It's taken me a couple of weeks to think how I want to write this post, and I'm glad I took the time to sit down and think things through as well as do a little research. I just know that a majority of people who "know" and see the truth undoubtedly feel the same way I do and although we all see it, I just wish others took to heart the impact of these truths a little more deeply and would be a little more concerned about them like I am. My discussion today is about western North Carolina...
If you are one of my dear friends or family member who follow me on facebook, then you have seen my many posts regarding the situation in western North Carolina. If you don't follow me or are unaware of what I am talking about, then I will explain. At this point, every American and most of the world were made aware of two hurricanes that came through back to back beginning at the end of September; hurricanes Helene and Milton. Both started in the gulf coastFlorida and did what hurricanes normally do, create destruction in its path. Us Americans are all too familiar with the destruction these natural phenomenas create and for a majority living within these paths, they have learned to adapt and prepare for such phenomenas. That doesn't make the event less important, it just gives a mind a sense of 'knowing what's to possibly come'. But what happened on September 27 for a few states came out of nowhere and no ones' MIND ever saw it coming.
Hurricane Helene started with intensity and ended in a fury, plain and simple. By the time the hurricane had changed to a tropical storm, most of the eastern side of the US felt its rage. I am in northern Kentucky and the rain that we received (although very much needed) was a LOT! Even parts further north like in Illinois felt this storm. Winds were strong here, knocking down several trees here and there. But parts of Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and North Carolina received the worst rage. Now, we've all felt tropical storm effects in the past, but what happened in these areas was MUCH DIFFERENT. The storm lingered far longer than is typically expected and created floods in areas that never flood. However, it wasn't just the lingering of this rain, it was the sheer volume. This volume is what did the destruction. When I tell you what western North Carolina received, I am quite literally surprised there were people that lived through it. If you google 'when did North Carolina get flooded?' the answer makes me laugh, "...The deluge followed two days of heavy rains that had already saturated soils and pushed the region's rivers to unusual heights..." Unusual heights? Let me tell you what a couple of those heights were...
The Swannanoa River crested at 26.1 feet, no biggee except FLOOD STAGE IS 10 FEET!
The French Broad River in Asheville crested at 24.67 feet...FLOOD STAGE IS 9.5 FEET!
The area we are talking about is what is referred to as part of the Appalachian Mountains. These mountains stretch from Canada to Alabama and are the oldest mountain range in North America. Many people visit different parts of the Appalachian Mountains, some even walking the great Appalachian Trail (think Camino de Santiago in America; for some it's spiritual and for some it's not), but most importantly, the mountains are also home for many MANY people. When you hear the terms 'hillbilly', 'backwoods people', 'from the sticks', 'mountain folk', 'the uneducated', etc. these were names given to the Appalachain people long ago. For decades, these mountain people have been known to be 'different' than modern day society. To put it bluntly they live a 'pioneer' lifestyle with just a few if any modern day conveniences for some. They keep to themselves, don't like to be bothered by anyone, and DO NOT TRUST ANY FORM OF GOVERNMENT whether it be local or national. For the most part, those that live deep in the woods in what we call 'off grid' are pretty much left alone. However, some don't have much of anything except the 'home' they created. Land for most of these people has been passed down from generation to generation, and for many, it's all they've ever known...and have.
And then you have the part of Appalachia that many people visit or have second homes in. Two popular sites would be Gatlinburg, Tennessee (think Dollywood) and Asheville, North Carolina (The Biltmore Estate). Yes, these two areas were hit hard by the tropical storm, especially Asheville, but sadly, as a society, the only way to visualize an area having experienced a disaster is to place it in a mental map, which only limits the visual capacity to a certain area. We forget the bigger map and everyone affected.
When I mentioned above that they never saw it coming, I say that because many people have vocalized, "why didn't they evacuate?" The reason? THERE WAS NO TIME! Literally, there was no time. The volume of rain (I'll show you below) was so massive and so fast and continuous that the only word to describe this is CATASTROPHIC. Some would even say BIBLICAL. The mountains were getting pummeled which caused land slides, homes were being swept away, some with people in them, before they could leave to attempt to get to higher ground. Chaos was coming from the sides of the mountains as well as creeks becoming rivers. These areas haven't flooded in over a hundred years. And sadly, home and business owners didn't carry flood insurance because there was really no need to. What I want you to remember is if an area is getting 20 inches of rain, everything flows down. So when a piece of land at the bottom of the mountain is getting 20 inches of rain, the mountain is also dumping its 20 inches of rain flowing down to your piece of land... those streams and creeks flooded so incredibly fast.
Here are just some statistics taken in the aftermath that shows you the level of destruction western North Carolina experienced and are trying to cope with before I get started on what really sent me over the edge.
Over one million people lost power
10 MILLION cubic yards of debris was created by the storm...enough to fill the Empire State Building 8 times, and the Army Corps officials don't believe that's the final number
100 bridges evaluated by the North Carolina DOT will need to be replaced
40 TRILLION gallons of rainfall estimated in the five day rain east of the Mississippi River from Sept. 24-29
Breakdown of rainfall in western North Carolina:
-31.33 inches in Busick, Yancey County
-24.12 inches in Spruce Pine
-21.96 inches in Hendersonville
-17.09 inches in Mountain Home
-16.18 inches in Candler
-15.78 inches in Tryon
-15.42 inches in Grandfather Mountain
-14.86 inches in Highlands
-14.85 inches in Banner Elk
-13.26 inches in Mills River
-13.21 inches in Swannanoa
And according to this search page, 93 VERIFIED deaths reported (as of October 13)
And this is where I want to lose my $h*t and the reason it took me a couple of weeks to write anything. When I initially heard of the devestation that had taken place, I was a little surprised, but not overly impacted. I hadn't heard anything "major" about the flooding via social media pages as I don't turn on the television for news. But then slowly, I started seeing videos made by family members who live outside of the impacted areas. It was then that I started seeing more and more videos from everyday citizens who didn't live too far from these areas that had tried to make it in to help and rescue whoever they could. That is when I started seeing civilian helicopter pilots and the videos they were making as they were trying to rescue people...why weren't more people talking about this? This looked absolutely horrible and no one around here was talking about it. And then it started. More and more people were posting nonstop on Tik Tok and FB and word was getting out. At this point, Starlink was up and running which explained why I wasn't seeing many videos early on. The videos crushed my soul. The massive destruction and the tears from all these rescuers begging for help...
That's when I wanted to know what our lovely resident of the WH was doing about it. The only thing I saw was the VP made a statement that it's going to take, "days, weeks, and...months". MONTHS???? Seriously, were you even there lady? Try YEARS!!! And then the pResident approved the Governor's STATE OF EMERGENCY Declaration, approving additional federal resources including UP TO 1000 active duty US Army soldiers from Fort Liberty and 22 aircraft. Oh and cover the costs of debris removal for the next 6 MONTHS.
He did a fly-over to see the destruction as he made his way to Georgia and Florida. He also made these significant remarks, "the nation has your back" and "Simply put, we've got the capabilities to get the job done and we're going to get it done as fast as possible"...
Yeah, hang on to that thought for a second.
What I didn't see was this:
WHY was there no journalist reporting on this flooding???? Yes, I did turn on the television a couple of times to see if anything was being mentioned. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE DAYS WHERE JOURNALISTS GOT RIGHT IN THE THICK OF IT AND REPORTED LIVE WHAT OTHERS WEREN'T? It used to be a battle for journalists to be the first on site to get the story (and the notoriety). Do you remember that? Remember when journalists traveled overseas to get the story, to be in the middle of crossfire to get the story? Some even lost their lives trying to get 'the story'! I can tell you why...cell phones.
Cell phones have made a world of difference with real news. If it wasn't for video taking on cell phones, AMERICA WOULD KNOW NOTHING OF WHAT HAS UNFOLDED in western NC. And to say I'm pissed doesn't say 1/2 of it. President Trump made a call to Elon Musk who, while on the phone with Trump, had one of his people contact one of the people Trump was talking with when he made his first visit to NC. They got the information they needed and sent Starlink satellites communicators to NC asap. Once this happened the flood of videos were massive. The real stories of what was happening and what was not were coming out. And the amount of lies about the help these people were getting was breaking my heart. I shared so many videos with my friends and family and when you see/saw the level of destruction, there is no way there are only 93 people dead! The media is lying to the country by not COVERING this story. And the question is WHY? WHY AREN'T THEY COVERING THIS??? When 9/11 happened, the coverage was NONSTOP...for days and days. 2,977 people died on 9/11, but, although this is something I don't want to compare, I can guarantee that western NC will see more than that. AND STILL NO MEDIA COVERAGE! Videos have come in about the need for THOUSANDS of body bags. THOUSANDS, NOT tens or hundreds.
Then videos have come in that the ONLY PEOPLE doing the search and rescue are civilians, and civilian helicopter pilots using their own helicopters. These mountains, with no roads now, have made it impossible to do search and rescue and civilians have had to find genius ways to manuever in the terrain to search. These same civilians are making videos NOT FOR NOTORIETY, but for a call for help! What happened to the 22 aircraft the pResident promised? 1000 soldiers (undoubtedly working in shifts) to cover such a vast area??? What had/has me so upset, as I explained to Bill, is if this were to happen to us, I know I would be up there day after day HOPING and praying someone would be looking for us, and any day some military operation was going to be flying over and we are going to be rescued because we have an enormous and strong, well-trained military that can do that....and all I can think about are those people waiting, like I would be, but nothing is happening . AND, I KNOW WE HAVE THE MEANS TO DO THIS. Yet all I've been hearing is how there is no rescue help from the government.
I've learned FEMA is there, but either getting in the way wanting to take control of supply hubs that were set up and being run with such organization by civilians and churches, or just there and doing nothing... I've learned the $750 allotted to folks who lost everything are only being allotted per household not person. I decided to do a little research about FEMA and such and this is what I've learned: FEMA is a large agency and there are several budgets that FEMA is responsible for. There was a large rumor, thanks in part to the dumbass US Secretary of Homeland Security A. Mayorkas who stated the FEMA has no money for the hurricane victims and for rebuild. Although it has been made very clear that FEMA grant funds are being used to give illegal immigrants a beautiful start to their new life in the US,(that was sarcasm btw) that money comes from the Shelter and Services Program, under FEMA. Another fund is the Disaster Relief Fund, used specifically for these situations and in this case is the fund that works with hurricane victims and areas. There are several programs under FEMA and they are ALL BUDGETED yearly. This year the budget was set at 49 billion dollars that included a carryover of 13 billion for just the Disaster Relief Fund ONLY. I'll be curious to know what next year's carryover is going to be after Helene and Milton...and that doesn't include other disasters earlier this year...and the year's not over yet. We also have to remember, there are other Funds that FEMA has that will be used for the rebuilding especially now that the pResident FINALLY approved western NC as a Major Disaster on Oct. 19. ONLY TOOK HIM HOW LONG??? It has now gone from a state of emergency to Major Disaster declared by the pResident, giving the approval for national help and funding....guess we will see.
So now what? Well, it is obviously not over and won't be for a long time. This event opened my already opened eyes that much more. I've learned that where you live and who you live around are what makes America what I grew up believing America is. NOT OUR GOVERNMENT. The help we need in an emergency comes from our neighbors, the people. NOT OUR GOVERNMENT. The success of our towns, cities, state, & country comes from our neighbors, the people. NOT OUR GOVERNMENT. The beauty and impact we have on the world comes from our neighbors, the people. NOT OUR GOVERNMENT. When it comes to getting or learning truths, it's our neighbors, the people. NOT OUR GOVERNMENT. And, the final say in our democracy comes from our neighbors, the people. NOT OUR GOVERNMENT. So, as for the victims of western NC, as your neighbor I will continue to find ways to help by sending necessary supplies, collecting and sending necessary supplies, and continuing to share stories and videos informing other Americans of your progress and hopefully not the lack of. Secondly, I will be voting on November 5th and encourage others to as well who have seriously have no excuse to not vote especially hearing of the unbelievable early voting turnout from those who literally lost almost everything (as well as those that did lose everything). I will be making informed voting decisions based on how they will not just affect me and my family, but my neighbors both locally and nationally. And lastly, I will be praying and encouraging others to send prayers and/or good vibes to those in western NC, Georgia, and Florida. But my prayers are being extended warmly to those neighbors who didn't think twice to help, who continue to help, and to those in line to help.
One other note, this is going to take a long time for these people. This didn't happen to a small area of folk. Each person will have many battles, including the battle with time. Helping today is wonderful, but tomorrow is a lot longer than we could ever anticipate. For some their normalcy can come back within 6 months...for others it could take a good 6 years. Please remember the people of Appalachia.
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