Hurricane Helene

[Sheepdog]

MCB

Please pray for the people of all states affected by Hurrican Helene. I just came back from the Black Mountain area as a part of a team locating missing persons. If you have the capacity to do so, please donate any way you can. Do not donate to government operations. As someone who was boots on the ground, the only people truly helping are civilians, and private corporations. This disaster is significantly worse than is being reported by mainstream media. These amazingly grateful and kind people are going to need help for a long time. If you have anything negative to say about this, please keep it to yourself.

Thanks so much.

Sheepdog


PS
There are a lot of people who seem to be on a sight seeing trip. Please do not be a disaster tourist. This is extremely frustrating to those folks out trying to deliver aid, and search an rescue. If you go, go to help, not to look.

[Seajay]

Thank you for being able to offer aid. It really is awful, whole areas are washed away. Infrastructure is gone, not something that be can repaired. I have friends who have been making supply runs and they report the same thing, go to a church or private organization to drop off supplies. The government operations are confiscating supplies but are not prepared to deliver them.

Biggest items I've been asked are winter gear. Coats, blankets, etc... in addition to things like baby food.

[Jonnydread]

Do not donate to government operations. As someone who was boots on the ground, the only people truly helping are civilians, and private corporations.

I volunteered with Habitat for Humanity in New Orleans after Katrina and I am completely with you. Bureaucracy and red tape got in the way of people helping people, it was ridiculous and completely changed my view of some things related to our government.

Do you have any grassroots or private organizations that are doing good work for donations?

[Sheepdog]

If they don't have a badge and a gun, tell them to kick rocks. Tons of organizations! The amount of donations pouring in, and the humanitarian effort from people is unbelievable. Let me check the group chat we have going to see who needs what.

[GanonsGrin]

I am 1 hour outside of Asheville, NC in Northeast TN, and areas up here are just as bad. The breadth of the damage from this storm is truly unimaginable. I agree that the people doing the most good are the private organizations that are doing supply runs, but make sure they are set up to go where they say they will. Some areas are still dangerous and near impossible to reach via vehicle, hence why there are stories of people with miles and pick animals making supply runs into the mountains for some of the smaller communities.

this isn’t a storm we are going to bounce back from quickly up here, unfortunately. I was fortunate that my home had minimal damage, but just 2 streets over from us there were cars on their sides that had been battered from wind and trees coming down. It looked insane, and that wasn’t even in the hard hit zone. You go 20 minutes away into Erwin, Unicoi and Mountain City TN and some of those places don’t even exist any more, completely washed away by flood waters, rock slides and mudslides. It is disheartening to be this close to so much damage. You DO NOT expect to have to worry about hurricane damage in TN.

To anyone going over there, stay safe and use common sense. To anyone else, do what you can to assist if you have the means to do so. There are a LOTTTT of people who are being displaced due to this one, and a lot more who are still unaccounted for.

[Sheepdog]

Sorry GanosGrin, my brain is still all over the place. Original post edited to include all states affected. We were doing 211 wellness checks on the areas not easily accessible and deploying a private chopper to the places we could not get to. Hows the help coming in for eastern TN? No access to TN from 40 west.

[GanonsGrin]

I wasn’t trying to ruffle any feathers, just commenting from nearby. Thank you for your efforts and assistance in the recovery side of things, most people aren’t prepared to handle that

[MrKittyCatMeowFace]

1776 again

[GanonsGrin]

1-81 has been a Disney ride wait line of trucks and ambulances waiting to get into the area to help, but thankfully a lot of the local areas affected have been inundated with supplies and people waiting to get over and help clear up the area. The downside is that most of the people going in to help aren’t ready for the “recovery” aspect when they come across those who didn’t survive, so it’s taking a toll.

today alone, I’ve heard at least 4 convoys of Hueys (or some sort of large military choppers) flying into Greeneville and over the mountains to provide assistance and supplies as well

[William the Third]

This is my area. I live just outside of Weaverville, NC, and I have friends and family all around the area. I'm currently staying with a Friend, Mikey, who I help run Wolverine Paintball in Hendersonville, NC with. I've been here a week, and will likely be here for another week or more, as I won't have power for a long time (my house was just missed by falling trees). I watched live as the forest behind my house just disappeared. Wolverine Paintball was badly damaged due to flood waters. Lots of business and personal stuff was lost. I had two rental properties in Swannanoa, NC on the Swannanoa River, and both were lost due the floods. This was the worst storm to his this area in recorded history, surpassing the 1916 flood by at least a foot.

[Carp]

William the Third ....not the trees!..?😕

[William the Third]

Carp we lost a lot of trees in our woods field. The woods will never be the same.

[Carp]

William the Third Well I'll indulge in some "freezer burn" and a bit of "unicorn meat", in their memory. 😉...😋

[William the Third]

After two weeks I finally have power back.

[Carp]

Woooohooo! How's the field progress?

[William the Third]

Coming along, but still a lot to go.