matheny’s passion is telling the next generation wondrous things.

Her nonfiction writing appears in worldwide, national, and regional publications including Appleseeds, Clubhouse Jr., Homeschooling Today, and The Old Schoolhouse.

She and her husband live in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains and are blessed with three children, two sons-in-law, and armfuls of grandbabies. Connect with Sally on several social media sites, but her favorite hangouts are at SallyMatheny.com and Pinterest.