Hurricane Helene

Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15 said:
My understanding is that the French Broad River is usually at 2 feet. Previous high (1916 or something) was 21 feet. I have heard it hit 30 feet.

No one was prepared for this level of destruction. The River Arts District (our funky industrial-cum-studio/brewery area) is gone. The small business I ran for ten years is gone, crumbled, they found a body in the building (not anyone associated with the store).

And we didn't get the worst of the worst.

Swannanoa (I spent four years there) was decimated. Chimney Rock was underwater. Marshall is gone. Hot Springs is gone.

I'm sure many other smaller mountain communities are in a similar state.

Infrastructure in Buncombe County is starting to return. Some stores are getting supplies, some are even accepting credit cards (who the heck carries cash these days???). Search and Rescue has been a massive undertaking. Reconnecting electricity and water will be a massive undertaking.

Edit: comms are so bad it took me four hours to post this
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Thanks for sharing. You are safe... I hope you are able to go forward in due time. Take care...
 
Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15 said:
My understanding is that the French Broad River is usually at 2 feet. Previous high (1916 or something) was 21 feet. I have heard it hit 30 feet.

No one was prepared for this level of destruction. The River Arts District (our funky industrial-cum-studio/brewery area) is gone. The small business I ran for ten years is gone, crumbled, they found a body in the building (not anyone associated with the store).

And we didn't get the worst of the worst.

Swannanoa (I spent four years there) was decimated. Chimney Rock was underwater. Marshall is gone. Hot Springs is gone.

I'm sure many other smaller mountain communities are in a similar state.

Infrastructure in Buncombe County is starting to return. Some stores are getting supplies, some are even accepting credit cards (who the heck carries cash these days???). Search and Rescue has been a massive undertaking. Reconnecting electricity and water will be a massive undertaking.

Edit: comms are so bad it took me four hours to post this
Click to expand...
Hot Springs is gone??!!! That was one of my favorite places ever. Used to stay at the legendary Sunnybank Inn (the oldest inn in the city) run by an amazing cantankerous wild I'm a real wanker for saying this. I'm a real wanker for saying this. character named Elmer Hall. Books were written about him and his B&B. You had to be personally approved by him to stay there. Usually you did that by mentioning a friend who would vouch for you.

The town name is from their natural spring spas. The structures (spas, changing rooms) were built by German officers who were captured on a ship in the NY harbor at the start of the war. Their “punishment” was living in Hot Springs for the duration of the war. They made friends with the townsfolk and many came back to visit after repatriating to Germany.

I went to Hot Springs several times on varios July 4ths. We used to dine overlooking the French Broad. I’m sure that restaurant is long gone now. Sad to hear. 😢
 
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Skydog said:
Hot Springs is gone??!!! That was one of my favorite places ever. Used to stay at the legendary Sunnybank Inn (the oldest inn in the city) run by an amazing cantankerous wild I'm a real wanker for saying this. I'm a real wanker for saying this. character named Elmer Hall. Books were written about him and his B&B. You had to be personally approved by him to stay there. Usually you did that by mentioning a friend who would vouch for you.

The town name is from their natural spring spas. The structures (spas, changing rooms) were built by German officers who were captured on a ship in the NY harbor at the start of the war. Their “punishment” was living in Hot Springs for the duration of the war. They made friends with the townsfolk and many came back to visit after repatriating to Germany.

I went to Hot Springs several times on varios July 4ths. We used to dine overlooking the French Broad. I’m sure that restaurant is long gone now. Sad to hear. 😢
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Agreed. The story of Hot Springs is worth reading into. If I had better service I would provide some links.
 
Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15 said:
Agreed. The story of Hot Springs is worth reading into. If I had better service I would provide some links.
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I cant express how glad I am you made it. Aswell as the sorrow I feel for those effected and the loss of life.i just talked to a family member that has involvement.
It's hearsay .so I won't repeat it.his story is bone chilling .the loss of life he described is nearly unbelievable.
 
Skydog said:
Hot Springs is gone??!!! That was one of my favorite places ever. Used to stay at the legendary Sunnybank Inn (the oldest inn in the city) run by an amazing cantankerous wild I'm a real wanker for saying this. I'm a real wanker for saying this. character named Elmer Hall. Books were written about him and his B&B. You had to be personally approved by him to stay there. Usually you did that by mentioning a friend who would vouch for you.

The town name is from their natural spring spas. The structures (spas, changing rooms) were built by German officers who were captured on a ship in the NY harbor at the start of the war. Their “punishment” was living in Hot Springs for the duration of the war. They made friends with the townsfolk and many came back to visit after repatriating to Germany.

I went to Hot Springs several times on varios July 4ths. We used to dine overlooking the French Broad. I’m sure that restaurant is long gone now. Sad to hear. 😢
Click to expand...
Very few river towns close to Asheville escaped without major damage. For some reason a brewery we've visited in Waynesville, Frog Level Brewery, has apparently been spared. It sits beside a sizeable creek, but I notice it is open for business. It is hoped that a favorite town of ours, Black Mountain, at least has its central business district still intact.

When I think about the devastation of Biltmore Village and the River Arts district in Asheville, my heart goes out to all the fine folks who lost their livelihoods. I've reluctantly searched out videos of the area, and as Mtn. Devil says, that's all in horrible shape. Hillman Brewery alone lost two spots, one on Sweeten Creek adjacent to Biltmore Village, the other an almost new place in Old Fort, a small that fared as badly as Swannanoa.

It hurts me a lot to think about it, and I'm just a sometimes visitor. We've made a donation that only becomes paltry if many, many others like us don't help. It appears the federal government is doing its job so far, but it will take lots more than that to help these valleys recover as best they can.
 
Very sad to hear about Hot Springs. Hot Springs, Erwin and Damascus are all legendary Appalachian Trail towns. All three were damaged by Helene. I stayed at the Sunnybank Inn while hiking that section, cool place.
 
Communications seem stronger today. I'll try and check in regularly.

Power is starting to come back to our area. I understand my work has power, and that's less than a mile from me.

Water is the real question. We are on a smaller water grid (Woodfin Water in North Asheville) and I don't know yet whether that is good or bad. I have heard rumors of water by the end of the day, and water in eight weeks.

I cannot overstate the value of community in these times. Our neighbors we have know for twenty years and neighbors we have just met have been pulling together, making meals, clearing roads, pulling trees from houses, giving hugs, sharing information - on and on and on. It's heart filling.

My own personal world is upset because my dog is dying and there's very little I can do under the circumstances. We got some meds and fluids yesterday at a vet that managed to be open. But I am afraid the die is cast. Hope we can make/keep her comfortable.

Sleep is nearly impossible because my brain is so busy. I took some strong sleep pill last night. Helped me sleep but I had the worst and most violent dreams of my entire life.

There's some crazy intense shared trauma happening, and it's just insane to think about how many people have it so so so much worse.

(Trigger warning)

My wife and I saw what we were absolutely certain was a very small dead body down the road in a parking lot. It took us most of 30 minutes to get close enough to realize it was someone's Halloween decoration that must have come from upstream.

(End trigger warning)

Our neighborhood is well supplied enough that we have moved to helping shift our supplies up the river to places who need it much much more.

People have come out of the woodwork from all over sending messages asking how they can help. I know there are lots of organizations that have boots on the ground. Personally, I haven't seen any of them in my immediate area. I also understand there are lots of scams out there collecting donations.

The three places I know locally that are doing legit good work and distributing resources are:

ABCCM
MANNA Food bank
Beloved Asheville

I'm sure there are others, but these are the ones I can vouch for that are working long days and being amazing. If you have the inclination and capacity, please find a way to help.

The supplies I have seen personally are being brought up by individuals with huge hearts. People from Greenville. From Indiana. From upstate New York. Not asking for anything in return, just handing out food. Water. Underwear. Socks. Diapers. Generators. Gas. Sanitizers. Towels.

I'm sorry I have been so quiet here. I get so much from this community.

I was able to get enough service to learn OUR BLUE DEVILS ARE 5-0 BABY!!!

LET'S GO DUKE! LET'S GO WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA! LET'S GO HUMANS!
 
Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15 said:
Communications seem stronger today. I'll try and check in regularly.

Power is starting to come back to our area. I understand my work has power, and that's less than a mile from me.

Water is the real question. We are on a smaller water grid (Woodfin Water in North Asheville) and I don't know yet whether that is good or bad. I have heard rumors of water by the end of the day, and water in eight weeks.

I cannot overstate the value of community in these times. Our neighbors we have know for twenty years and neighbors we have just met have been pulling together, making meals, clearing roads, pulling trees from houses, giving hugs, sharing information - on and on and on. It's heart filling.

My own personal world is upset because my dog is dying and there's very little I can do under the circumstances. We got some meds and fluids yesterday at a vet that managed to be open. But I am afraid the die is cast. Hope we can make/keep her comfortable.

Sleep is nearly impossible because my brain is so busy. I took some strong sleep pill last night. Helped me sleep but I had the worst and most violent dreams of my entire life.

There's some crazy intense shared trauma happening, and it's just insane to think about how many people have it so so so much worse.

(Trigger warning)

My wife and I saw what we were absolutely certain was a very small dead body down the road in a parking lot. It took us most of 30 minutes to get close enough to realize it was someone's Halloween decoration that must have come from upstream.

(End trigger warning)

Our neighborhood is well supplied enough that we have moved to helping shift our supplies up the river to places who need it much much more.

People have come out of the woodwork from all over sending messages asking how they can help. I know there are lots of organizations that have boots on the ground. Personally, I haven't seen any of them in my immediate area. I also understand there are lots of scams out there collecting donations.

The three places I know locally that are doing legit good work and distributing resources are:

ABCCM
MANNA Food bank
Beloved Asheville

I'm sure there are others, but these are the ones I can vouch for that are working long days and being amazing. If you have the inclination and capacity, please find a way to help.

The supplies I have seen personally are being brought up by individuals with huge hearts. People from Greenville. From Indiana. From upstate New York. Not asking for anything in return, just handing out food. Water. Underwear. Socks. Diapers. Generators. Gas. Sanitizers. Towels.

I'm sorry I have been so quiet here. I get so much from this community.

I was able to get enough service to learn OUR BLUE DEVILS ARE 5-0 BABY!!!

LET'S GO DUKE! LET'S GO WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA! LET'S GO HUMANS!
Click to expand...
Thanks for the report. Sorry about your dog. That’s always hard To bear and must be even harder now.
 
My co-worker's 12 yo daughter in Lexington was collecting pet food, including horse feed, to take up to the Swannanoa area today. I took a bunch of stuff to a local brewery yesterday that was participating in Operation Airdrop. They seemed to be legit and have a lot of drop points all over the Triangle.
 
Nothing nicer than friends helping friends, neighbors helping neighbors even if they don't know each other well. When we had 400 trees fall down on our property in 2017, 40+ 65 foot pine trees across our driveway, (no power for five days) we had 12 people show up on their own, with five chain saws and two very large tractors with big buckets up front to lift the trees....meant the world to us. Worked straight from 8 a.m. or so until 4pm.....got them all a bottle of good champagne and boxes of chocolates when the dust finally settled. GLad to hear Mtn has good pals, too.
 
The small elec coop where our farm is (they serve several counties in the northern NC mountains, around Boone but not Boone itself) has gone from more than 80% without power last weekend to almost 80% back on now. Lots of tiny mountain roads to cover. A Herculean effort all around.

-jk
 
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