Hurricane Helene Update

Dear Friends,

Two weeks ago, our entire lives were turned upside down when Hurricane Helene raced over Western North Carolina, bringing rain and wind that our beautiful rolling mountains just couldn’t handle.

The wind whipped over our majestic pines and oaks and cracked them like toothpicks.  The rain was relentless, dumping inches hour after hour.  Our entire family sought refuge in our basement as we listened to the trees snapping around us. From the first hour of the howling winds, we were cut off from the world with no power, no wifi, and our phones reading only SOS. We had no way to communicate or get storm information and it felt so scary.

As a meteorologist who grew up in Florida and worked through our last big storms in Asheville—Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne—I was watching this storm, and I knew it was going to be bad. But never in a million years did I imagine it would be this bad. The best analogy I've heard is that this was like asking Miami to be prepared for a blizzard.

We just were not ready.  The geography of the mountains and the tree canopy we all love so much could not handle the storm.

When we finally were able to leave our house after the storm, we found that even with 10 trees down in the yard, we were very very lucky because none of them were on the house.  Houses in our neighborhood had trees on them and we quickly learned that we were trapped in our neighborhood due to the amount of trees down blocking all the roads around us. Nearly all of the power lines sitting on the ground.  Our neighbors were all walking around looking shell-shocked.

Once we found ways to get more news we heard about the destruction in Asheville- sweet Biltmore Village was unrecognizable again and the River Arts district with so many of our favorite local spots has just vanished into piles of smelly mud and debris.  The flood waters reached places they had never gone before.

But this storm took so much more than those popular tourist areas that you are seeing on the news.  The water was relentless and spilled down into the valleys causing so much flooding and mudslides.  There were countless trees on homes. We found out that over 400 landslides took entire neighborhoods and families out.  The mud just swallowed up everything downhill.  Some small towns and communities had been swept down the rivers.  Even tiny mountain creeks turned into raging wild rivers never seen before.  So many people didn't make it.  We have friends who have lost their businesses, homes, cars, and even family members.

Losses like this in one mountain town would be devastating but the destruction is in town after town after town.  So many of our beloved mountain communities will never be the same. The devastation is more than words can really describe and unless you really know these places and the geography of the mountains, it's hard to understand how bad it really is.  The economy and landscape will be forever changed.

My heart has been broken into a million pieces over and over the past two weeks hearing about people and places that will never be the same. I'm tired and emotionally exhausted from it all.  Every day has felt like a roller coaster of emotions.

I wrote a post the Thursday afternoon before it hit, hoping we'd go back to life as normal the next day, but two weeks later is the first  I've been able to sit and reflect on everything.  Life has been far from normal. We have been so lucky not to have damage on our house, that I have some survivors guilt.  I feel guilty complaining about the inconveniences of not having power, water, or school when so many people have lost so much more.  I'm worried about my boys and how they will handle being out of school for who knows how long.  As a planner, I'm feeling lost without a plan.

We finally got non drinkable water and power back at the house and we ordered a Starlink so we'll hopefully have wifi again soon and life will start to feel normal again.  Many parts of Asheville will not have water for many more weeks as the water system was nearly destroyed in all of it.  I know I'm lucky in all of this, but wow it has been a lot to handle.  We are ok though.  We are strong and will get through this.

Please keep my beloved Asheville and WNC in your prayers.  Recovery from this storm is going to take years and years.  It's not over and we'll need support for the long haul.  I can't even imagine how much money it will take for all of these homes and businesses to rebuild.  The impacts of this storm will run deep for many years.

Thank you for supporting my little site, caring about my little family, and reading my ramblings.  I appreciate your support more than anything.

I'm hoping to get back to our new normal routine, including posting here as soon as I can.  Looking forward to some happier times ahead.

Love, Julie