Help Us Recover From Hurricane Helene

Hello, my name is Joshua. I am a first year transfer student at App State and a member of the United States Armed Forces (U.S. Army, 82nd Airborne Division). On Friday, September 27th, my roommate Jose and I were alerted to an evacuation notice of our basement level apartment at approximately 9 AM. We were told that flash flooding from Hurricane Helen was imminent, and that we had to seek higher ground. Preparing to leave, we looked out our windows to find ourselves completely submerged underwater. Barely 5 minutes into waking up the door and other areas of the house began caving in. In less than 2 minutes we were waist high in water. Unable to salvage anything or get clothes on from waking up, we escaped out a window and held onto the gutters of the house apartment to avoid being swept away from the flood currents which were nearly waist deep. After seeking higher ground and waiting for the flooding to recede, we found that the apartment was completely destroyed along with all furniture and every personal belonging we had. Despite attempts to wade around in the flood water and find anything to save, we found next to nothing that we could still use. All we had at that point were the clothes on our backs and anything in our pockets. Further stressing the situation, we soon learned that the insurance and liability we paid for would not be covering the damages due to flood liability reasons. Because of this, we are currently out of a home and all of our personal items unable to be replaced. We hope to be relocating ourselves to a new apartment soon, but are hoping to seek financial assistance to secure new clothes, electronics, school supplies, food, and repair costs for our vehicles and other needs. As it stands we have outstanding bills caused by the storm (including hundreds in laundry, car repairs, and medical bills related to flooding contamination).

As it stands we have calculated several thousand dollars worth of damages and lost items, but are trying to piece together what we have for a swift recovery. My roommate and I are asking for any assistance possible to help us get what we need to continue with school and ensure financial stability as we look into the costs and financials for what we need replaced.

Thank you for reading this and God bless.