Helene Recovery & Info

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Cell service is very spotty — I think some cell towers may be down in Lenoir area.

I understand our cabin is not reachable currently — road collapsed on a stretch of NC-105 and roads are declared closed for now regardless. At least a neighbor confirmed that the cabin is still there and just had some minor water incursion on eastern facing windows.

I dread what the fridge and freezer will be like once we ever get up there — could be weeks.
 
Peppers49 said:
it’s surreal seeing the pics and videos of places that I know so well getting completely washed away.

We have a house that’s been in the family for generations now between Boone and Blowing Rock. No idea how it fared during the storm, but it sounds like it will probably take my folks awhile to even be able to drive up and assess the damage. Thankfully it’s just a vacation spot. I feel terrible for all of the permanent residents in that part of the state.
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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.
 
1moretimeagain said:
I wonder how well stocked people were prior to the storm. I’m sure it’s hard to be properly alarmed when you’re 500 miles inland from where the storm made landfall.
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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.
 
1moretimeagain said:
I wonder how well stocked people were prior to the storm. I’m sure it’s hard to be properly alarmed when you’re 500 miles inland from where the storm made landfall.
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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.
 
Scientific Mapp said:
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.
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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.
 
tallheel95 said:
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 😬

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I gassed up there a month ago. Damn.
 
2ManyBlueCups said:
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.
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This. It was obvious that Western NC was in big trouble. Flooding was predicted to be historic.
 
2ManyBlueCups said:
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 uneunexpected
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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.

I'm simply stating, as a matter of fact, that very few went out beforehand at 8pm on Wednesday night and got their bottle water and propane tanks. And that fact is causing significant problems today and going forward.
 
Scientific Mapp said:
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.

I'm simply stating, as a matter of fact, that very few went out beforehand at 8pm on Wednesday night and got their bottle water and propane tanks. And that fact is causing significant problems today and going forward.
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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.
 
Mulberry Heel said:
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.
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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.

The whole family went downstairs and sat as close as possible to the center of the house. My dad opened the front door to look out (it was hard to see anything through the windows), and the howling wind was significantly louder. You could essentially see the wind blowing as it carried debris with it. I remember seeing so much debris fly by right in front of us.

Once the storm passed, the amount of destruction was shocking. Huge trees down everywhere. Cars crushed by the trees. Amazingly, our property, which had a quite a few big trees on it, was spared. Somehow we didn’t lose a single tree. Just limbs here and there.

We were without power for two weeks. We got a little tease and got power back a couple days after the storm. But about two days after that, we were told we were not supposed to have power, and apparently a line worker was injured working on a line near us because they were unaware people on our block had power. So they shut it back off for about another 10 days.

I remember lighting lots of candles at night, finding anything that could entertain us. We played lots of games. I do think it was easier to find ways to entertain yourself without electricity 35 years ago. We are much more dependent on technology now than we were back then. And today’s kids have a much harder time without technology, and have a harder time dealing with boredom and finding ways not to be bored.
 
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:1000005955.jpg
That was yesterday morning.

Then yesterday evening:

1000005960.jpg

Then today at noon:

1000005977.jpg

So it looks like the flood waters are receding. But damn.
 
StrangePackage said:
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:1000005955.jpg
That was yesterday morning.

Then yesterday evening:

1000005960.jpg

Then today at noon:

1000005977.jpg

So it looks like the flood waters are receding. But damn.
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Damn. Glad you’re okay. I hate seeing that part of town looking like that.

I sure as hell hope the artists whose work and studios are in those buildings down there were able to get their work out.
 
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Anyone happen to be from Old Fort? I have a friend who's mom lives there and they can't get in touch with her.
 
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