It’s an often-repeated stereotype that people who live in mountain and rural communities help each other out when they’re able to, much more so than those who live in larger cities; however, sometimes getting help from neighbors isn’t enough. That has been the case for western North Carolina and areas in other states that were also devastated by Hurricane Helene.
While the damage is almost unimaginable, and videos of the disaster and the aftermath are nearly unwatchable, one very heartening thing that’s happened in the wake of the disaster is that so many groups, fire departments, churches, animal rescues, military units, rescue teams, EMS workers and other first responders, federal, state and local disaster response teams and agencies, individual pilots, volunteer organizations, and many others have come together to help those in need in the western part of the state.
The Greensboro Fire Department, for instance, sent its search and rescue teams to help.
Members of Summerfield Fire Department crews (some members pictured above) have been deployed to Nebo, North Carolina in McDowell County, as well as other parts of the state, to assist with search and rescue efforts.
The Guilford County Sheriff’s Office took donations and filled up a truck with badly needed items last week at the downtown Greensboro Sheriff’s Office – water, gloves, non-perishable food items, baby formula and other desperately needed supplies – and took it to the affected areas.
Now, with colder weather approaching, the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office is extending its “Together for Western NC” hurricane relief campaign and the Office is once again collecting essential supplies to help victims of the storm in western North Carolina – this time it’s for winter preparedness. The Office is once again gathering donations to ensure that individuals and families are safe and warm as temperatures begin to drop.
A trailer will be parked outside the Sheriff’s Office starting Wednesday, October 9.
Items they’re accepting include sleeping bags, air mattresses and pillows, coats and raincoats, gloves, hoodies, feet warmers, pull-up diapers, baby formula, water test kits, extension cords, power strips and many other needed supplies. They can’t accept cash or used items, and they’re asking that you drop off your donations in the Sheriff’s Office parking lot at 400 W. Washington St. in Greensboro by 5 p.m. on weekdays. They’ll keep the truck there until it’s full and then they are heading west to help.
The Carroll Family Foundation, along with The Carroll Companies – the Greensboro-based construction and property management company that formerly owned the Rhino Times – together donated $1 million to help those affected by the storm, some of whom lost everything; and the Foundation and Companies also donated several truckloads of supplies to the Asheville area.
Also, very importantly, the Boone Police Department didn’t have communications ability after the storm until they received the Carroll Companies’ Starlink system.
High Point University’s Student Government Association and student groups across the state have been leading efforts to provide much-needed support to those communities in western North Carolina that continue to be impacted by Hurricane Helene.
Animal rescue organizations from across the southeast have been finding pets and connecting them with their owners or finding them new homes.
On Tuesday, Oct. 8 NC Governor Roy Cooper and Health and Human Services (NC DHHS) Secretary Kody Kinsley toured Mitchell and Yancey counties, surveying storm damage and meeting with community members as well as thanking first responders from the Burnsville and Spruce Pine fire departments.
Kinsley said it’s a top priority for the department to quickly get food, water and baby formula to impacted areas in Western North Carolina.
State officials said on that tour that local, state, federal and private entities have all been coming together to get help to those who need it.
Here is some of what’s happened so far in western North Carolina…
- 30,000 gallons of water distributed to Mitchell County and nearly 25,000 gallons to Yancey County.
- 95,000 meals ready to eat distributed in Mitchell County and 55,000 meals ready to eat distributed in Yancey County.
- Eight pallets (between 120 –144 cases of formula per pallet) of formula via the National Guard to 34 feeding sites across the impacted Western North Carolina counties.
- Formula has been shipped directly to multiple counties, including Mitchell and Yancey.
- The Diaper Bank of North Carolina is making daily trips using trucks, mules and ATVs to deliver formula and infant supplies to 16 of the impacted counties in Western North Carolina.
- NC DHHS is working closely with federal partners to ensure that storm victims have access to food. (The department also began a campaign publicizing the need for people in the state to donate blood at this time.)
- For those relying on social services in the state, individuals and families in 23 North Carolina counties were automatically reimbursed for 70 percent of their monthly benefit to replace lost food. This is $24 million in replacement benefits to more than 200,000 people in hard-hit parts of North Carolina.
- Local state and federal teams are working alongside the military to ensure communities have access to medical care, support and life-saving medication.
- A Community Medical Care Site in Burnsville (Yancey County) has been set up with ambulances, medications and medical supplies on site.
- 229 pharmacies are now open in the impacted counties and in a Tribal area with a federal disaster declaration. Each county and the Tribal area has at least one pharmacy open and are currently filling prescriptions.
- All shelters have mental health counselors on site and are stocked with Naloxone for people in need of treatment for opioid overdose.
- All 27 opioid treatment programs in the Western region are already re-opened and people can go to any one of them to get their treatment doses. They don’t need to go to the one they usually go to.
- State health workers are filling Benadryl and epinephrine injections requests through hospitals, emergency medical personnel and doctors who are seeing a significant number of people showing up with insect stings.
- The state has also worked with multiple vendors, federal agencies and neighboring states to source supplies. Two refill stations have been set up; one in Mocksville and the other in Brevard.
NC DHHS has also ramped up staffing at the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
A press release from the state this week notes, “People in immediate crisis or contemplating self-harm should not hesitate to call. For everyone impacted by Hurricane Helene, the Disaster Distress Hotline is ready to take your call at 1-800-985-5990.”
So far, the Federal Emergency Management Agency –FEMA – in addressing the entire area affected by Hurricane Helene, has spent $286 million and paid an additional $180 million to federal partners to help out with the relief effort.
FEMA, by the way, is having to coordinate this recovery effort all while preparing for Hurricane Milton along Florida’s Gulf Coast.
Nearly 7,000 federal personnel are deployed in the areas affected by Helene.
So far, in the aftermath of Helene, FEMA has shipped over 16.2 million meals, nearly 1 million liters of water, 210 generators and provided more than 505,000 tarps to the region.
Since the storm hit, FEMA Disaster Survivor Assistance Teams have been on the ground in neighborhoods across the affected states helping survivors apply for assistance as well as connecting them with additional aid that’s being offered by state, local, federal and volunteer agencies.
As for the federal efforts specifically in North Carolina, FEMA has approved more than $40 million in housing and other types of assistance for over 30,000 households.
More than 1,000 FEMA staff are currently on the ground in North Carolina, with more arriving each day. Over 1,000 Urban Search and Rescue personnel remain in the field finding and helping people. So far, the teams have rescued or helped more than 3,200 survivors of the storm.
The federal government recently added 500 active-duty troops equipped with cutting-edge search and rescue technology tools to help out the recovery operations in western North Carolina.
This brings the total number of active-duty military personnel supporting the response in North Carolina to 1,500.
Some of the most seasoned FEMA leaders from around the country have been brought into the state to bolster the response efforts.
FEMA has set up 18 shelters in North Carolina that are currently housing about 800 occupants. More than 2,100 people who can’t return home are staying in safe and clean places due to FEMA’s Transitional Sheltering Assistance program.
Residents in declared counties who’ve applied for disaster aid are in many cases eligible to stay temporarily in a hotel or motel paid for by FEMA while those hurricane victims figure out their long-term housing plan.
As of Tuesday, Oct. 8, more than 85 percent of originally reported power outages had been restored in the western part of the state. Cellular restoration continues to improve as well and, currently, more than 85 percent of cellular sites are operating.
FEMA has also been bringing in Starlink units to ensure that first responders are able to communicate with each other.
FEMA is working with volunteer organizations in the state to support feeding operations with bulk food and water deliveries using trucks and aircraft. Mobile feeding operations are reaching survivors in heavily affected areas – and there are several “mass feeding sites” that have been set up in Buncombe, McDowell and Watauga counties.
The Salvation Army is, of course, helping out all it can as well. It has 20 mobile feeding units in western North Carolina and is conducting a massive operation and has provided emotional and spiritual care to over 2,400 people. So far, since the hurricane struck, the Salvation Army has served over 34,000 meals, 14,500 drinks and 10,200 snacks.
The American Red Cross is also helping with the distribution of emergency supplies in low-income communities that saw residential damage.
I have been amazed by the people who have lost so much that still step up and help others like my daughter’s employers in Boone who have been feeding their community coffee and sandwiches daily even though they had over 4 feet of water in their home. THAT is Mountain Strong!
Yes, it is! Heartfelt thanks and many blessings to all who are selflessly helping others recover from this devastating storm.
Do not give money. Give needed supplies to people who will distribute it without grifting.
Thank you Summerfield fire crews 1 and 2 for helping out in Nebo NC in McDowell County on search and rescue missions including Guilford County Commissioner district 5 Candidate fireman Reece Walker. Prayers for all those who have lost so much during this tragedy in our Western NC mountains.
This is not the first time Summerfield fire crews have stepped up to the plate. Thank you!
Yes, lots of help but from those who actually work for us—the Fed. Gov`t. Story after story of FEMA paying out less than $750 when they actually pay. Many times they classify hurricane-caused mudslides as just mudslides. FEMA pays nothing for mudslides. Then there was the rescuer who took rescued and homeless victims to a hotel for shelter, only to be turned away because FEMA agents were in every room twiddling their thumbs. And the excuse by Mayorkas? FEMA is broke–it all went to the Illegals -his words under oath. What about pulling money from the DOD, DOE, Dept of Interior? Anyone give any thought to that? And what is worse is people in other states believe this is Fake news–I challenged many to come volunteer and see the reality for themselves! The only reason FL is doing so well is Gov. DeSantis, and Biden dares not let DeSantis outdo his abilities–think of the optics! It is pitiful when the US government plays politics with disasters, while also putting those who have broken the law ahead of the citizens of this nation.
Only reason DeSantis is doing well is he doesn’t have thousands of lying conservatives with fantasies about FEMA failing the people of NC. My friends and family in the areas impacted by the storm have been highly complementary of all the people helping (including FEMA). There is no shortage of money for immediate needs of NC, the only concern is the future for how we will fund the full rebuilding the impacted areas. Seems like the only critics I am hearing are Monday morning quarterbacks sitting on their couches drinking up the lies of Trump and Vance and their supports on social media. Losers all of em. I choose to listen to our family and friends living in WNC versus conservative liars and social media trolls such as yourself.
Chris you would listen to a talking turd if you could find one.
Regardless of the cause of a mudslide, it is still a mudslide.