my best friend's 94 year old grandfather lives alone up on a nice high ridge in blowing rock. they've talked to him, he's fine....has a really nice house with a generator and tons of food and water but he won't be going anywhere for a while. roads down the mountain are all closed.
Trust me, flexible voting options are not top of mind for anyone living west of Hickory at a moment like this.
Not well at all, and this is creating big problems today. Heavy rain was expected for Thursday and Friday, but not the full hurricane treatment, which we pretty much got. There weren't the typical bottle water and bread grocery store runs before the storm. Drinking water was an immediate issue yesterday for my family and others. Gas lines and hoarding are already in full swing; made worse by the fact that numerous road closures have funneled too much traffic onto back roads and circutious routes. And of course the fact that exceedingly few places have power. We were not prepared at all.
Reminds me of Hurricane Hugo in 1989. I happened to be at my parent's home up in the northwestern NC foothills watching the old ABC news program Nightline when Hugo made landfall at Charleston. I remember thinking how bad conditions must be in Charleston and went to bed feeling perfectly safe. When I woke up the next morning we had no power and many of the trees on the small mountain behind the house had been blown over or snapped in half. As it turned out what was left of the eye of the hurricane had practically gone right over the house. My parents didn't get power back for 2 or 3 days, the Blue Ridge Parkway was closed in places for weeks until fallen trees and debris was cleared, and of course Charlotte was simply hammered. Ever since I've respected the power of a strong hurricane, and Helene certainly qualifies. At least Hugo, as I recall, didn't cause the kind of epic flooding we've seen from Helene.
FWIW the National Weather Service was sounding the alarm before the rain fell on Thursday, warning that the incoming storm would be an unprecedented and immensely life-threatening weather event in the North Carolina and Tennessee mountains. The language was extreme. The state and FEMA deployed assets that were in place by Thursday. This was not unexpected.
I gassed up there a month ago. Damn.Gas station in Newland, NC. My father and sister live within 10 minutes of here. I haven’t heard from either of them since 10am this morning. A bit nerve wracking to say the least
This. It was obvious that Western NC was in big trouble. Flooding was predicted to be historic.
I have no interest in blaming, or disparaging, nor making excuses for, any person in Franklin, NC who didn't pay enough attention to a NWS warning that WNC was gonna get lit up by a hurricane like a coastal town.
As it is, everybody is out, clogging up strained and limited roadways, trying to buy food, gas, and stuff they need to survive. When, ideally, we'd all be on the porch drinking warm beers, letting emergency crews do their jobs, and wondering if Mack is winning the victory bell.
It really needs another name. How about the "Didn't lose bell?"
I was living in Charlotte when Hugo hit. I remember waking up in the early morning hours to the sound of a very loudly howling wind. It was like nothing I’d ever heard before.
Damn. Glad you’re okay. I hate seeing that part of town looking like that.Hey y'all. Been trying to check in. Power is out for most of the city. Water is boil advisory, where it is actually running. As y'all probably know, I 26 to Hendersonville is the only route in or out of town.
Here's some pictures of the river I took:
That was yesterday morning.
Then yesterday evening:
Then today at noon:
So it looks like the flood waters are receding. But damn.
