**1/23/25: An update will be coming soon with what’s happened over the last few months and where we are at now. This area long with many others are still absolutely devastated. Our water is still not safe to use. No, you won’t find news articles reporting that, but the army having stations set up where citizens can get free bottled water daily, showers and laundry facilities- including one of these stations being at the bottom of our mountain- speaks volumes. Now with record cold temperatures and snow, people are being pushed even further to the brink. Thank you to those that have donated. I have lowered the donation goal because there are just too many people in need and while we are still fighting our way out of this financial burden, the help we have received has been a true blessing. Thank you and this will be updated soon with the rest of the story.**

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HOW IT ENDED: Silas asleep after arriving in NY emaciated, tired, and dehydrated despite making sure he was drinking more than his usual amount of fluid intake after the disaster.

HOW IT BEGAN:

We had no idea that on September 27th, 2024 Hurricane Helene would come in and separate me and my fiancé from our 7-year-old son and change our lives forever. We had no idea he would look like he did above or that we would have to evacuate him. We did not know we would be brought to our knees and to a point of desperation that is so unsettling and scary that words can't do it justice, but we will try. We are just like any other family living in Asheville, North Carolina, that was impacted by Hurricane Helene, and we need help so we can begin to move forward again.

Rizzo (Left), Lisa- the author (top right), Silas (bottom right) before life changed.

No one in Western North Carolina or the many areas of Appalachia impacted could have predicted this. "Expect rain with heavy gusts of wind between 5 and 7 a.m." is what the weather forecast said but it seems that 'Mother Nature' had other plans.

Hi there, my name is Lisa, and the center of my world is my 7-year-old son, Silas, and my fiancé, Rizzo. This is a humbling position we never expected to be in, but it is our last resort. We moved to Asheville, NC from Rochester, New York for my fiancé's job in radio last February 2023, and Asheville is one of those special places that quickly feels like home. Our son, Silas, did not move down until the week of July 4th, 2024, as he finished first grade in NY to make the transition easier. Silas had JUST begun 2nd grade here in Asheville and was finding his footing when Hurricane Helene hit... and boy did she hit and hit hard. Like far too many others, we have lost quite a lot. The worst of our losses is not material, however. It is the loss of being separated from our son due to having to evacuate him for his health and safety to his grandparents in New York. Not only did we have to send Silas away, but we also had to take the risk of trusting strangers in order to get him out safely and he cannot come back until we are able to provide a safe, stable life for him again.

First Day of School as a 2nd Grader in Asheville, NC! August 2024

We have lost so much as a result of the hurricane and know that there's others that have it far worse than us, but we still desperately need help, so here we find ourselves. Much needs to be replaced (that which can be, that is) but we've had to prioritize. The MOST IMPORTANT priority right now is replacing my car that was destroyed. I am not fancy- I loved my 2012 Nissan Juke that I kept in great condition- I just need to raise the funds to get a safe, reliable used automobile that I can buy outright (taking on another car payment is not possible for us right now or in the coming months due to the blow we've taken and will continue to financially for the coming months) so I am able to transport our son to school daily and myself to medical appointments multiple times a week due to health issues.

We also need to safely repair my fiancé's car that was damaged from clay and mudslides... a car that he just got 2 weeks before Helene hit. We CANNOT bring our son home until I have a car, and we have repaired my fiancé's car. Insurance will not cover my car or Rizzo's and the big named agencies that we were directed to for aid have refused to provide any assistance.

So, to sum it up easily, here is what the funds will be used for:

1. Purchasing a used, safe, reliable car

2. Repairs needed for my fiancé's car

3. Replacing items that were lost due to flood/water damage if there are any funds leftover after the first 2 purchases

Why were we denied? How is that even possible? Well, please keep reading for the answer further down. And for those wondering, "can't your son just take the bus?" That's an easy answer: Silas deserved a smooth transition for his move down here. The school assigned to the address we live at was not a good fit for him so we were lucky to be able to transfer him to the other elementary school in our district which couldn't have been a more perfect fit. The tradeoff, however, was we would need to provide him transportation. That was no issue at all since we both had cars working perfectly fine and were not financially devastated. Now, schools are trying to get ready to send kids back and we have no way of driving our son there.

Photo 1: Rusted hole in the chassis from the sediment, water and debris in Rizzo's car

Photo 2: An example of the 6-foot-long pipe that connected my catalytic converter to the muffler that broke off from the flooding, rushing water, debris and wind

Well, I guess I'll just walk you through what happened. A man was sent out to assess our damages and very clearly understood that my car was totaled. His response,

"Well, you have ONE semi-working car that is covered by comprehensive. Per our guidelines, one car is good enough for one household and we consider you a household even though you aren't married yet. You filed as a household as well. So even if your fiancé's car was totaled, because he has comprehensive insurance, we would still not be able to give you any help."

When we then asked how we would get our son to school as Rizzo leaves for work at 3:30 a.m. the man's solution was,

"Well, you could take your fiancé to work and leave your son at home asleep then drive back home in your fiancé's car so you would have it to take you son to school with."

Upon reminding the gentleman that our child IS ONLY 7 he had one FINAL another suggestion.

"This one involved waking Silas up at 3:20 in the morning so he could drive with us to drop his father off at work then I could drive Rizzo's car back home and get Silas back into bed to sleep for a little longer before waking up for school."

Neither of these were solutions.

To make matters worse, despite Rizzo having damage to his own car and being told he has been denied and many (more like most) people in our area that have comprehensive insurance are being denied because insurance companies are saying they won't cover car damage due to flooding or water damage. It is like a nightmare we can't wake up from with a new problem popping up every single day.

Meanwhile, Rizzo's car that is barely working isn't exactly safe at the moment (the one he purchased about 2 weeks before the storm) as its muffler fell off, it is covered in clay including the brakes being covered in it, resulting in shaking when driven. It may end up just having to be totaled out. The link below will give you a better idea of what Rizzo is dealing with.

The only car our family currently has

The above is a video AFTER Rizzo's Muffler Fell off while driving

The most important person involved in this is our son, Silas. We are out of options, ideas and money is hemorrhaging. We are also running out of time as school is trying to go back in session on 10/25/24 which was just announced 10/21/24 at 5 pm.

Water only came back last week, and it is still NOT SAFE to use. One of the biggest worries on every parent's mind is how can we send our children to school, keep them clean and safe with water that is not safe for kids especially going into flu season.

(Video of current water situation where sediment is) It is quite visible.

Silas has been a champ through all of this, and we miss him so much that there are no words to describe the ache. At 7, he was evacuated by strangers and a few super moms (who are now all endeared in our hearts forever). Nicole, a mom from Charlotte and pictured below, and one Silas' school friend's mothers brought Silas to the airport in Charlotte as we had no way of getting him there then getting ourselves back.

William (bottom left), Nicole (middle) and Silas (bottom right)

This was the first time Silas had ever even stepped on a plane, and we were not even able to be with him the night prior to the flight. Silas first had to be evacuated 200 miles away to South Carolina by the father of one of the friend's Silas had made at school this year. This kind gentleman who we had never met (and much to Silas' surprise, his friend too, made the 3-hour drive here with his father to pick him up and the 3-hour drive back) just happened to be coming back into Asheville to drop off supplies for his business which was why he was able to help get our child to safety. Silas stayed the night with this family and the following morning he then was driven to the airport in Charolette and flew the over 700 miles to NY, where he has been with his grandparents ever since.

Silas on a Plane for the 1st time ever in an evacuation.

Nicole, the mother mentioned above, actually booked a seat on the same plane as Silas for herself and her 5-year-old son, William, and from 23 rows back she never let her eyes off him and checked on him multiple times, much to the flight attendant's annoyance. We had to trust strangers to take our only child away from us to get him to safety as we stay here, to disseminate truth and information. It is our passion and duty and something that has been an honor to do while we sit here and run out of ideas as to how to help ourselves and watch the time start to run out.

Silas, The Captain and First Mate (Thirty but on the way to safety!)

My fiancé has a job where he has focused on helping everyone else, and I have tried to help in my own way from my small content creation platform. We have organized insulin drops, Rizzo's platform on the radio airwaves helped to serve as a lighthouse in a safe harbor during these dark days when all people had been able to access were old emergency radios, solar powered radios, transistor radios, even car radios, and to be honest, it has not even begun to sink in how we will all rebuild our lives and just how long that's going to take. Or how we will mourn the loss of so many. Rizzo has helped so many, but he cannot ask for help for himself and his family because of his job. But I can. And I must. Humbling yourself to allow others to help you is a hard thing to do, but being without our son is even harder.

We have lost mostly everything that was kept in our outer walled closets and patio storage closet; irreplaceable memories, heirlooms, and a collection of items that have been passed down from our families. Those things we have to let go of, because they can't be replaced, and our other needs will just have to wait because the vehicle situation is the most crucial.

Carpets and other water damaged material laying outside our building

We realize we are not the only ones in a situation like this and there are many deserving families in need of help, but we hope you consider donating, even if it's a few dollars, so we can get our family back together and reunited as we should be. Any help- be it a donation, a share, etc.- would be appreciated beyond comprehension and would be the reason our family is able to reunite. We will provide updates ongoing as they come. We will leave you with a quote from a song by Noah Kahan that has been a bit of a mantra during this whole awful nightmare...

"Don't let this darkness fool you,

All lights turned off can be turned on."

The darkness cannot and WILL NOT last forever... the light must come back. It may look a bit different, but darkness cannot last forever, and we cannot let it consume us. Thank you for reading our story and please share, tell a friend, anything helps at this final point of desperation. Thank you.

Much Love,

Lisa, Rizzo and The Sorely Missed Silas <3

More Footage and Photos:

-the aftermath driving through the River Arts District- a Mecca for tourism and business in Asheville

-Mudslide A Few Minutes From Our Home (footage provided by someone in the area)

Our home and neighbors

Public showers to bathe (where staph infections started spreading within the first few days of the launch of these)

Another shot outside our home in our neighborhood

Pipes exploded due to sediment, pressure and horrible luck

Our pharmacy, underwater

Some of the meds organized from the insulin drop

Where Rizzo's car got stranded as he was blocked by this flood only a mere 2 minutes away from our home (10:17 AM DID NOT GET HOME UNTIL 4:14)

Trees being cutdown by neighbors and volunteer FD across the street after Rizzo climbed up and under them from the bottom of the hill (66 downed trees on our road that is only one way in and one way out) to reach me and Silas who were trapped but still helping move tree limbs and debris

Another blockage from one of the 66 downed trees

BUT WE GOT THROUGH AFTER 7 HOURS- NEIGHBORS HELPING NEIGHBORS! #WNCSTRONG