Hurricane Helene Update : Sept. 28

EVERYONE is out of power in our area. Ours is the highest number on the above map: 167,000. Today the only few buildings with power (the top priority)were the couple of gas stations & restaurants by the interstates. ... 

So we were never happier to go to a Zaxbys! And even at that, it was cash only at all places!

On the way home we stopped at Immaculate Conception for the vigil Mass by candlelight. Quite magical. No power there either.

This part of I-40 going into Tennessee was completely destroyed. It still wouldn't be open 4 months later!

Above is one of the saddest pictures of Hurricane destruction: Chimney Rock before and after. The town is no more.

We got SO excited to see.this worker come up View Drive! He was just assessing the damage, though. 

The Short Story of Hurricane Helene :

On the night of September 26 , 2024 Hurricane Helene hit North Carolina as a true representation of global warming and climate change. Asheville, Lake Lure & Chimney Rock were completely destroyed while all surrounding areas, including ours, were ravaged, and Helene would fight with Katrina as as deadliest Hurricane in modern US history with 238 officially dead, and probably many more deceased homeless. Water is the true killer of any hurricane, and we had both wind AND water. Our diciduous trees were not designed for this wind, and many of them came down, ruining countless homes. The biggest problem was the water reservoir and watershed located just north of Asheville. We had many days of rain, pre-storm. This had already filled the reservoir. Helene made it overflow and the resulting flood flowed into the valleys destroying everything in its path. This flood converged in Chimney Rock destroying the entire town and ended at Lake Lure which became a literal graveyard of homes, debris, ... and bodies. We would spend 1 week without power and 2.5 weeks without phone and internet. Our entire yard would be littered with fallen trees, our driveway blocked (our chainsaw owning neighbors would free us), and our outbuilding (a hopeful stables for my future goats) was destroyed, but our home was untouched!