10/05/2024
Mom, the refugee, arrived safely in Wilmington with her 2 cats one week after Helene hit. Her house is fine, but the surrounding area is not. She lasted 7 days on emergency food rations, jugs of water, and help from the neighbors in Weaverville/Barnardsville. After a few days of thinking the power would come back on, she realized this was a much bigger deal than she thought. The power is supposedly back on at her house as of today, but we are unable to verify this.
I just showed her pictures and videos for the first time of the unfathomable devastation in her home community. We are in shock, both grieving and processing as our lives just changed very quickly. It’s too much to process and there are so many variables, but right now our plan is to rent out her home in Weaverville to either emergency relief workers or a local family who has been displaced. We have no details sorted out yet.
I’ve been off social media for a while and really enjoying that. I was planning to continue my hiatus for a little while longer, but I feel it’s important to start sharing about the catastrophic event our family and so many others are dealing with. Expect to see a lot of Hurricane Helene Relief posts from me in the coming months and years. Here are some things Helene victims need now:
Water
Non-perishable foods
Paper products
Toiletries
Utensils
Sanitary wipes
Cleaning supplies
Hygiene products (toothpaste, soap, shampoo, etc.)
Diapers
Baby Wipes
Baby Formula
Electrolyte packs
Bug spray
Manual can openers
Socks (all sizes)
Work gloves
Pet food
Livestock feed
Emergency funding
You can send donations to the Red Cross and several other charity organizations working hard to provide relief. In my decades of living in hurricane alley, I have never seen anything close to the apocalyptic destruction caused by Hurricane Helene in Appalachia. I’m so grateful my mom is alive, but my heart is absolutely broken for Asheville and all of WNC.
