Having grown up in the area and lived there for several years after college at App State, seeing the toll this has taken on friends and family is heartbreaking. We are working to raise funds for two families and one local business that were significantly impacted by the devastation of Helene in Western NC. All money raised will be divided evenly between our friends to help them get back on their feet. A little more info on the friends we are helping is below:
Jenny & Brian
Multiple trees fell and completely destroyed their home. Though we are incredibly grateful that everyone is safe—including their two dogs—they have lost nearly everything and now need the essentials before beginning the difficult journey of rebuilding.
When they called, they said, "Whatever you are imagining, it's worse." She described the devastation in each room and how she could see the sky through her daughter's bedroom. As she looked around, she realized not only were their possessions gone, but so was the home where she had raised her children. They are incredibly lucky to have made it out without a scratch.
Due to the extreme destruction in the area from flooding, high winds, and rain, they will have to wait a significant amount of time to even begin the cleanup process, much less the task of rebuilding their home.
Heather
I'm still in shock, to be quite honest. This was the scariest thing I've ever been through in my life. We have around 15 giant trees down around our yard with extensive damage to the roof and interior. We also have water damage in our home and have lost all of our appliances. Not to mention having to throw away over $1000 in food due to no power for so long. We still have no power, and we are supposed to boil water, but we can't due to power. We finally had someone deliver water to us. We haven't showered or eaten a hot meal in a week now. I just cry every day. I'm just thankful to be alive right now.
Green River BBQ
Helene caused a mudslide that wreaked havoc on the restaurant. It took out our biofuel recycling container and propane tank, causing both to leak. We are so thankful the tank didn’t cause an explosion or fire. It also covered every inch of the restaurant in mud. And pushed both the sheds into the parking lot. Thankfully, Mike’s fence held up and kept them from going any further. Ohh, and there’s also a tree on the roof.
We were able to get some of the food out of the cooler and into the hands of folks who need it… the rest will be lost.
We got to lay eyes on and hug some of our team, which did our hearts some good.
As far as next steps go, we’re really at a loss. No one ever expects something like this to happen, and there’s no one to tell us exactly what we should do next. Our insurance doesn’t cover mudslides, so we’ve got to work to navigate that.
We’d love to tell you the BBQ will reopen soon, but that’s just not the case. We’ve got to start by getting the tree off the roof, then we’ll work on getting the mud out of the building.