On Friday September 27th, 2024 Hurricane Helene reached North Carolina Bringing historic rainfall, strong winds, and tornadoes generated by the storm. I frantically called my sister and sent numerous text messages as she lived just outside of Asheville and was in a high impact area, to which I got no response. I remember my heart dropping as she didn’t respond the next day as well. It didn’t help seeing the videos on social media of the numerous floods and landslides that caused great damage to Western North Carolina. All I could think about was if my sister was okay and finally on Sunday September 29th she was able to contact us explaining that the cellular service was gone in her area and that certain roads were completely blocked off by standing water. She was able to make it to our home in Charlotte and was out of work for over a month. Fortunately her apartment complex was up on a hill so the flooding didn’t reach her building; however electricity and water weren’t working in her building. Other people around her weren’t so lucky. Media reports indicate that the storm damaged or destroyed more than 125,000 housing units across western North Carolina. The North Carolina Forest Service estimated 822,000 acres of damaged timberland, which resulted in $214 million in damages to North Carolina forests. Many people in remote areas were stranded as landslides, fallen trees, and debris flows destroyed numerous roads and bridges in smaller mountain communities. In the aftermath of Helene, many residents were left without access to clean water or electricity for an extended period. Even though it’s not the mainstream story in media recovery efforts are still going on and there are still thousands of people affected. I recently went up to Beech Mountain for spring break and on the drive there still saw numerous piles of debris on the side of the road waiting to be disposed of. Families impacted by Hurricane Helene need our help—every donation, big or small, brings them one step closer to rebuilding their homes and lives.

Below is an image my sister took just down the street from her apartment.