Hi!
Regular readers of these ramblings (assuming that there are some) will know that I : 1.) try (not always successfully) to avoid getting into specifically political discussions; and, 2.) try to maintain (usually quite successfully, if I DO say so) a schedule of “publishing” these posts on a 2 week cycle. Since I just “published” my most recent regular post on Oct. 2, this one is, obviously, a “SPECIAL” post. I only write it because I feel obliged to respond to the devastation of Hurricane Helene, especially in Western North Carolina, where I spent more than half of my life.
I was dismayed when I first saw that the predictions for Helene placed it coming ashore in Florida’s Panhandle, moving up through Georgia, across Western North Carolina and further to the north, before eventually dying out in Ohio and/or Indiana. Her strength was, obviously, expected to be considerable, if she was going to hold together that far inland. Still, while I expected there would be some problems in Florida and southern Georgia, those areas are close enough to the Gulf that such difficulties (while concerning) aren’t completely unexpected there, and they know how to deal with them fairly well.
Western North Carolina (and adjacent Eastern Tennessee), on the other hand, don’t have to deal with HURRICANES very often. The only Hurricane I really remember from my 43 years of living in WNC, was Hugo, which came ashore in South Carolina and traversed through the area just west of Charlotte before moving up into West Virginia in 1989, a good while ago. And, he was, mostly, in the NC Piedmont, not really in the mountains. It WAS rather unusual to have a hurricane that far inland, but the terrain was a good deal flatter there and, while I remember relief efforts being made (our daughter, Kate, gathered relief supplies and delivered them to the Charlotte area as part of her Girl Scout Gold Award that fall), the impact of Hugo on WNC wasn’t all THAT great, as I remember it..
There HAVE been floods in the area before, however. In 2004, I think, Clyde and Canton, NC had some serious flooding (which MAY have been related to a hurricane) and, as I remember it, part of I-40 in the Pigeon River Gorge (which opened in 1971 just before I started at WCU) was partially washed out on that occasion, requiring quite serious road work to get it useable again. Still, from what I have been able to gather in the way of news about Helene devastation: I-40 is mostly gone in the Gorge, again, as is I-26 north of Asheville towards Tennessee; the Blue Ridge Parkway is just plain CLOSED (at least for the time being); many parts of the region have had serious problems, including the Sylva/Cullowhee/Dillsboro area which suffered serious damage to roads, infrastructure. etc., causing significant problems there; the Asheville/Biltmore area and north of there probably has been damaged even more seriously. Even the Biltmore Estate is closed and won’t reopen until at least October 15.
My understanding is that WCU canceled classes beginning on Sept. 26 and doesn’t plan to restart until AT LEAST October. 21, after Fall Break had been scheduled. App State is closed until AT LEAST Oct. 16, and UNCA in Asheville doesn’t plan to resume classes until AT LEAST Oct. 28, due to the major damage to roads and other infrastructure in the Asheville area.
I won’t pretend that this blog is a “news source.” I’m too far away and have too little access to authentic information to even pretend to do that. But, after living in that area for over half of my life, I have some understanding of what having this sort of disaster, especially at this time of year, is going to do to the region. This is TOURIST country for most of the year, with Fall being critical for many businesses to survive the winter! The Fall “Leaf Looker” season is a MAJOR part of the economy for many, especially small, businesses throughout the region, and I don’t see any reason to have ANY confidence that things will be back to anything approaching “normalcy” for the winter “Ski” season which is important to the higher mountain areas, especially north of Asheville. Things are bad now and it is NOT going to get better for quite a while!
I HATE it when our “leaders” send their “thoughts and prayers” to the victims of various disasters, although I understand that, as untrained, unprepared individuals, there isn’t much more they can do, nor can I. I confess to feeling pretty helpless. However, I do know that there IS something I can actually do, besides sending donations to legitimate agencies and businesses to help them get back on their feet. That’s keep out of their way!
Bonnie and I had been considering a trip back to that area for sometime this fall, but NOW that’s not going to happen! I understand that people want to help, but I believe that NC Governor Roy Cooper was correct when he told the Asheville Citizen-Times the other day:
ASHEVILLE - As peak leaf season approaches in the mountains, N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper told the Citizen Times that tourists are not wanted in Western North Carolina in the fallout of the historic, devastating floods have been confirmed to have taken 97 lives in the state and devastated the region's infrastructure.
Cooper said he only wants people who are dedicated to response efforts coming to the region.
"Whenever you come to Western North Carolina you get emergency notifications that we don't want you here unless you are directly helping with the response," Cooper told the Citizen Times Oct. 3.
I congratulate the Governor for his simple, common sense. I would also add that it’s probably not wise to pester friends and/or acquaintances in the area with email, texts or social media. Much of the area is struggling with not only lack of food, shelter and water, but also doesn’t have much access to the technology we all take far too much for granted, nor do they have time and/or energy to deal with such stuff until they and their families are safe and secure. If you must, send 1 (that's ONE!) message to them and then leave them alone. They will get back to you when they can. Being harassed by your worries should NOT be an addition to their already considerable challenges.
I’m just going to sit here in Omaha, send some donations where I think they can do the most good, and hope for the best until I can feel comfortable that I can do something productive. I suspect it’s going to take a good while and it’s going to be hard, but that’s the LEAST (and the most) I can actually do for my friends there, until they have a chance to start getting their lives back together. Once that happens, I’ll see about going back to visit.
🖖🏼 LLAP,
Dr. B
P.S. When you flush a toilet, have a nice, hot meal, sleep under your own roof, put on clean clothes, etc.; remember that there are people who can’t do that right now; and they are our NEIGHBORS! The problems of this area aren’t going away any time soon. Things WILL improve, I have little doubt about that, but it’s going to be a LONG time before anything like “normal” is achieved again. If we’d like to be helped in a time of trouble, we need to remember to help others. Don’t just think about it, DO IT!
RSB
Regular readers of these ramblings (assuming that there are some) will know that I : 1.) try (not always successfully) to avoid getting into specifically political discussions; and, 2.) try to maintain (usually quite successfully, if I DO say so) a schedule of “publishing” these posts on a 2 week cycle. Since I just “published” my most recent regular post on Oct. 2, this one is, obviously, a “SPECIAL” post. I only write it because I feel obliged to respond to the devastation of Hurricane Helene, especially in Western North Carolina, where I spent more than half of my life.
I was dismayed when I first saw that the predictions for Helene placed it coming ashore in Florida’s Panhandle, moving up through Georgia, across Western North Carolina and further to the north, before eventually dying out in Ohio and/or Indiana. Her strength was, obviously, expected to be considerable, if she was going to hold together that far inland. Still, while I expected there would be some problems in Florida and southern Georgia, those areas are close enough to the Gulf that such difficulties (while concerning) aren’t completely unexpected there, and they know how to deal with them fairly well.
Western North Carolina (and adjacent Eastern Tennessee), on the other hand, don’t have to deal with HURRICANES very often. The only Hurricane I really remember from my 43 years of living in WNC, was Hugo, which came ashore in South Carolina and traversed through the area just west of Charlotte before moving up into West Virginia in 1989, a good while ago. And, he was, mostly, in the NC Piedmont, not really in the mountains. It WAS rather unusual to have a hurricane that far inland, but the terrain was a good deal flatter there and, while I remember relief efforts being made (our daughter, Kate, gathered relief supplies and delivered them to the Charlotte area as part of her Girl Scout Gold Award that fall), the impact of Hugo on WNC wasn’t all THAT great, as I remember it..
There HAVE been floods in the area before, however. In 2004, I think, Clyde and Canton, NC had some serious flooding (which MAY have been related to a hurricane) and, as I remember it, part of I-40 in the Pigeon River Gorge (which opened in 1971 just before I started at WCU) was partially washed out on that occasion, requiring quite serious road work to get it useable again. Still, from what I have been able to gather in the way of news about Helene devastation: I-40 is mostly gone in the Gorge, again, as is I-26 north of Asheville towards Tennessee; the Blue Ridge Parkway is just plain CLOSED (at least for the time being); many parts of the region have had serious problems, including the Sylva/Cullowhee/Dillsboro area which suffered serious damage to roads, infrastructure. etc., causing significant problems there; the Asheville/Biltmore area and north of there probably has been damaged even more seriously. Even the Biltmore Estate is closed and won’t reopen until at least October 15.
My understanding is that WCU canceled classes beginning on Sept. 26 and doesn’t plan to restart until AT LEAST October. 21, after Fall Break had been scheduled. App State is closed until AT LEAST Oct. 16, and UNCA in Asheville doesn’t plan to resume classes until AT LEAST Oct. 28, due to the major damage to roads and other infrastructure in the Asheville area.
I won’t pretend that this blog is a “news source.” I’m too far away and have too little access to authentic information to even pretend to do that. But, after living in that area for over half of my life, I have some understanding of what having this sort of disaster, especially at this time of year, is going to do to the region. This is TOURIST country for most of the year, with Fall being critical for many businesses to survive the winter! The Fall “Leaf Looker” season is a MAJOR part of the economy for many, especially small, businesses throughout the region, and I don’t see any reason to have ANY confidence that things will be back to anything approaching “normalcy” for the winter “Ski” season which is important to the higher mountain areas, especially north of Asheville. Things are bad now and it is NOT going to get better for quite a while!
I HATE it when our “leaders” send their “thoughts and prayers” to the victims of various disasters, although I understand that, as untrained, unprepared individuals, there isn’t much more they can do, nor can I. I confess to feeling pretty helpless. However, I do know that there IS something I can actually do, besides sending donations to legitimate agencies and businesses to help them get back on their feet. That’s keep out of their way!
Bonnie and I had been considering a trip back to that area for sometime this fall, but NOW that’s not going to happen! I understand that people want to help, but I believe that NC Governor Roy Cooper was correct when he told the Asheville Citizen-Times the other day:
ASHEVILLE - As peak leaf season approaches in the mountains, N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper told the Citizen Times that tourists are not wanted in Western North Carolina in the fallout of the historic, devastating floods have been confirmed to have taken 97 lives in the state and devastated the region's infrastructure.
Cooper said he only wants people who are dedicated to response efforts coming to the region.
"Whenever you come to Western North Carolina you get emergency notifications that we don't want you here unless you are directly helping with the response," Cooper told the Citizen Times Oct. 3.
I congratulate the Governor for his simple, common sense. I would also add that it’s probably not wise to pester friends and/or acquaintances in the area with email, texts or social media. Much of the area is struggling with not only lack of food, shelter and water, but also doesn’t have much access to the technology we all take far too much for granted, nor do they have time and/or energy to deal with such stuff until they and their families are safe and secure. If you must, send 1 (that's ONE!) message to them and then leave them alone. They will get back to you when they can. Being harassed by your worries should NOT be an addition to their already considerable challenges.
I’m just going to sit here in Omaha, send some donations where I think they can do the most good, and hope for the best until I can feel comfortable that I can do something productive. I suspect it’s going to take a good while and it’s going to be hard, but that’s the LEAST (and the most) I can actually do for my friends there, until they have a chance to start getting their lives back together. Once that happens, I’ll see about going back to visit.
🖖🏼 LLAP,
Dr. B
P.S. When you flush a toilet, have a nice, hot meal, sleep under your own roof, put on clean clothes, etc.; remember that there are people who can’t do that right now; and they are our NEIGHBORS! The problems of this area aren’t going away any time soon. Things WILL improve, I have little doubt about that, but it’s going to be a LONG time before anything like “normal” is achieved again. If we’d like to be helped in a time of trouble, we need to remember to help others. Don’t just think about it, DO IT!
RSB
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