11/02/2024
Returned from WNC and communities of Green Mountain, Red Hill and Relief all on the upper Toe River in Yancey County. Posted up with my fire family at Lucia-Riverbend Fire Department in partnership with Pine Branch Baptist Church in Spruce Pine. We delivered 2 truck loads of winter clothing, pet food, cleaning and medical supplies all collected from donations by members of the Stanley, NC community.
We loaded & delivered dual fuel generators, 20 lb propane tanks, buddy heaters and food supplies in some of the worst hit communities. At 34 days after the storm, progress is slow on the clean-up but there remains no power, no clean water and alot of missing persons. Cadaver dogs are still getting hits and the river banks are marked with orange flags, too many to count.
It's heartbreaking to imagine what a wall of water and trees, 30-40 ft in height and some 80 ft wide, can do to a landscape let alone buildings and the human body that are in the path. Railroad beds, iron rails and timbers, lifted twisted and deposited in the river itself.
I've heard the cost estimate for this hurricane is $158 billion in its total path from Florida to Tennessee. I don't know what that number looks like. I don't own a calculator that has that many digits.
I've stood in dirt, in the remains of a house, on a riverbank, in the mud. I smelled rotting wood and flesh, burnt timbers and mold. I've seen enough devastation to last me the rest of my life.
But the work isn't over. I'm a survivor now and I must go back. To finish the tasks at hand. Not for my glory but His!
If you're reading this and you are outside of NC, can I please ask that you take a moment and pray for all affected by this storm? And perhaps if you are led, make a monetary donation to one of the groups helping in this disaster?
Thanks for reading this far, for praying and making a contribution if possible. Anyone locally that wants to make the next trip, please message me and we'll arrange it.
Because from what I've seen and talking with those impacted, human/human contact makes all the difference and says "I care".