Restaurants near Asheville’s Biltmore Village flooding during Hurricane Helene, Friday morning.
I’ve been out of harm’s way for about 36 hours. As the weight of what I’ve just experienced caught up with me, I’ve been about a list of tasks: continuing to check on loved ones, applying for FEMA aid, playing with my kids, apologizing to clients for late work when they might not realize where I live:
Asheville, North Carolina, the unlikely epicenter of the U.S.’s latest weather-related disaster, which has claimed at least 179 lives across North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and Virginia, at least 57 of those in Buncombe County, where I live.
Since yesterday morning, I knew I wanted to update y’all, let you know what’s going on. But I’ve been metaphorically staring at a blank screen, trying to find the words. But everything’s coming to me slowly, the way trauma sometimes seeps out amid adrenalized activity. So, with permission, I’m going to begin by quoting an Asheville neighbor’s online post about what we’ve all been going through:
“Many assumed the storm on Wednesday/Thursday that caused some flooding was [Hurricane Helene]. Then the real thing hit [Friday morning], and things fell apart as it started to die down.
Record flooding (beyond anything that has ever happened here before) and saturated ground creating landslides and falling trees everywhere.
Many bridges gone. Individual communities completely trapped. Towns wiped from existence.
All of WNC [western North Carolina] cut off from the outside world due to all major highways except I-26 East being blocked for days. Absolutely no phone service or internet for over 36 hours; unable to reach others or help. Service is still spotty. I still have no power,& it is slowly being restored in pockets around town. We will not have running water for 6-8 weeks. Schools are closed indefinitely. Many people evacuating. Gas is becoming more available but still long lines and many places are cash-only. ATMs are hard to find open and working.
Resources are becoming more readily available in town but many people outside of the city still don’t have access to get there or even knowledge of these. My family and my friends are all safe, and have been spared the hard stuff, and this is still hard. There will be no work for weeks-months… the adrenaline is dying down and now that we’ve been able to reach most of loved ones the shock of what has happened and the realization of the road ahead is settling in. Many of us are having a hard time today, so just send good thoughts into the universe for all who need it. My heart goes out to people who lost businesses, homes, and loved ones. Survivors’ guilt is real. If we didn’t know our neighbors before, we do now. Take care of those around you.”
Chimney Rock, North Carolina – after Hurricane Helene, and before.
With this as background, I can continue. My family and I were thankfully physically fine — no heavy flooding or damage at my place or the kiddos/familial home, though power went out in the wee hours. But when cell signal was weakened Friday morning during the hurricane and utterly ended around 12:30 that afternoon, it felt eerie. I’ve never seen anything like it. All we got was the “SOS” signal, announcing mandatory evacuations from some areas, then curfews. Water died out for me a day later, and given the level of systemic devastation officials estimate it could take weeks to restore in Asheville, with months to restore in outlying areas. Thankfully, I’d already bought several gallons of extra water the night before, plus had a full Berkey water filter.
Back when I still had the luxury of gas in my car, I drove around Saturday, looking for additional fuel and Wi-Fi… I finally found the latter at a random public library where the power came back on, apparition-like, lights flickering and the router somehow working. Dozens of strangers sat in the semi-dark parking lot, whispering the password to each other (‘readmore,’ all lower-case) and getting in touch with loved ones for the first time in days. Later that night, cell signal began to return in patches, which became obvious by which parts of the highway were dotted by vehicles pulled over and parked beside to make contact with loved ones in other fortune comms-accessible spots, and the outside world. When our signals began coming back in in patches, we began realizing a fuller scope of the devastation than we were able to piece together by running into each other on the street and giving each other hyper-local updates: we began hearing how, from Boone to Marshal to Chimney Rock and beyond, entire communities had simply washed away. Seemingly out of existence, restored to a ‘state of nature.’
Driving anywhere feels like an obstacle course, going around downed trees, dodging stray power lines, turning around when roads are entirely washed out beyond civilizational recognition. The historic Montford neighborhood: ancient trees uprooted, demolishing opulent homes. Weaverville: decimated. Reems Creek, where I gave some hitchhiking young women a ride and a gallon of water: I couldn’t even take them all the way into the neighborhood, as roads were blocked.
As you’re probably sensing in stories of mutual aid, the mood isn’t entirely dystopian… is feeling more like Stone Soup than Lord of the Flies. People are coming together and hanging out in the streets, like big citywide block parties, sobriety mixed with small elations. FEMA and various ministries are passing out water at schools fire stations… Jasmin‘s house had gas, so we were able to cook, the freezers holding out in those first days. By day while driving and helping folks out, I subsisted on beef jerky and hand-shaken smoothies in mason jars. And when I wasn’t giving hitchhikers rides or driving by friend’s houses to check in on them, I actually had more time than usual for reading (rereading the graphic novel Promethea in particular felt weirdly timely), prayer, and ritual. The kiddos are in good spirits, and Jasmin was painting some lovely watercolors.
But we didn’t remain in Asheville. By some stroke of Providence, I followed a gasoline tanker to a previously-defunct gas station Monday morning, and ‘only’ waited 40 minutes to fill my car with fuel, plus procure enough gas in cans for several friends and neighbors. (The average wait-time for gas has been 4 to 12 hours, with folks banding together to push cars through mile-long lines to the pumps.) With no restored power or water in sight, we decided to drive 2+ hours to Charlotte, where some old college + house church community friends have been hosting us.
And so, here I am. I’ve been dragging, all I’ve experienced and witnessed catching up to me…like wading through molasses. Time and energy seem to be moving in and out in strange and asynchronous ways, which I cognitively know is common for folks experiencing trauma. But it’s surreal to actually experience.
In the midst of all this death, stress, and uncertainty, I’m feeling a strange inner core of inspiration. I find myself, in spite of being almost preternaturally hyper-focused on the present moment, wondering what actions we could collectively take if we recognize that some people in our society are always facing this level of emergency and need. Could this elevated, altered state of empathy fueling the current ways we’re organizing ourselves could become our default mode, a habituated stage of operation that informs the ways we act and care for each other?
I hope so. And even though I don’t wish our current tragedy on anyone, I wish you could experience the love.
And maybe you can, in your own way. I’ve had so many of you reach out and ask how you can help, donating resources and time to ongoing relief and rebuilding efforts. What follows is the most comprehensive round-up of opportunities to help that I’m aware of. Please consider how you might be able to contribute, and share this resource with your friends.
My kiddos getting ready to depart Asheville on Monday.
Help for my Family in this Transitional Season
Me, my kiddos, and their mom Jasmin are currently refugees, staying close-by in the Southeast while taking care of each other and vocational necessities we wouldn’t be able to do on-site in Asheville — like compiling the resource list below for you. We’re by far not the most in-need of our neighbors, and at the same time our livelihoods have been disrupted while we’re on the road for an indeterminate amount of time. Current estimates are a week-plus before power is restored, and up to three months before water is restored. Kids’ schools are closed indefinitely, as even remote learning is impossible due to no reliable cell signal or Internet. We’re not sure when we’re going to be able to return to Asheville as residents, though I’m hoping to get back as soon as possible to bring freshly-stocked resources to my loved ones and neighbors.
So if you feel like contributing to our on-the-road needs, I’d greatly appreciate it. This should make it easy:
Venmo: GenuineMichael
CashApp: $MikeMorrell
PayPal: RealMikeMorrell
Neighbors coming together in Marshall, North Carolina.
How You Can Help bring Hurricane Helene Disaster Relief to Asheville, Western North Carolina and Beyond
But if you have to choose, please contribute to one of these regional relief efforts instead. Thanks to my friend and neighbor Autumn McGarity for many of these helpful descriptions!
Beloved Asheville is on the ground, volunteers are collecting and distributing a wide array of supplies
Mankind Project Disaster Relief – Western North Carolina A note from my friend, Dr. Zachari Cahn: “I heard a FEMA manager tell a local Ashevillian he’d never seen a community come together the way that Asheville had. I’ve never been so proud to belong to a community. It’s clear to us all who are here, that this is going to be a long haul. There are countless stories of people helping each other streaming through social media feeds. This version of humanity is a beloved thing to behold, but we have a ways to go and we need help. Working with the Mankind Project USA, I’ve started a fundraiser for disaster relief, focused on lower-income individuals and families who’ve been displaced and don’t have insurance. This money will go directly to these people with full transparency and disclosure. Contact Dr. Zachari Cahn directly with any questions or offerings for support at (828)242-0990.”
12 Baskets Cafe feeds many people, and not just during regional crises. Part of the Asheville Poverty Initiative.
World Central Kitchen goes into war zones to feed people, so this tells you what Asheville and the surrounding areas of western North Carolina are facing. It looks like you can specify in the comments where you want the funds to go.
Mountain Mule Packer Ranch are taking strings of pack mules with supplies to hard hit areas that are not accessible by any other way.
The Cajun Navy is bringing supplies directly to the people.
Hearts with Hands (Swannanoa/Asheville) is a local organization supplying food to buncombe county shelters
Asheville Dream Center is setting up a large distribution center of supplies at the Asheville Mall.
Asheville Buncombe Community Christian Ministry (ABCCM): donations help to pay for motel and food vouchers for local residents and long term support for those displaced
Haywood Christian Ministry: WNC’s largest food pantry distributing food in Asheville
Babies Need Bottoms Asheville (Diaper Bank) is distributing children’s supplies including diapers, cream, and wipes
Asheville Habitat for Humanity is helping rebuild homes and repair damage from Helene
Homeward Bound is supplying aid to Asheville’s unhoused population
ReadyNC.gov is primarily for locals, with updates on all sorts of resources
Blue Ridge Public Radio has created this list of other vetted local charities
Asheville Restaurants with GoFundMes
From my friend Roger Wolsey: One of the very best things in all of organized religion is UMCOR – the United Methodist Committee on Relief. 100% of every dollar donated to UMCOR goes directly and solely to direct aid on the ground (administrative costs are covered by members of The United Methodist Church through special giving). UMCOR has the reputation of being “the first to arrive and the last to leave.” Donate for their efforts with Hurricane Helene here.
Episcopal Relief and Development Hurricane Helene Relief
How to Apply for FEMA Assistance After Tropical Storm Helene — very important for everyone impacted by this disaster!
Workers at Asheville’s East Fork Pottery survey damage and begin cleanup.
Meta Resource Directories
Several local folks have created even more detailed, crowd-sourced lists of places offering various forms of aid on-the-ground, and how folks on the outside can help. Different lists are catered to different intended users (locals vs helpful outsiders), so please spend some time with each, if you’re so inclined.
Asheville/WNC Resources. This links to an edit-able version; a read-only version is kept at AshevilleRelief.com. Here’s the same list optimized for mobile phones in low-signal areas around WNC.
Hurricane Helene Relief Resources for Appalachia
Helene Response & Rebuild WNC Resource Guide
WNC Response and Recovery Crisis Response & Recovery Resources Database
Hurricane Helene Grassroots Trauma / Grief Support for local and global healers willing to donate remote trauma healing sessions for WNC residents in need
Swannanoa/Black Mountain/Montreat Resources
Supply Logistics for WNC, TN, and VA
Recommended Reading:
Thousands in North Carolina still without water days after Helene’s destruction — comprehensive news article released today from Reuters
The Disaster Diaries: Post-hurricane reflections on empathy and ritual ordeal by my friend and Asheville neighbor Scout Rainier Wiley
A brief update on the emergent conditions after Hurricane Helene, and a brief word on the character of Appalachia — a significant post by the wonderful folks from Mergoat Magazine
North Carolina Was Set Up for Disaster by Marina Koren for The Atlantic
Post-Doom Conversations — a moving podcast series by my dear friend, the late Michael Dowd, about resilience, imagination and community in increasingly tumultuous times
Life After Doom: Wisdom and Courage for a World Falling Apart — essential reading by my friend and mentor Brian McLaren. It’s not your usual book on mounting disaster; it’s written from a trauma-informed (and pastoral in the best sense of the word) lens, tending to our hearts while we grapple with the sheer magnitude of the earth changes and societal shifts occurring. I recommend the audio version, read by Brian himself. Also check out Brian’s recommended playlist.
How Not to Be Afraid: Seven Ways to Live When Everything Seems Terrifying by my soul-brother and western North Carolina neighbor Gareth Higgins. Much of what I just said about Brian’s book can be said about Gareth’s — unflinching, sane, sensitive balm. Also funny!
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the book Gareth and Brian wrote together — Corey and the Seventh Story, a children’s book for all ages covering much of the same material. Hear it read here.
Saint Michael of Appalachia.
A Prayer for the Healing of Our Impacted Communities
Here’s a prayer I composed this past Sunday, which happened to be the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels, from my own contemplative Christian tradition (and drawing from this Archangel Michael Novena I crafted). Please pray it if it resonates with you, of course adding your own intentions:
Saint Michael the Archangel,
loyal champion of God and the Beloved Community
Defender of the helpless and protector of the humble,
We turn to you with confidence
and seek your powerful intercession.
For the love of God,
Who made you so glorious in grace and power,
and for the love of the Mother of Jesus, the Queen of the Angels,
be pleased to hear our prayer:
You know the value of our being in the eyes of God;
May no trauma disfigure its beauty.
Help us release the stresses that burden us.
We desire to emulate your loyalty to God and Holy Mother,
reflecting your great love for Source and emergence,
God and our neighbors.
And since you are God’s messenger for the care of God’s people,
we entrust to you our most cherished intentions:
We call upon your strength in this hour of need for western North Carolina.
As storm clouds disperse and waters subside,
be our shield against our own heedlessness.
You who care for creatures great and small, intercede for us before the Throne of Grace,
That bowls of Heaven’s balm may salve our ecosystem and the fabric of our communities.
Grant us Wisdom and Love in equal measure, that we might partner with the Divine Unfolding in restoring our our lands, our homes, and our lives,
Transforming them from cascading folly to interconnected beauty.
Prince of the Heavenly Host, we implore you:
Spread your wings over Appalachia’s ancient mountains and verdant valleys,
Sheltering us in their soothing strength.
Let your flaming sword turn aside further calamities that threaten to lay waste our beloved hills.
Blessed Abba, Isa, and Ruah, Holy Three-in-One:
Hear and grant our special intentions for this Novena, beginning this very moment.
We pray for mercy and deliverance from this trial.
May Creator’s peace reign over our communities, now and always.
Holy God,
Holy the Firm,
Holy Immortal:
Have Mercy on us.
Amen.
Thank you for hearing my story so far, and considering ways you can contribute to my friends and neighbors. Please share this post far and wide on social media, and via your email lists if you have any! This is a crucial time to get much-needed help to neighbors still actively in danger from flood conditions, as well as those needing ongoing resource support.
No comments yet.