After Helene tried to drown out western NC in the wee hours of September 27, we are grateful to say, “The lights are back on, and we love having power and water again.”
Yesterday afternoon, as trucks started rolling into our pasture and along the road by our driveway, we cheered and applauded and expressed our thanks to the tireless workers from several states, who all responded with broad smiles.
They were unloading their gear and beginning repairs on yet another stretch of downed and tree-covered power lines.
NC Air National Guard has been amazing. Forestry, first responders, TIEC, and several local agencies, too. Choppers continue their flights, searching, rescuing, and recovering. We went from 400 to 650 roads and highways closed in the last days of September.
Entire towns washed away. The damage in the two towns abutting us to the north (Lake Lure and Chimney Rock) is beyond horrific.
We are very blessed. (FEMA was not ready for prime time in North Carolina… missed multiple basic steps like getting names and headcounts in stranded neighborhoods or contact info or addresses to which folks were going to evacuate. Communication 101 and some training are needed.)
In times like this, we learn the depths of generosity and kindness. Our confidence in the goodness of the human spirit is restored, as so many worked hard to help others, even when their homes remained without power and water.
Special thanks to friends David Weisgerber & Angie Vidibor for their pictures of Day 1 from Chimney Rock… and to Bill and Angie Leffort for letting us shower and gather water and then lending us their generator when their power returned so we could rev up the fridge and freezer, helping us to feed folks. And yes, now that Milton swept across Florida, Mom is safe, though without power and water.
Here’s my bottom line. In times of trouble and challenges, faith and the 5 C’s will get us through:
Calmness
Compassion
Competency
Cooperation
&
Creativity
My most humble and heartfelt thanks to everyone.
