Hurricane Helene Check-in Thread September 26, 2024 11:27 AM Subscribe
I know a lot of us are in the path of Helene in Florida and Georgia (Alabama, Tennessee, SC, NC, too! It's a big storm!). I thought it might be nice to have a (text-based, low bandwidth) place to check in and provide information updates as it moves ashore this afternoon and across the Southeast overnight and through tomorrow.
In Atlanta, we've already had 5 inches of rain. Tonight, we are expected to have tropical storm force winds all night. This is only the third time there has ever been a tropical storm warning in the metro area.
posted by hydropsyche at 2:15 PM on September 26 [6 favorites]
posted by hydropsyche at 2:15 PM on September 26 [6 favorites]
We live on a boat in Tampa. Had to evacuate both because of mandatory and common sense. Water level over the fixed docks 10 hours before wind got serious. We're sitting in Melbourne trying to ignore it and stay chill until we can go home. Long night tonight.
posted by chasles at 3:11 PM on September 26 [8 favorites]
posted by chasles at 3:11 PM on September 26 [8 favorites]
My sis and mom are in upstate SC (where I grew up); sister said they've already pre-emptively canceled school for the kids AND her workplace told her not to come in. That's wild. Not even Hugo did that, IIRC.
posted by Kitteh at 3:17 PM on September 26 [2 favorites]
posted by Kitteh at 3:17 PM on September 26 [2 favorites]
Glad y'all are safe, chasles, and I hope your home is, too.
There are a lot of comparisons to Hugo going around. I grew up in Charlotte and was in 7th grade when Hugo hit. Everything was completely shut down for more than a week. After the rest of the schools went back, we got a few extra days because the roof had been ripped off the jr high and exposed asbestos. As jr high was the absolute worst, that was pretty amazing. But helping people cut trees off their houses for a couple weeks and not having phones or power (which since we were on a well also meant not having water) was not.
Helene just hit Cat 4 and will make landfall around Carabelle soon. It is moving fast, so it looks like there is a decent chance it will still be a hurricane when it gets here early tomorrow morning.
People in Atlanta are not at all prepared for a week or more of the city being shut down.
posted by hydropsyche at 4:30 PM on September 26 [5 favorites]
There are a lot of comparisons to Hugo going around. I grew up in Charlotte and was in 7th grade when Hugo hit. Everything was completely shut down for more than a week. After the rest of the schools went back, we got a few extra days because the roof had been ripped off the jr high and exposed asbestos. As jr high was the absolute worst, that was pretty amazing. But helping people cut trees off their houses for a couple weeks and not having phones or power (which since we were on a well also meant not having water) was not.
Helene just hit Cat 4 and will make landfall around Carabelle soon. It is moving fast, so it looks like there is a decent chance it will still be a hurricane when it gets here early tomorrow morning.
People in Atlanta are not at all prepared for a week or more of the city being shut down.
posted by hydropsyche at 4:30 PM on September 26 [5 favorites]
Nothing much just expected for Savannah, GA. The biggest danger was me reacting to parents jumping the line in car rider pickup for the grandkid’s early dismissal.
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 4:32 PM on September 26 [2 favorites]
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 4:32 PM on September 26 [2 favorites]
It has been raining pretty steadily all day here but it looks like we're about to get a band of the storm that'll take several hours to get through. My phone screen doesn't have enough room for all the watches, warnings and advisories. Yet nothing so far has been violent, just rainy?
posted by mittens at 7:04 PM on September 26
posted by mittens at 7:04 PM on September 26
Spoke too soon, we’ve been under tornado warnings for almost two hours, with several reported in various outlying areas.
No power loss though!
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 7:12 PM on September 26 [4 favorites]
No power loss though!
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 7:12 PM on September 26 [4 favorites]
Middle Tennessee checking in. Saw some reports stating Helene will result in mudslides in Appalachia. My kids are hoping school will be called off tomorrow, but I doubt it will.
Locally there has been a drought for some time, and the creeks are low. Hopefully this will offset some anticipated flooding at least somewhat.
Stay safe out there. On TV, Helene looks to be of incredibly massive mileage.
posted by edithkeeler at 8:39 PM on September 26
Locally there has been a drought for some time, and the creeks are low. Hopefully this will offset some anticipated flooding at least somewhat.
Stay safe out there. On TV, Helene looks to be of incredibly massive mileage.
posted by edithkeeler at 8:39 PM on September 26
In Orlando, we’re minimally affected. Anxiously watching to see where we can help most effectively once the sun is up. I was impressed by the number of people in the mandatory evac areas who actually left.
posted by Nancy_LockIsLit_Palmer at 2:31 AM on September 27 [1 favorite]
posted by Nancy_LockIsLit_Palmer at 2:31 AM on September 27 [1 favorite]
i take it back, this is actually scary!
posted by mittens at 3:15 AM on September 27 [5 favorites]
posted by mittens at 3:15 AM on September 27 [5 favorites]
I had hoped to just sleep through it all, but I just woke up to a text from DeKalb County that the worst of the tropical storm force winds will be 6-9 am and we should shelter in place. It's raining horizontally, the roar is intense, and the trees are bending over. Power still seems to be on in our neighborhood, but if this wind keeps up, I can't imagine that will last. The stream gage up the road says we've had 8 inches of rain. I'm so glad I have nowhere to be today, and I hope everyone who has to go out is able to be safe through this.
posted by hydropsyche at 3:47 AM on September 27 [3 favorites]
posted by hydropsyche at 3:47 AM on September 27 [3 favorites]
Finally lost power, a lot of people have. That just means an exploration of the city to find out what’s open for breakfast.
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 4:14 AM on September 27 [3 favorites]
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 4:14 AM on September 27 [3 favorites]
After reading all the news, the surprise eastern shift after landfall last night means that it hit the less populated middle and east of Georgia rather than Atlanta, but things look pretty bad out there and into SC. Flooding in the NC and TN mountains is epic. My family has a home in the Swannonoa valley east of Asheville, and there are evacuation orders there.
posted by hydropsyche at 6:39 AM on September 27 [3 favorites]
posted by hydropsyche at 6:39 AM on September 27 [3 favorites]
From up here in New England -- no strangers to hurricanes ourselves -- I am watching you all with worry, and hope for the best. I have plenty of friends from up here in Florida -- and the university I work for has a campus in Charlotte -- and I think they'll be OK but I am still checking in every few minutes as if it was headed for my town.
Also: the account named "EAS Watcher" is now easily 80% of the Mastodon posts in my feeds.
posted by wenestvedt at 7:04 AM on September 27 [2 favorites]
Also: the account named "EAS Watcher" is now easily 80% of the Mastodon posts in my feeds.
posted by wenestvedt at 7:04 AM on September 27 [2 favorites]
My whole nuclear family is in Asheville. It's pretty much a shitshow up there. Parents lost three giant oaks this morning (they fell on the road, not their house, but effectively blocked traffic). Mandatory evacuation orders are in place for low lying river areas. I think pretty much everyone is out of power. I'm trying to get what information I can from Chapel Hill/Carrboro (230 miles or so to the east). We're usually the ones that get stuck with the hurricane (we have a tornado watch until 6 today, but I think this is not going to be much of a thing down here). They are literally facing catastrophic flooding and landslides. The rivers have not even crested yet. I'm in touch with people up there that have functional phones and stuff. Let me know if you need answers and I'll see what I can find out. If you're in asheville and environs and have enough battery life to be checking MeFi, be safe out there. Let us know if we can do anything.
posted by thivaia at 7:32 AM on September 27 [11 favorites]
posted by thivaia at 7:32 AM on September 27 [11 favorites]
Cedar Key in the NYT. My sister in upstate SC says there's no power.
posted by Kitteh at 8:23 AM on September 27
posted by Kitteh at 8:23 AM on September 27
This morning in central NC we have had a variety of tornado warnings in Durham, S Wake County, Clinton, etc. but it’s almost past at 11:40 am. I went for a 3 mile walk around the woods at Apex Community Park and damage was minimal . Couple of 6” diameter trees down, that’s about it.
posted by caviar2d2 at 8:42 AM on September 27 [1 favorite]
posted by caviar2d2 at 8:42 AM on September 27 [1 favorite]
As usual WRAL TV /app has by far the best live coverage.
posted by caviar2d2 at 8:43 AM on September 27
posted by caviar2d2 at 8:43 AM on September 27
Western NC just now: Dam failure ‘imminent’ at Lake Lure, residents urged to evacuate immediately.
posted by caviar2d2 at 9:02 AM on September 27 [4 favorites]
posted by caviar2d2 at 9:02 AM on September 27 [4 favorites]
As usual WRAL TV /app has by far the best live coverage.
As I noticed when I was in the basement a moment ago, googling "[my county] + tornado warning" to try and get a more precise look at where it was, it dawned on me that Google is now almost useless. But good thing WRAL has invested a ton of money into their weather reporting and are glad to step up to the plate.
I love WRAL and grew up watching it and spent time around their main studio (the rose garden!) a lot, so I guess I'm glad we have a dependable news outlet to fill the void. But, in a perfect world, one would be able to access NOAA/NWS warnings and a map via a search engine. I know a lot of places don't have any local news worth a damn, which is extra-concerning on days like this. Especially when that's more likely the farther out you are from a major city and are likelier to have slow wifi and/or gaps in cellular coverage.
posted by knotty knots at 9:28 AM on September 27 [7 favorites]
As I noticed when I was in the basement a moment ago, googling "[my county] + tornado warning" to try and get a more precise look at where it was, it dawned on me that Google is now almost useless. But good thing WRAL has invested a ton of money into their weather reporting and are glad to step up to the plate.
I love WRAL and grew up watching it and spent time around their main studio (the rose garden!) a lot, so I guess I'm glad we have a dependable news outlet to fill the void. But, in a perfect world, one would be able to access NOAA/NWS warnings and a map via a search engine. I know a lot of places don't have any local news worth a damn, which is extra-concerning on days like this. Especially when that's more likely the farther out you are from a major city and are likelier to have slow wifi and/or gaps in cellular coverage.
posted by knotty knots at 9:28 AM on September 27 [7 favorites]
The current WRAL story o the home page about Helene is at https://www.wral.com/story/hurricane-helene-life-threatening-flood-risk-in-nc-mountains-tornado-risk-in-triangle/21645145/
posted by wenestvedt at 10:17 AM on September 27
posted by wenestvedt at 10:17 AM on September 27
WLOS.com - Asheville TV - and BPR.org - Blue Ridge Public Radio have coverage; BPR just announced they have lost power. Facebook is horrifyingly probably the best bet for on the ground information. All roads in western North Carolina are closed, residents are to shelter in place, four households unaccounted for after mudslides on Tunnel Road and wow, my thoughts are with my old hometown and all my friends who still live there.
posted by mygothlaundry at 10:36 AM on September 27 [5 favorites]
posted by mygothlaundry at 10:36 AM on September 27 [5 favorites]
I'm really feeling the loss of Twitter right now. Rage, rage against the dying of the light and also, community driven social networks destroyed by fascists. We had a vibrant Asheville Twitter community for a while there, got me through snowstorms - #avlsnomg - and more and that is all gone.
posted by mygothlaundry at 10:41 AM on September 27 [21 favorites]
posted by mygothlaundry at 10:41 AM on September 27 [21 favorites]
For quickly seeing where the current tornado warning polygons are, I find these National Weather Service low-bandwidth radar loops to be useful. They will show tornado warning polygons on the map as red outlines, and they update every 5 minutes. You can find your local one by typing your zip code or nearest town into the search but here are two examples:
https://radar.weather.gov/station/kgsp/standard (much of SC)
https://radar.weather.gov/station/krax/standard (much of NC)
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 10:56 AM on September 27 [3 favorites]
https://radar.weather.gov/station/kgsp/standard (much of SC)
https://radar.weather.gov/station/krax/standard (much of NC)
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 10:56 AM on September 27 [3 favorites]
My thoughts and prayers to all applicable. Also, marg bar Elon.
posted by y2karl at 11:08 AM on September 27
posted by y2karl at 11:08 AM on September 27
Central NC here. A huge amount of rain in about a 1 hour span. My wife works in stormwater management and had clients calling distraught that rain barrels were overflowing and rain gardens were overflowing and swales and culverts were overflowing and she was trying to stay calm and tell them "well, yeah, we don't really build those to handle hurricane-level flooding" while also staring out at our own flooded yard and shaking her head.
posted by jermsplan at 12:59 PM on September 27 [10 favorites]
posted by jermsplan at 12:59 PM on September 27 [10 favorites]
Good luck, y'all closer to the center of things. Here in central Virginia, it's wet, rainy, and windy, but the radar suggests it's staying more toward the coast and moving along pretty quickly.
posted by cupcakeninja at 1:19 PM on September 27
posted by cupcakeninja at 1:19 PM on September 27
I can no longer get through to any friends or family in Asheville (I last talked to them a couple hours ago). Assuming cell outage. But today is a shit day, y'all.
posted by thivaia at 1:34 PM on September 27 [1 favorite]
posted by thivaia at 1:34 PM on September 27 [1 favorite]
My relative in Asheville texted me about 3 hours ago, and said he's safe but cell coverage was spotty and things were a mess.
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:37 PM on September 27
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:37 PM on September 27
My sister in Greenville said there is still no power, a huge tree fell in their yard over their neighbour's fence, but everyone is doing fine. She is escaping to sit in her car so her children will leave her alone for "five damn minutes."
posted by Kitteh at 2:03 PM on September 27 [5 favorites]
posted by Kitteh at 2:03 PM on September 27 [5 favorites]
Have family in Hendersonville heard from from them this morning, but no updates sense. They were all without power and didn't have generators so we are assuming they have other things to be worrying about and need to conserve battery life.
posted by AlexiaSky at 7:11 PM on September 27 [2 favorites]
posted by AlexiaSky at 7:11 PM on September 27 [2 favorites]
Also in Carrboro. Very worried with seeing the pictures in WNC. not sure best places to donate if anyone knows.
posted by melodykramer at 2:35 AM on September 28 [2 favorites]
posted by melodykramer at 2:35 AM on September 28 [2 favorites]
Everything I'm seeing from Western NC is that the scale of destruction in the French Broad, Pigeon, Little Tennessee, and Broad watersheds is incalculable. Entire little towns and the Asheville River District are just gone.
My family was all down in the Piedmont when the storm hit our family house. My mom talked to one of our neighbors up on the mountain who is stuck because the road to the ridge washed out as well as basically all the roads down in the valley. They could hike out, but I'm not sure if these folks are physically able to do that. I imagine many of the ridges have folks stranded like that right now. And helping them has to be a lower priority than helping the folks standing on top of buildings in the valley.
posted by hydropsyche at 4:17 AM on September 28 [3 favorites]
My family was all down in the Piedmont when the storm hit our family house. My mom talked to one of our neighbors up on the mountain who is stuck because the road to the ridge washed out as well as basically all the roads down in the valley. They could hike out, but I'm not sure if these folks are physically able to do that. I imagine many of the ridges have folks stranded like that right now. And helping them has to be a lower priority than helping the folks standing on top of buildings in the valley.
posted by hydropsyche at 4:17 AM on September 28 [3 favorites]
Western NC is just obliterated in parts from the pictures I'm seeing. I can't reach my friend in Hendersonville because of the lack of cell service in that part of the state. If you are on Facebook, the Raleigh Downtown group has a post that's compiled a bunch of photos from the mountains that are just incredible if you know Asheville/Boone/anyplace out west. It's so fucking depressing. My mom's roots are there and I had always hoped to move back there when I retire, because as an atheist kid of divorced parents the Appalachian countryside is the only thing in the world that gives me any real sense of place or history or anything. We go back every year for vacation. We were just in Black Mountain a month ago. Ugh. Physically I'm not even there but mentally I'm a mess over this.
posted by caviar2d2 at 7:01 AM on September 28 [5 favorites]
posted by caviar2d2 at 7:01 AM on September 28 [5 favorites]
I have close friends who live up on top of a mountain in Bat Cave. Can’t get hold of them, sure their dirt road was wiped out and the road it leads to - Rt.9 - is definitely gone. I signed into Facebook for the first time in years to check on people and my gods this is beyond belief. Swannanoa is gone. There’s literally no way in and out of Asheville, the roads are all gone. I lived in Asheville for 20 years, so many friends still there, I have no words. Metafilter’s own Mr. Yuck is an Ashevillein, hoping he is okay and so many others. I was there in 2004 and we thought that was bad but it pales in comparison. And then it was 2 weeks without running water, this will be months. For the lucky ones, that is.
posted by mygothlaundry at 8:13 AM on September 28 [14 favorites]
posted by mygothlaundry at 8:13 AM on September 28 [14 favorites]
Asheville has been hit so hard, it's just unfathomable. The gate house check-in for the Biltmore Estate was almost completely underwater; only the roof was showing. Comments for the Antique Tobacco Barn said that vendors were rushing to get stuff out of the building on Wednesday and the roads were closed Thursday. Given that it's on Swannanoa River Road right next to the river....probably not a good outlook for them.
posted by cooker girl at 9:18 AM on September 28 [3 favorites]
posted by cooker girl at 9:18 AM on September 28 [3 favorites]
Thank you for the concern.
I moved to Asheville just in time for the last hurricane in 2004. This is far worse. I am in Knoxville TN for work so we just have rain. I am going to stay here a while now.
I'm not on Facebook but I looked at pictures on my coworker's account. The flooding is substantial and both Biltmore Village and the River Arts District are fully engulfed.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 9:57 AM on September 28 [18 favorites]
I moved to Asheville just in time for the last hurricane in 2004. This is far worse. I am in Knoxville TN for work so we just have rain. I am going to stay here a while now.
I'm not on Facebook but I looked at pictures on my coworker's account. The flooding is substantial and both Biltmore Village and the River Arts District are fully engulfed.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 9:57 AM on September 28 [18 favorites]
I did hear from my family. They are without power, cell and water services but physically OK. Can't get out of their area at this time and are continuing to shelter in place.
posted by AlexiaSky at 10:01 AM on September 28 [11 favorites]
posted by AlexiaSky at 10:01 AM on September 28 [11 favorites]
My son lives on Glendale Rd about .3 mile south of Swannanoa River Rd. He's managed to find a cell signal and let me know he's ok, at least. No idea how his house fared though.
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:30 AM on September 28 [7 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:30 AM on September 28 [7 favorites]
I am astounded at the extent of damage in Western NC being reported in the news and various local subreddits. In this drivenc.gov map, you can see most roads in Western North Carolina are closed.
Closer to home, in Durham, Friday was one emergency alert after another on our phones, for tornado and repeatedly for flash flood warnings. Thankfully tornado warnings remained warnings for us. There are certain roads in our part of Durham that always flood in heavy rain, and they flooded as expected, and folks tried to drive through them and got stuck, as typically happens. More unexpected was the extent of flooding in downtown Durham, and near North Carolina Central University. Durham seems back to normal today, and Durham Pride is proceeding as scheduled this weekend.
posted by research monkey at 1:19 PM on September 28 [5 favorites]
Closer to home, in Durham, Friday was one emergency alert after another on our phones, for tornado and repeatedly for flash flood warnings. Thankfully tornado warnings remained warnings for us. There are certain roads in our part of Durham that always flood in heavy rain, and they flooded as expected, and folks tried to drive through them and got stuck, as typically happens. More unexpected was the extent of flooding in downtown Durham, and near North Carolina Central University. Durham seems back to normal today, and Durham Pride is proceeding as scheduled this weekend.
posted by research monkey at 1:19 PM on September 28 [5 favorites]
I have a friend in the NC Park Service and he's being deployed from Raleigh to some park area in the mountains. I know it's a law enforcement branch (hence some of the blue lives matter stuff I end up seeing) but I didn't know park rangers could be deployed like that! Hopefully they'll be of some help. He's a cool guy and published a book on NC wildlife a while ago.
posted by caviar2d2 at 2:28 PM on September 28 [1 favorite]
posted by caviar2d2 at 2:28 PM on September 28 [1 favorite]
Greg Ace: I think your son is actually on Glendale Avenue cuz Glendale Rd. is up on the side of Town Mountain. A third of a mile up Glendale Ave is higher terrain so your son's house is probably ok. I have friends on East St. at a similar level and their house is ok.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 3:21 PM on September 28 [4 favorites]
posted by Mr. Yuck at 3:21 PM on September 28 [4 favorites]
Yes, Avenue not Road. My brain knew that but somehow my fingers didn't... Thanks for the update!
posted by Greg_Ace at 3:54 PM on September 28 [2 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 3:54 PM on September 28 [2 favorites]
Got a message from Georgia power that I might not have power (AC, hot water, refrigeration) until 11pm on Tuesday night. Much of Savannah seems to have gotten similar estimates.
But the city wasn’t flooded, and the grocery stores and some restaurants are open, so I’ll take that win.
Looks like another storm is forming in the Gulf, so heads up.
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 5:04 PM on September 28 [12 favorites]
But the city wasn’t flooded, and the grocery stores and some restaurants are open, so I’ll take that win.
Looks like another storm is forming in the Gulf, so heads up.
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 5:04 PM on September 28 [12 favorites]
My friends in Bat Cave are okay! But they’re not coming off the mountain any time soon, this is their road.
posted by mygothlaundry at 4:03 AM on September 29 [10 favorites]
posted by mygothlaundry at 4:03 AM on September 29 [10 favorites]
I am in The Augusta, GA area right on the banks of the Savannah River. The storm took a more easterly tack than expected and the eyewall (which was amazingly still clearly visible on radar even this far inland) passed just to the west of us. This caught a lot of folks off guard and there was less preparation than there could have been. There was actually an Ironman triathlon scheduled for here today; needless to say it was canceled Friday morning. The peak winds hit early Friday morning, just before sunrise. Gusts to 80+ MPH were more than enough to rip trees out of rain-soaked ground. Most people including the military base here and the hospital where I work lost power between 3 and 5 AM. Hospitals got back online pretty quickly (and had emergency generators to keep functioning until then), but everywhere else is getting power restored bit by bit. Multiple deaths in the area including 2 children killed when a tree came through the roof in their bedroom and 2 firefighters killed when a tree hit their truck. I do not know of anyone who has not lost power, but several people who have gotten it back now. I have had to drive to the hospital a few times for work, and a lot of people here have lost their minds. There are a few gas stations that have power restored or have backup generators and people are panic buying and lined up for hours to get gas; the stations are running out before the line ends, and people are running out of gas waiting in line to get gas. Fights have broken out over this. Most traffic lights are out and no one is directing traffic. Many drivers are ignoring the rule to treat these as 4 way stops and just blowing through the intersection without even slowing down. I am surprised there haven't been more wrecks. I have had a lot of close calls myself (once again I am going to and from the hospital for urgent/emergent surgeries, not just trying to get out of the house). We are fortunate enough to have a generator so refrigerator and freezer are powered; also have a gas stove so can cook and we have hot water and reasonable cell service. So we have taken in a number of my wife's family who don't have one or more of those things. Will probably drive the 80 miles to Columbia, SC later today where things are relatively normal to get gas for the generator and my chain saw as well as fill up cars. If people who don't need to be out would just relax and be patient a lot of gas stations and grocery stores will be coming back online over the next day or two. But there's just no reasoning with some people. My sister lives in upstate SC and says it is similar there.
The only other time in the 50+ years I have lived in this area that anything like this happened was the ice storm that hit the area in February 2014. That was by far the worst natural (or other) disaster to hit the area in my lifetime, far worse than the 1990 floods. People, including the power companies, are saying this is significantly worse, with more people affected and more major transmission lines and other infrastructure taken out. Two historic climate-related disasters in the last 10 years in an area usually spared from them? Makes you wonder....
Despite all of this it is clear we are far from the worst hit. Western NC and eastern TN sound like they are devastated, with entire towns washed away. Our family vacations each summer near Hendersonville and we are just heartbroken to see what has become of places we know and love. Hoping that all the Mefites and everyone else up there gets through this the best they can.
posted by TedW at 4:58 AM on September 29 [14 favorites]
The only other time in the 50+ years I have lived in this area that anything like this happened was the ice storm that hit the area in February 2014. That was by far the worst natural (or other) disaster to hit the area in my lifetime, far worse than the 1990 floods. People, including the power companies, are saying this is significantly worse, with more people affected and more major transmission lines and other infrastructure taken out. Two historic climate-related disasters in the last 10 years in an area usually spared from them? Makes you wonder....
Despite all of this it is clear we are far from the worst hit. Western NC and eastern TN sound like they are devastated, with entire towns washed away. Our family vacations each summer near Hendersonville and we are just heartbroken to see what has become of places we know and love. Hoping that all the Mefites and everyone else up there gets through this the best they can.
posted by TedW at 4:58 AM on September 29 [14 favorites]
And in a troublesome turn of events, Richmond County (where the city of Augusta is located) is having to shut down water for the entire county. Including hospitals and other essential entities. Which means hospitals may have to evacuate patients and will be crippled in terms of emergencies they can handle, much less situations that are less urgent.
posted by TedW at 1:38 PM on September 29
posted by TedW at 1:38 PM on September 29
I had heard things were really rough in Augusta, TedW. Thanks for the updates, and you and yours stay safe!
My brother works for Cisco and just deployed to Bakersville, the county seat of Mitchell County, NC to help set up emergency communications. He has done this in Haiti and Florida after disasters, but never here at home. Hoping he will give us some updates as he learns more about conditions up there.
posted by hydropsyche at 2:21 PM on September 29 [5 favorites]
My brother works for Cisco and just deployed to Bakersville, the county seat of Mitchell County, NC to help set up emergency communications. He has done this in Haiti and Florida after disasters, but never here at home. Hoping he will give us some updates as he learns more about conditions up there.
posted by hydropsyche at 2:21 PM on September 29 [5 favorites]
A friend has heard no word about the fate of her elderly, blind mother in Spuce Pine NC. I saw a fbook post that the national guard had finally reached that area. I hope tomorrow brings a bit of good news.
posted by mightshould at 3:01 PM on September 29 [4 favorites]
posted by mightshould at 3:01 PM on September 29 [4 favorites]
Spruce Pine is in Mitchell Co. Hopefully they will have communications soon!
posted by hydropsyche at 3:18 PM on September 29
posted by hydropsyche at 3:18 PM on September 29
We were vacationing in Sunset Beach, NC, 9/21 to 9/29. It was me and my elderly mother from north Florida and my elderly aunt, who lives in tiny Tryon, NC, near Columbus. We had one day of squalls, the rest of the time perfect beach weather. We watched Cedar Key float away into the Gulf of Mexico on the weather channel, and the next day my aunt began to get the facebook messages, increasingly desperate, from everyone she knows in North Carolina. All without power, many without water, some with trapped friends and family from whom they have not heard and whom they cannot reach, many many before and after pictures of towns that aren't really so much there anymore.
My friend in Asheville drove to SC for gas to try to keep her phone charged, found none, drove back, hasn't been heard of since Thursday or Friday. Mom and I drove home to north Florida yesterday without problems. Stopped at The Flying J in Brunswick, GA, for gas. We filled up and then went into the store to get some ice for our water cups but they kicked us out of the store because the generator had quit and they couldn't ring anything up or run the trucker showers or dispense ice, coffee, and stimulants or, basically, do anything the Flying J is famous for. I'm glad we gassed up before we went in to examine the coffee makers and crock pots you can plug into the cigarette lighter in your truck because I don't know whether the pumps still worked by the time we left. The stoplights were out, we noticed, as we made our way back to I95. We had been on fumes and would have been stranded. Stewless in Brunswick. We would probably have had to make a meal of old Bucc-ee's jerky and sleep in the ancient Volvo and the next day try to suck gas up from the tanks with a garden hose siphon. If the Flying J even stocks garden hoses; I don't know. My aunt drove to Chesapeake, VA, to stay with her son. No sense going back to Tryon to increase the general burden on her beleaguered retirement community.
All of this is too hideously reminiscent of the Katrina aftermath, with the stranded parents and grandparents nobody has heard from in days.
posted by Don Pepino at 7:52 AM on September 30 [12 favorites]
My friend in Asheville drove to SC for gas to try to keep her phone charged, found none, drove back, hasn't been heard of since Thursday or Friday. Mom and I drove home to north Florida yesterday without problems. Stopped at The Flying J in Brunswick, GA, for gas. We filled up and then went into the store to get some ice for our water cups but they kicked us out of the store because the generator had quit and they couldn't ring anything up or run the trucker showers or dispense ice, coffee, and stimulants or, basically, do anything the Flying J is famous for. I'm glad we gassed up before we went in to examine the coffee makers and crock pots you can plug into the cigarette lighter in your truck because I don't know whether the pumps still worked by the time we left. The stoplights were out, we noticed, as we made our way back to I95. We had been on fumes and would have been stranded. Stewless in Brunswick. We would probably have had to make a meal of old Bucc-ee's jerky and sleep in the ancient Volvo and the next day try to suck gas up from the tanks with a garden hose siphon. If the Flying J even stocks garden hoses; I don't know. My aunt drove to Chesapeake, VA, to stay with her son. No sense going back to Tryon to increase the general burden on her beleaguered retirement community.
All of this is too hideously reminiscent of the Katrina aftermath, with the stranded parents and grandparents nobody has heard from in days.
posted by Don Pepino at 7:52 AM on September 30 [12 favorites]
Don Pepino, it will be interesting to see how the aftermath of Helene will affect Cedar Key. AFAIK, my dad and my stepmom came through it okay as best we could expect since they could not be convinced to evacuate. Like, my dad has lived there my entire life and he has seen his share of storms, but these are hitting one right after the other. I can't imagine the community will survive over the next decade or so. I would be happy to be wrong.
posted by Kitteh at 8:08 AM on September 30 [1 favorite]
posted by Kitteh at 8:08 AM on September 30 [1 favorite]
Here's a link for wellness checks on people in NC (from fbook)
https://www.facebook.com/carolinacert/
posted by mightshould at 9:00 AM on September 30
https://www.facebook.com/carolinacert/
posted by mightshould at 9:00 AM on September 30
Poor dear little Cedar Key. I used to go house- and dogsit for my friend who had a house there. Her husband used to fish for sponges and sell them in Tarpon Springs until that fishery pretty much collapsed. I am quite sure their tiny little house is gone, now. It's one thing after another for that town, and they keep rallying and rebuilding and changing their industry and washing away again. They lost the pencil factory and became a fishing community. Then they lost the oyster fishery and rallied and set up to farm clams, instead. Then the week before Helene a restaurant that had been there for decades burned down and put 40 people out of work. And now they've been scrubbed off the map again.
IDK how much you know about Big Bend Florida, but apparently Steinhatchee also got slapped pretty soundly. Roy's is entirely rubble. Deal's in Perry made it through, though. (Other people have their Waffle House disaster scales; mine is seafood and seafood restaurants.)
posted by Don Pepino at 9:14 AM on September 30 [2 favorites]
IDK how much you know about Big Bend Florida, but apparently Steinhatchee also got slapped pretty soundly. Roy's is entirely rubble. Deal's in Perry made it through, though. (Other people have their Waffle House disaster scales; mine is seafood and seafood restaurants.)
posted by Don Pepino at 9:14 AM on September 30 [2 favorites]
Cedar Key was the place I spent my childhood summers and I hated it! (When you're eight, you are soooooo bored.) I learned to appreciate it as an adult simply because it's quiet and on the ocean. I have always loved that there are no restaurant chains or grocery chains on the island. (I didn't hear about Steamers until two days before Helene hit, so yeah, WOW.) I have been looking at photos from the Cedar Key Fire & Rescue FB page. It hits different than the previous storms, which were also awful, but this one? Jesus.
My sister said this was supposed to be Seafood Festival weekend, which brings in good money to the community. Not so much now.
My paternal family are all Northern Floridians: Cedar Key, Branford, Live Oak, Lake City, even Perry!
posted by Kitteh at 9:18 AM on September 30 [1 favorite]
My sister said this was supposed to be Seafood Festival weekend, which brings in good money to the community. Not so much now.
My paternal family are all Northern Floridians: Cedar Key, Branford, Live Oak, Lake City, even Perry!
posted by Kitteh at 9:18 AM on September 30 [1 favorite]
Oh, man, Cedar Key would be paralyzingly boring for a kid, unless you were some kind of young naturalist type or somehow there were age-mate kids, but it doesn't seem like too many people raise kids there. My mom used to drag us there for stuff an unreasonably lot of the time in the summer when it was most intolerable--maybe for the art festivals? Or actually I think it was when she took a sailing class. Which, sailing, is boring to me even now unless you're sailing to somewhere because what is the difference between sailing slowly and endlessly around a bay or a lake and driving slowly and endlessly around a parking lot? Nans, unless you're the one piloting the boat, not just a bored-out-of-your-mind child trying to avoid being brained by the boom.
My paternal family are all Northern Floridians: Cedar Key, Branford, Live Oak, Lake City, even Perry!
Live Oak always gets swamped. Honestly, let's just make the state a huge natural area and everybody move to, I dunno, Idaho.
My sister said this was supposed to be Seafood Festival weekend
Nooooo... God, it just gets worse and worse.
posted by Don Pepino at 9:48 AM on September 30 [2 favorites]
My paternal family are all Northern Floridians: Cedar Key, Branford, Live Oak, Lake City, even Perry!
Live Oak always gets swamped. Honestly, let's just make the state a huge natural area and everybody move to, I dunno, Idaho.
My sister said this was supposed to be Seafood Festival weekend
Nooooo... God, it just gets worse and worse.
posted by Don Pepino at 9:48 AM on September 30 [2 favorites]
My dad used to take us out on the boat to one of the outlying uninhabited islands. He knew a beach where the horseshoe crabs were abundant because, despite all his faults, he knew I loved horseshoe crabs. (I think they are super cool. I did a science project on them once as a kid.)
My spouse fell in love with how quiet and beautiful it was too. We'd hack through those palmettos behind my dad's house to find a sturdy wooden dock facing the water and just sit there and admire the stars.
Don Pepino, it's really awesome to find someone else that knows of the charms of Cedar Key. Most Canadians up here travel to Orlando or lower in the state so they've missed out on something so quiet. Punk rock musician Laura Jane Grace is from Gainesville and when she happened to pass through here a few months ago, I knew she was also a Cedar Key lover. We got to reminisce about what we love about it!
posted by Kitteh at 10:01 AM on September 30 [2 favorites]
My spouse fell in love with how quiet and beautiful it was too. We'd hack through those palmettos behind my dad's house to find a sturdy wooden dock facing the water and just sit there and admire the stars.
Don Pepino, it's really awesome to find someone else that knows of the charms of Cedar Key. Most Canadians up here travel to Orlando or lower in the state so they've missed out on something so quiet. Punk rock musician Laura Jane Grace is from Gainesville and when she happened to pass through here a few months ago, I knew she was also a Cedar Key lover. We got to reminisce about what we love about it!
posted by Kitteh at 10:01 AM on September 30 [2 favorites]
Laura Jane Grace is from Gainesville
More evidence I left town too soon. I was there for Mutley Chix and Psychic Violents and River Phoenix's various bands and my favorite for all time, Radon; I was gone by Sister Hazel and Hot Water Music and Against Me. Now I'm back, but I've become so old I no longer have any idea what's going on despite Fest being basically in my yard. I do like waving at all the happy people in black cotton clothes wandering downtown at the end of October.
I think you and your family and me and my family would get along well. My mom also loves horseshoe crabs. She found a simply enormous shed horseshoe crab shell, like huge, like the circumference of a car tire. For years this massive specimen hung on the wall over the kitchen table because my mom considered it decorative. I, OTOH, considered it the single most horrifying thing in the kitchen, which was really saying something. It became even more Ed Gein when the roach infestation in the house got out of hand and you could hear whole tribes of them skittering around under there, bashing their own exoskeletons against the crab's cast-off one. Good times...
I bet Cedar Key will figure something out again. It's a pretty stubborn, charming little barnacle of a place. As soon as I can go there and drop mad quantities of dollars, I will do that thing.
posted by Don Pepino at 11:14 AM on September 30 [4 favorites]
More evidence I left town too soon. I was there for Mutley Chix and Psychic Violents and River Phoenix's various bands and my favorite for all time, Radon; I was gone by Sister Hazel and Hot Water Music and Against Me. Now I'm back, but I've become so old I no longer have any idea what's going on despite Fest being basically in my yard. I do like waving at all the happy people in black cotton clothes wandering downtown at the end of October.
I think you and your family and me and my family would get along well. My mom also loves horseshoe crabs. She found a simply enormous shed horseshoe crab shell, like huge, like the circumference of a car tire. For years this massive specimen hung on the wall over the kitchen table because my mom considered it decorative. I, OTOH, considered it the single most horrifying thing in the kitchen, which was really saying something. It became even more Ed Gein when the roach infestation in the house got out of hand and you could hear whole tribes of them skittering around under there, bashing their own exoskeletons against the crab's cast-off one. Good times...
I bet Cedar Key will figure something out again. It's a pretty stubborn, charming little barnacle of a place. As soon as I can go there and drop mad quantities of dollars, I will do that thing.
posted by Don Pepino at 11:14 AM on September 30 [4 favorites]
I have a friend in Asheville, David Forbes (I've posted links to her work on the blue once or twice). She's told me she is doing okay but I'm worried anyway.
David, and an ex-Asheville resident I know, have suggestions for local mutual aid groups that could use funding to help get through this crisis. MetaFilter content policy says it's not okay to advertise funding campaigns in comments, so I won't do that here, but you can MeMail me if you want the info.
posted by brainwane at 11:25 AM on September 30 [5 favorites]
David, and an ex-Asheville resident I know, have suggestions for local mutual aid groups that could use funding to help get through this crisis. MetaFilter content policy says it's not okay to advertise funding campaigns in comments, so I won't do that here, but you can MeMail me if you want the info.
posted by brainwane at 11:25 AM on September 30 [5 favorites]
brainwane, I know David! We are also talking here about fundraising and wondering where is best to send money. I know a lot of local nonprofits but this. . .this is outside their scope. Someone suggested Warren Haynes; he’s raised millions for Habitat for Humanity in Asheville over the years and maybe his foundation would be interested in directing funds to rebuilding.
posted by mygothlaundry at 4:31 PM on September 30 [1 favorite]
posted by mygothlaundry at 4:31 PM on September 30 [1 favorite]
The rebuilding will probably be a lot like Katrina, a combination of local/state governments leveraging federal dollars and faith-based non-profits like Habitat and Presbyterian Disaster Assistance leveraging donations/grants and bringing in volunteers. Yes, work gets done faster and better when done by professionals, but in cases like this, there will never be enough professionals for all the paying customers, and there will always be people who can't afford to pay.
posted by hydropsyche at 5:35 PM on September 30
posted by hydropsyche at 5:35 PM on September 30
It's been a fucking lot, y'all. Asheville reporting in, finally enough cell service to do more than just text. Got power back Sunday night in town but not at the yarn shop yet. We are so lucky in that home and store are dry and secure. They're saying no running water for weeks, maybe months. Much of the system will need to be rebuilt from scratch. Getting family members out tomorrow but my wife and I are staying. Maybe at least this will keep away all the vultures with their fucking second and third homes and fucking AirBnBs. Asheville just might become a hippie town again because no one will be able to take a shower until 2025.
posted by rikschell at 6:29 AM on October 1 [40 favorites]
posted by rikschell at 6:29 AM on October 1 [40 favorites]
Hey Rik - I remember visiting the yarn shop years ago and buying a tarot deck y'all made. I'm really worried about the water reports especially. It's not just no *potable* water, right? It's that nothing comes out of taps, so no toilets or showers or anything? How are you getting water, assuming you are?
posted by caviar2d2 at 8:04 AM on October 1 [1 favorite]
posted by caviar2d2 at 8:04 AM on October 1 [1 favorite]
It was a cascading failure out of The Expanse. Friday morning we woke up and the internet (through the cable company) wasn't working. Winds were scary strong and we had minor water incursion in the basement, but it was basically what we expected.
Western North Carolina gets the ass end of hurricanes all the time and it's just extra rain, really. Sometimes Biltmore Village gets water across the road. In fact Wednesday night (the pre-storm storm) that exact thing happened. Yes, this one was billed as being of epic proportions, but they say that for every fucking rainstorm and snowstorm every year, so it's like the boy who cried wolf.
So I was trying to figure out how long the Spectrum outage was going to be when the power flickers. For half an hour or so you would hear one transformer pop and the lights would go down and then come back up and then another would pop. Before too long it didn't come back.
I used cell data to monitor the storm thread on r/asheville and there were suggestions to fill up containers with water and the bathtub. We missed most of the last water emergency Christmas of '22, but since the water system has proven to be so fragile, I filled up some pitchers and jugs.
But I only really started to worry when cell data went out. I flashed back to living in Brooklyn during 9/11 when the towers coming down took all the radio and TV with them. My wife went around the corner to check on her mom, and I filled up more containers and the bathtub. I advised her to do the same at her mom's. Which is good, because sure enough by Friday night nothing was coming out of the pipes anymore.
So I still have pots and pans and jugs of potable water and half a bathtub of non-potable water. And now they're starting to distribute water in jugs and bottles and fill-you-own-container (after three days of no supplies to be found). On Sunday we went downtown to find a wifi hotspot to check email and change the front page on our store's website and overheard a guy talking about how he hadn't taken precautions and had been shitting in bags for two days and he and his girlfriend had nothing to drink but one bottle of wine. He did meet up with a friend who had plenty of water though.
Tomorrow I am taking the mom and kid out of town to relocate temporarily or permanently as the case may be. I'll come back with more water and gas and supplies. Aid does seem to be coming in now, we have power back and decent cell data. Wired Internet and more widespread power might be this weekend or next.
But from everything I hear, the water system is FUCKED. Like, nothing coming out of the pipes for weeks or even months. The hospital (which has been scandalously killing people since being bought by for-profit HCA) has found it hard to function without running water. It's a tourist town and restaurants won't be able to open. Breweries will be shut down. My yarn store might be able to reopen, but the venue where the big fiber festival is supposed to be in two weeks is sheltering people whose homes were destroyed.
Whole towns were literally wiped off the map. Two of the busiest tourist districts are completely gone now. Life is not getting back to normal anytime soon.
The downtown post office is open though, so I can fulfill online orders. And my brand new Cryptids Crafting Tarot decks are supposed to arrive on Friday. So we will piece it together. We started a texting chain (2 really) for almost 40 of our stitch group people and are connecting people who need water or power, etc. Our community is worth staying for and fighting for. Asheville has done its best to price out the people who dance to their own beat, but some of us are still here.
posted by rikschell at 3:13 PM on October 1 [54 favorites]
Western North Carolina gets the ass end of hurricanes all the time and it's just extra rain, really. Sometimes Biltmore Village gets water across the road. In fact Wednesday night (the pre-storm storm) that exact thing happened. Yes, this one was billed as being of epic proportions, but they say that for every fucking rainstorm and snowstorm every year, so it's like the boy who cried wolf.
So I was trying to figure out how long the Spectrum outage was going to be when the power flickers. For half an hour or so you would hear one transformer pop and the lights would go down and then come back up and then another would pop. Before too long it didn't come back.
I used cell data to monitor the storm thread on r/asheville and there were suggestions to fill up containers with water and the bathtub. We missed most of the last water emergency Christmas of '22, but since the water system has proven to be so fragile, I filled up some pitchers and jugs.
But I only really started to worry when cell data went out. I flashed back to living in Brooklyn during 9/11 when the towers coming down took all the radio and TV with them. My wife went around the corner to check on her mom, and I filled up more containers and the bathtub. I advised her to do the same at her mom's. Which is good, because sure enough by Friday night nothing was coming out of the pipes anymore.
So I still have pots and pans and jugs of potable water and half a bathtub of non-potable water. And now they're starting to distribute water in jugs and bottles and fill-you-own-container (after three days of no supplies to be found). On Sunday we went downtown to find a wifi hotspot to check email and change the front page on our store's website and overheard a guy talking about how he hadn't taken precautions and had been shitting in bags for two days and he and his girlfriend had nothing to drink but one bottle of wine. He did meet up with a friend who had plenty of water though.
Tomorrow I am taking the mom and kid out of town to relocate temporarily or permanently as the case may be. I'll come back with more water and gas and supplies. Aid does seem to be coming in now, we have power back and decent cell data. Wired Internet and more widespread power might be this weekend or next.
But from everything I hear, the water system is FUCKED. Like, nothing coming out of the pipes for weeks or even months. The hospital (which has been scandalously killing people since being bought by for-profit HCA) has found it hard to function without running water. It's a tourist town and restaurants won't be able to open. Breweries will be shut down. My yarn store might be able to reopen, but the venue where the big fiber festival is supposed to be in two weeks is sheltering people whose homes were destroyed.
Whole towns were literally wiped off the map. Two of the busiest tourist districts are completely gone now. Life is not getting back to normal anytime soon.
The downtown post office is open though, so I can fulfill online orders. And my brand new Cryptids Crafting Tarot decks are supposed to arrive on Friday. So we will piece it together. We started a texting chain (2 really) for almost 40 of our stitch group people and are connecting people who need water or power, etc. Our community is worth staying for and fighting for. Asheville has done its best to price out the people who dance to their own beat, but some of us are still here.
posted by rikschell at 3:13 PM on October 1 [54 favorites]
Keep on keepin' Asheville weird, rikschell!
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:28 PM on October 1 [7 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:28 PM on October 1 [7 favorites]
I can't claim to be one of the original weirdos, but I miss when the town had more character and less money.
posted by rikschell at 6:32 PM on October 1 [8 favorites]
posted by rikschell at 6:32 PM on October 1 [8 favorites]
Yeah, I lived there from 1994 to 2008, and by the end I could see that the weirdness had dwindled as the touristy-ness rose. :/ But maybe the weirdness will come back eventually. Plus it's an absolutely beautiful area to live in (most of the time...).
posted by Greg_Ace at 6:47 PM on October 1 [2 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 6:47 PM on October 1 [2 favorites]
Hope NC MeFites are staying safe and will keep updating here when they can.
Saw something about neighboring states’ corporate-owned lakes and some rivers being strategically lowered/flow managed to try to help drain off the flooding in the mountains. As far away as Chattanooga.
It’s upsetting how the national news cycle has already stopped focusing on the survivors and their communities.
posted by edithkeeler at 10:12 AM on October 2 [1 favorite]
Saw something about neighboring states’ corporate-owned lakes and some rivers being strategically lowered/flow managed to try to help drain off the flooding in the mountains. As far away as Chattanooga.
It’s upsetting how the national news cycle has already stopped focusing on the survivors and their communities.
posted by edithkeeler at 10:12 AM on October 2 [1 favorite]
My contract here in Knoxville ended yesterday. I don't have a home in Asheville to return to. It flooded. All my stuff is gone. Strange feeling. Glad my son is away at college.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 11:03 AM on October 2 [24 favorites]
posted by Mr. Yuck at 11:03 AM on October 2 [24 favorites]
I'm so sorry about Asheville. I spent about 90 minutes there total five years or so ago, but that was enough time to realize that it's a lovely place. I heard from my friend from there, and aside from no power/water, she said her house was fine. She and husband evacuated to South Carolina for the next couple of weeks so that rescue people could use their "cove," I think she called it? to stage from and assist neighboring coves that didn't do as well.
posted by Don Pepino at 1:46 PM on October 2
posted by Don Pepino at 1:46 PM on October 2
So sorry, Mr. Yuck. The scale of the destruction is still just incomprehensible, and I know many people are relocating to find a place at least for now with power, water, and public schools. I hope that Knoxville, or wherever you end up next, offers you a safe landing for now.
posted by hydropsyche at 3:52 PM on October 2 [4 favorites]
posted by hydropsyche at 3:52 PM on October 2 [4 favorites]
If you need a place in Asheville to crash (power but no water), MeMail me. Seriously.
posted by rikschell at 4:02 PM on October 2 [10 favorites]
posted by rikschell at 4:02 PM on October 2 [10 favorites]
And get your disasterassistance.gov application in ASAP
posted by rikschell at 4:03 PM on October 2 [4 favorites]
posted by rikschell at 4:03 PM on October 2 [4 favorites]
Thank you so much. I don't know what I am going to do just yet.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 4:36 PM on October 2 [1 favorite]
posted by Mr. Yuck at 4:36 PM on October 2 [1 favorite]
Mr. Yuck and others:
NC Department of Insurance
·
FEMA has declared Individual Assistance (IA) for Hurricane Helene. What does this mean for you? It means that you can apply for disaster assistance from FEMA to help offset your disaster-related expenses. You can apply online at https://www.disasterassistance.gov/ or by telephone at (800) 621-3362. Otherwise, you can download the FEMA weather app from Google PlayStore or the Apple Store and you can apply for assistance on the app and upload receipts. Whichever method you choose, the form has a few questions that are tricky. To avoid delay, please follow the following tips:
1. One of the questions that FEMA will ask when you register is “Do You Have Emergency Needs”? This means during your evacuation or since staying at home during the disaster, do you need help with Gas, Medication, Food (meals, water, had no power and everything spoils), Shelter (you are staying with friends, family or in a hotel); Clothing; or Durable Medical Equipment (oxygen, walkers, cane, glasses, all major equipment, etc). If this is true, say “YES” to this question. That will result in your receiving Displacement / Critical Needs Assistance, which is $750.
2. When asked if your home is/was accessible, answer "NO" if there was debris, tree branches, continued flooding, loss of power, damage or destruction that prevented you from staying there after Helene. This question is asking whether you can stay at your home or apartment and will trigger the ability for you to receive assistance to pay for hotels or provide funding to use while you stay with family or friends.
3. When asked if utilities are out, say "YES" even if your utilities were out for a few days. This triggers assistance $ to stay somewhere other than your home or to buy fuel to power a generator.
4. When asked “Are you willing to relocate” say "YES" if you cannot live in your home due to damage, loss of power, etc. This question means you are willing to stay in a hotel or apartment temporarily, and triggers that funding for you. It is not asking if you are willing to move away from your home permanently.
5. If you bought or buy a generator, FEMA will reimburse you up to $629, but you must submit the receipt. If you bought a chainsaw, FEMA will reimburse you up to $219. Again, you need to provide the receipt. Save your receipts
posted by mightshould at 4:44 PM on October 2 [18 favorites]
NC Department of Insurance
·
FEMA has declared Individual Assistance (IA) for Hurricane Helene. What does this mean for you? It means that you can apply for disaster assistance from FEMA to help offset your disaster-related expenses. You can apply online at https://www.disasterassistance.gov/ or by telephone at (800) 621-3362. Otherwise, you can download the FEMA weather app from Google PlayStore or the Apple Store and you can apply for assistance on the app and upload receipts. Whichever method you choose, the form has a few questions that are tricky. To avoid delay, please follow the following tips:
1. One of the questions that FEMA will ask when you register is “Do You Have Emergency Needs”? This means during your evacuation or since staying at home during the disaster, do you need help with Gas, Medication, Food (meals, water, had no power and everything spoils), Shelter (you are staying with friends, family or in a hotel); Clothing; or Durable Medical Equipment (oxygen, walkers, cane, glasses, all major equipment, etc). If this is true, say “YES” to this question. That will result in your receiving Displacement / Critical Needs Assistance, which is $750.
2. When asked if your home is/was accessible, answer "NO" if there was debris, tree branches, continued flooding, loss of power, damage or destruction that prevented you from staying there after Helene. This question is asking whether you can stay at your home or apartment and will trigger the ability for you to receive assistance to pay for hotels or provide funding to use while you stay with family or friends.
3. When asked if utilities are out, say "YES" even if your utilities were out for a few days. This triggers assistance $ to stay somewhere other than your home or to buy fuel to power a generator.
4. When asked “Are you willing to relocate” say "YES" if you cannot live in your home due to damage, loss of power, etc. This question means you are willing to stay in a hotel or apartment temporarily, and triggers that funding for you. It is not asking if you are willing to move away from your home permanently.
5. If you bought or buy a generator, FEMA will reimburse you up to $629, but you must submit the receipt. If you bought a chainsaw, FEMA will reimburse you up to $219. Again, you need to provide the receipt. Save your receipts
posted by mightshould at 4:44 PM on October 2 [18 favorites]
Wow. I got an earful about weather control today from somebody at a food bank
posted by Mr. Yuck at 8:26 PM on October 5 [5 favorites]
Helene fact check
Can't make the link present properly but it's worth a read.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 8:46 PM on October 5 [2 favorites]
Can't make the link present properly but it's worth a read.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 8:46 PM on October 5 [2 favorites]
Get your FEMA check. There are people sneering at $750, take the $750. I bought the biggest battery I could get and it saved my food in Francine.
NGS storm imagery has been flying survey over I 40 yesterday, new imagery is posted live to Storms NGS.
The URLs preserve the lat long and zoom level
So, this storm is an earth mover. The area needs new Geodetic markers. Anybody got a petition to Congress for infrastructure funding handy?
posted by eustatic at 4:55 AM on October 6 [3 favorites]
NGS storm imagery has been flying survey over I 40 yesterday, new imagery is posted live to Storms NGS.
The URLs preserve the lat long and zoom level
So, this storm is an earth mover. The area needs new Geodetic markers. Anybody got a petition to Congress for infrastructure funding handy?
posted by eustatic at 4:55 AM on October 6 [3 favorites]
Things are slowly getting back to normal here in the Augusta area; I just got this text from a colleague in western NC that really puts things in perspective:
“We lost three local lake communities and more mountain towns and I am told that they will have to just bulldoze over the remaining bodies and debris because there’s simply no way to retrieve them from the mire. The heavy-lift helicopters are still bringing supplies in and corpses out and staging them at airports and on the playing fields at the schools—which are acting as shelters and supply distribution points. FEMA has a hospital set up on the grounds of the Tryon International Equestrian Center, which is also housing many of the workers and livestock and acting as a supply distribution center. God only knows what the actual body count will be."
posted by TedW at 12:44 PM on October 6 [1 favorite]
“We lost three local lake communities and more mountain towns and I am told that they will have to just bulldoze over the remaining bodies and debris because there’s simply no way to retrieve them from the mire. The heavy-lift helicopters are still bringing supplies in and corpses out and staging them at airports and on the playing fields at the schools—which are acting as shelters and supply distribution points. FEMA has a hospital set up on the grounds of the Tryon International Equestrian Center, which is also housing many of the workers and livestock and acting as a supply distribution center. God only knows what the actual body count will be."
posted by TedW at 12:44 PM on October 6 [1 favorite]
Helpful collection of information from the Washington Post (gift link) on donating, volunteering, and altering travel plans:
How to help Asheville recover form Hurrican Helene
Personally I will be donating to the shared fund for Hurricane Helene relief set up by food banks across North Carolina. (For those in the Triangle area, you can access this via the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina's site.)
posted by research monkey at 12:48 PM on October 6 [5 favorites]
How to help Asheville recover form Hurrican Helene
Personally I will be donating to the shared fund for Hurricane Helene relief set up by food banks across North Carolina. (For those in the Triangle area, you can access this via the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina's site.)
posted by research monkey at 12:48 PM on October 6 [5 favorites]
“We lost three local lake communities and more mountain towns and I am told that they will have to just bulldoze over the remaining bodies and debris because there’s simply no way to retrieve them from the mire..."
Please provide a source for this, or retract it. It sounds an awful lot like one of the right-wing conspiracy "texts from a friend" I've seen circulating lately, and the town of Chimney Rock has clarified that there will be no bulldozing over bodies (really??). Please, please, please be more skeptical of statements like this.
If they sound absolutely wild and outlandish, it's worth doing a bit of digging on it before sharing with others. On the other hand, this is a wild and outlandish time! Some really wild stories are emerging and many of them are true. But many of them are people trying to gin up panic against the government, mistrust against the government, and/or promoting their own grifts ("venmo me and I'll buy supplies! I have a spreadsheet, just trust me!")
posted by knotty knots at 3:03 PM on October 6 [12 favorites]
Please provide a source for this, or retract it. It sounds an awful lot like one of the right-wing conspiracy "texts from a friend" I've seen circulating lately, and the town of Chimney Rock has clarified that there will be no bulldozing over bodies (really??). Please, please, please be more skeptical of statements like this.
If they sound absolutely wild and outlandish, it's worth doing a bit of digging on it before sharing with others. On the other hand, this is a wild and outlandish time! Some really wild stories are emerging and many of them are true. But many of them are people trying to gin up panic against the government, mistrust against the government, and/or promoting their own grifts ("venmo me and I'll buy supplies! I have a spreadsheet, just trust me!")
posted by knotty knots at 3:03 PM on October 6 [12 favorites]
Too late for me to add a list of links to substantiate my own claim that this is false, but if you search the words "Chimney Rock bulldozing bodies" there will be many results from reputable sources.
Also, if a "source" is someone on social media saying anything about mining (lithium, quartz, any kind of mining) be 500% more skeptical of their claim. One of the big lies is that "they" (who?) are swooping in to take over local mineral interests and may have even directed the hurricane towards the area using "their" ability to control the weather (!!!!!).
posted by knotty knots at 3:07 PM on October 6 [2 favorites]
Also, if a "source" is someone on social media saying anything about mining (lithium, quartz, any kind of mining) be 500% more skeptical of their claim. One of the big lies is that "they" (who?) are swooping in to take over local mineral interests and may have even directed the hurricane towards the area using "their" ability to control the weather (!!!!!).
posted by knotty knots at 3:07 PM on October 6 [2 favorites]
Another Hurdle in Recovery From Helene: Misinformation Is Getting in the Way: "Aaron Ellenburg, Rutherford County’s sheriff, has spent days refuting baseless claims about lithium sales or communities being bulldozed to cover up bodies left behind by the storm. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said. “I’m sick and tired of this crap.”
posted by gwint at 7:39 PM on October 6 [5 favorites]
posted by gwint at 7:39 PM on October 6 [5 favorites]
The source for my comment was a personal communication from a colleague who lives there and has a lot of family in the area. She is not one who is prone to hyperbole or conspiratorial thinking. She is, however, very direct in her speaking and I read her text as meaning more “there are likely bodies buried so deeply in river mud and landslides that they will never be found and they will eventually go on clearing debris and rebuilding in those areas” rather than “they are intentionally leaving bodies in the ground in order to clear debris”. Having said that, there has been so much incorrect information even from official sources here (and presumably elsewhere) that I would not swear that anything is 100% accurate.
Having said that, I don’t even bother reading what people are posting about this disaster on social media, for the most part. There is a ton of nonsense out there and I would never consider posting any of it here. I know someone else who lives in that area and she is a QAnon nut case and has been posting all sorts of MTG level crap about lithium deposits and controlling the weather to wipe out potential Trump voters (even though the Asheville area is pretty blue). So I am definitely aware that there is a lot of misinformation going around.
posted by TedW at 5:13 AM on October 7 [3 favorites]
Having said that, I don’t even bother reading what people are posting about this disaster on social media, for the most part. There is a ton of nonsense out there and I would never consider posting any of it here. I know someone else who lives in that area and she is a QAnon nut case and has been posting all sorts of MTG level crap about lithium deposits and controlling the weather to wipe out potential Trump voters (even though the Asheville area is pretty blue). So I am definitely aware that there is a lot of misinformation going around.
posted by TedW at 5:13 AM on October 7 [3 favorites]
Yeah the flood of disinformation is totally insane. A lot of my lefty friends in the area are unfortunately falling for more of it than I would have expected and it's not surprising: the stress and isolation and days without power or running water will do that to a person. I am so furious and heartsick that this bullshit is being added to their situation. I have also heard outlandish claims from people I would never have expected to spread bad info or believe conspiracy theories.
I'm just so angry with social media. I have WNC friends who are sharing photos on Instagram and so my feed has filled up with WNC reels and photos - including ASSHOLE NON LOCAL INFLUENCERS WHO ARE PRETENDING TO BE LOCAL. Disaster tourists. People filling up their cars with water and arriving in WNC to get in the way and film themselves playing Lady Bountiful. Some of them are even bringing their kids. At this point if I don't personally know the person or I can't go back two years and still see WNC pictures, I'm blocking them.
posted by mygothlaundry at 9:33 AM on October 7 [14 favorites]
I'm just so angry with social media. I have WNC friends who are sharing photos on Instagram and so my feed has filled up with WNC reels and photos - including ASSHOLE NON LOCAL INFLUENCERS WHO ARE PRETENDING TO BE LOCAL. Disaster tourists. People filling up their cars with water and arriving in WNC to get in the way and film themselves playing Lady Bountiful. Some of them are even bringing their kids. At this point if I don't personally know the person or I can't go back two years and still see WNC pictures, I'm blocking them.
posted by mygothlaundry at 9:33 AM on October 7 [14 favorites]
That's a very disturbing picture. When the hurricane hit Puerto Rico, we all saw Trump standing at the front of the room commanding everyone's attention and vigorously winging paper towel rolls at people's heads, people standing fifteen, twenty, thirty feet away. Now he's standing thigh deep in muddy flood water like some kind of a plebe, too far away from the little clone children to hand them the paper towels but apparently afraid to move closer for fear of falling and unable to throw the paper towls as was his custom when he was younger and more viable, or even to toss them gently. The kids are looking at him like you'd look at a depressed zoo animal or a squirrel run over in the road, and the lady in the foreground with the freakishly long fingers is so bored by him she's watching TikToks. And Trump has an expression of distress and confusion, clearly has no idea where he is or what he's supposed to be doing or why one of the children is dressed like an extra for Oliver, plus he's so feeble he's straining to lift a single roll of paper towels using both arms. Sad.
posted by Don Pepino at 6:05 PM on October 7
posted by Don Pepino at 6:05 PM on October 7
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*when he was the police chief, yes he had to stay, but he's retired, the old fool
posted by Kitteh at 1:08 PM on September 26 [7 favorites]