Many have been in shock at the devastation wreaked by Hurricane Helene. The Roanoke area was lashed by high winds and rains. Power outages were widespread; one area in Bonsack was without electricity for 78 hours. Tornados were seen around Rocky Mount and Pittsylvania County. However, our area was spared the worst of the destruction.
As reported here, Virginia Tech has been helping in clean up efforts in Southwest Virginia, where storm damage grew more severe the farther south and west one went. For example, parts of Claytor Lake were covered with debris washed in from the flooded New River.
By September 30, the Virginia Department of Health issued a “Boil water notice in effect for…Blacksburg, Christiansburg, Virginia Tech, and Montgomery County.” In a statement they explained: “This precaution is necessary due to historic flooding on the New River creating challenging water quality conditions and finished water turbidities exceeding 1.0 NTU.” As of Friday Oct 4th the notice was still in effect.
The worst destruction, however, is a few hours south of our area, especially in parts of western North Carolina. Its mountainous, remote terrain made it an idyllic spot for tourism and living, but those same factors made flooding more destructive and recovery more difficult.
Earlier showers had saturated much of the soil already, so torrential rains from Helene caused flooding of what some call “biblical proportions.” Some areas in the county around Asheville, North Carolina received up to 29 inches…two and a half feet…of rain around September 26-27.
At the time of this writing, the death toll is over 200 confirmed and could still rise due to lack of roads, communication, and cell service across a huge swath of the South stretching from the Gulf of Florida to Tennessee and Virginia.
A collection of jaw-dropping videos of the destruction can be seen here. The tourist town of Chimney Rock, North Carolina appears to be nearly destroyed.
Some, including the CBS moderators of the recent vice presidential debate, attribute the horrific flooding to climate change, but historical perspective shows that hurricanes have been bringing destructive floods for a long time. This highway sign tells about the Flood of 1916 in western North Carolina, and ironically floods from Helene knocked down the sign.
Adding to the grief and outrage are growing reports out of the area that the federal government has been sluggish to respond with help. On October 2, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas ignited a controversy with his announcement that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) “does not have the funds to make it through [the hurricane] season”. Many have been outraged by the news that FEMA is short on fund because $1.4 billion has been spent, not on emergency preparedness, but rather on taking care of immigrants, an unknown number of which are in the US illegally.
On that same day, Vice President and presidential candidate Kamala Harris traveled to Georgia and, reading from a script, announced the federal government was giving $750 to help them in the immediate aftermath of the historic storm. (As a reference, those who lost their homes in the tragic August 2023 fires on Maui, Hawaii received only $700.)
Decrying the weak federal response, North Carolina Lieutenant Governor and gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson (R) posted on Facebook on October 1: “Virtually every single aircraft currently running missions is privately owned. The few that aren’t are owned by states other than North Carolina. Absolute insanity.”
A Tennessee man whose octogenarian mother lived near Asheville, one of the hardest-hit areas, reported this on Sunday, September 29: “We’ve been working for two days with the Red Cross and Emergency Services to reach my mother…but so far not heard anyone has made contact with her. She has no power, no water, no phone and can hardly walk.”
By Monday, September 30 he had received that his mother and her enfeebled husband were safe and he texted this as they drove to rescue her. “We are almost to Knoxville and have our truck loaded with extra gas, water, toilet paper and a few other supplies. We will spend the night with friends in Erwin [TN]. Erwin has also been destroyed but they have power back and are on water boil. All of Asheville has a 7:30-7:30 curfew….We have heard it will be at least a month before water is restores in Asheville.”
He continued on October 3: “I was able to finally reach my Mom…and get her out. She was almost out of water and had a few left over berries and a banana in the house. But now she’s safe and ok. It’s horrifying what’s happened there….The emergency crews are overwhelmed…it’s horrible.”
Many people have “compassion fatigue” and with reports of so much corruption, many are reluctant to give. Over the years, however, many have found Danville, Virginia-based God’s Pit Crew to be a reliable and honest platform when giving to disaster relief. They focus on packing and sending five-gallon “Blessing Buckets,” and three-gallon “Children’s Play Pails,” conveniently-sized plastic tubs with lids filled with practical items one would need after a disaster: Bible, water, ready to eat food, flashlight, body wipes, first aid kit, coloring book, etc.
On October 3, God’s Pit Crew posted this to their Facebook page: “You’ve seen all the photos of destruction in #NorthCarolina – of houses washed away, streets covered with mud and trees – but we pray that you’ll keep in mind the little hearts of so many children trying to cope with the “normal” they knew, now completely devastated. #PlayPails are being given directly to these children to provide peace as they navigate the chaos caused by Hurricane Helene.” One can learn more about God’s Pit Crew and donate here.
Shield Chap introduces themselves as “a nonprofit police chaplaincy serving officers and their families of the Roanoke City, Roanoke County, Franklin County Sheriffs Office, and Salem Police Departments.”
On October 4 they posted: “Will you help us respond to Hurricane Helene? Next week, SHIELD will be deploying Gareth Stephenson to assist Standing Watch – Office of the Sheriff, Franklin County, Va in their response to the law enforcement needs in North Carolina.”
For those who wish to donate actual items in person, F&S Building Innovations is collecting items. On September 29 they posted “Drop off 7 am – 4:30 pm at 2944 Orange Ave NE Roanoke. We will deliver to Gleaning for the World to get to the people in need.”
The generous Roanoke area has responded again, because by Friday, October 4 F&S posted, “Y’all are amazing….this week the box truck has been filled to the utter top. And pallets of stuff in our warehouse to load onto another trailer. THANK YOU for your generosity to help those in need!”
–Scott Dreyer