Hello, I'm Christine (Bumby) Allen from Barnardsville, NC. I am setting up this gofundme to get help for my neighbors, my family, & I to rebuild our bridge and driveway. Please consider donating to this gofundme to help me rebuild our bridge and driveway.

With days of rain falling before Tropical Storm Helene blew through Western North Carolina on Sept. 27, 2024, Ivy Creek in Barnardsville, NC rose greatly even days before Helene's arrival. With the creek already being higher than usual from the accumulated rainfall that we had received before Helene's arrival, it's arrival caused the already rising Ivy Creek to overflow. This caused damage greater here than any other previous storms the residents of Barnardsville have survived here to date. Many are calling Tropical Storm Helene the 1,000-year storm due to the rainfall we received. The rainfall made Ivy Creek run out of it's banks and washed our beloved little community away. Lots of homes and bridges washed away that early morning in September. We were luckier than many others in our community. Our house survived. PTL! My sister-in-law, my brother-in-law, my niece, my son, my daughter-in-law, and three of my grandchildren were among those who lost their homes to Helene here in our community. They are now living in two tiny campers in my front yard.....which with these low winter temps we have been having, them living in campers has been interesting and very expensive...frozen pipes and just maintaining fuel to keep warm have made daily living a chore for them.

As I stated we were lucky that our house survived. But our bridge was not so lucky. My husband, my daughter, my daughter's fiance, our three neighbors and their families, and I have lost our bridge, our only access to our homes, to Helene. PLUS now with my sister-in-law, my brother-in-law, my niece, my son, my daughter-in-law, and three of my grandchildren living in my front yard, they are in need of having our bridge rebuilt to access their homes now also.

We have signed up for FEMA assistant and several other places for help to rebuild our bridge and driveway. We have only heard back from FEMA. We have not heard anything back from the other places we have signed up for assistant. In December 2024, we FINALLY received funds from FEMA to help towards rebuilding our bridge and driveway. But the FEMA funds fall extremely short of the cost of rebuilding our bridge and driveway. What we received from FEMA helped replace some of the gravel for our driveway and that's about all. So we are now asking for your support to help us rebuild our bridge. We are not foreseeing our bridge being rebuilt any other way. If my neighbors, my husband, and myself pull all our resources together, we are still unable to afford to rebuild our bridge without your support. We have received bid proposals to rebuild our bridge. Let's just say we were completely "sticker shocked" with the bid proposals we received!!! With bids as high as $638,000, we'll never be able to afford a bridge at that cost. So PLEASE consider supporting us. Any support you can provide, will be greatly appreciated. Please help us, if not financially, please share this gofundme to as many people as you possible can. Your help will be appreciated. We have tried several avenues to get help with rebuilding our bridge. This gofundme is the last resort we can think of that may help us afford to rebuild our bridge.

Any donation, no matter how small, will make a significant difference. Your donation to this gofundme will help us buy I-beams, concrete, rebar, gravel, heavy equipment, and many other building supplies to rebuild our bridge and driveway.

Thank you for your kindness and generosity. God Bless you and please keep us in your prayers.