Aftermath of Hurricane Helene in the NC mountains, late fall 2024

[MarzNC]

Here's a sad story about a mountain clan who were probably not living in houses built in recent years. I've seen other stories of houses demolished by landslides that were built well over 40 years ago.

October 9, 2024

Man loses 11 family members in Hurricane Helene: Report

Jesse Craig of Fairview, North Carolina, says he lost 11 members of his family following Hurricane Helene.

abcnews.go.com

 

[MarzNC]

Might be paywalled. Written by someone who has lived in Asheville for 20 years. He lives on the edge of the city with his wife and kids. Their basement flooded a bit but in general they were able to recover relatively quickly. His story starts on Sept. 27. It's a thoughtful description by a professional writer about the last two weeks.

I bought a few things from Second Gear, the consignment shop in the River Arts district in May. I've climbed with my daughter at the climbing gym mentioned when she was in college in Asheville. The pictures in the article are of places I know.

October 9, 2024

I Was in Asheville When Hurricane Helene Hit. Here's What I Saw—and Continue to See.

Our national-parks columnist, a 20-year resident of Asheville, was there when Hurricane Helene's floods wiped out entire towns in Western North Carolina. Nobody expected a storm like this.

www.outsideonline.com

" . . .
The day before the storm, I went to Second Gear to drop off a couple of things for resale. Second Gear is a consignment outdoor-gear shop that gives gently loved items like camp stoves and fleece and tents a second life, an effort in sustainability and in making things affordable to people who want to go outdoors and may lack good gear and equipment. It has a great location in the River Arts District, about 100 yards from the French Broad River.
The next time I saw Second Gear, it was in a video on social media, being swept away by the French Broad River. The entire building.

A number of guide services, like paddle-board rental shops and shuttle operators like French Broad Outfitters and Zen Tubing, that were located on the river suffered similar fates. Wrong Way Campground saw massive damage, the river breaching several of their cabins.

The local climbing gym, Cultivate Climbing, closed their flood doors, which would typically keep water out of the building. The river level was so high the waters crested the flood doors, poured in, and turned the building into a swimming pool.

Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests are closed. There’s no telling what sort of damage those mountains have suffered, because all resources right now are still dedicated to helping people in need. I’ve heard of groups of mountain bikers from the local bike club, called SORBA (for the Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association), hiking into small, isolated communities and chainsawing a path for those residents to get out to the nearest fire station.
. . ."

 

[MarzNC]

The first half of this video are musings by the couple as they drove up to the neighborhood where they own a farm. The second half shows damage along rivers and creeks, as well as a road that had temporary repairs done and active repair work. It's a road that he had driven often in the previous few days. They have been actively volunteering to help others by bringing in needed supplies. They are locals who were driving a borrowed AWD. The woman has had a YouTube channel about cooking, baking, and vegetable gardening for while. She's using the channel to actively document their experience helping with recovery.

October 7, 2024

 

[MarzNC]

One more story of a house built more than ten years ago that was destroyed by a mudslide . . . this is a report from Charlotte TV news. The family was evacuated there partially because the grandson had to be extracted from rubble of the house. The house belonged to the grandparents and was built over 25 years ago. The children had rescued the dog from a shelter a few years ago.

October 9, 2024, 4 min