I went to North Carolina several times in the 2010's (Writers' Police Academy in the Piedmont Triad area and Bouchercon Raleigh). It's a beautiful place with wonderful, down-to-earth people. When I was there California was still in a drought and I was blown away by how green everything was in NC. Trees everywhere. I just fell in love with the place.
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| Guilford Technical Community College, Jamestown NC. Former home of Writers' Police Academy. |
So seeing the horrifying images of the destruction of Western NC and the decimated small mountain communities in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene has been heartbreaking. It's Katrina-esque. I remember seeing pictures of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and wondering how you even begin to recover from that. NOLA did it and hopefully North Carolina can too, but I'm hearing a lot of unpleasant stories online about the lack of government response to Western NC so far.
But it's like the story told by Fred Rogers - when he was a child and there was a catastrophic event, his mother would tell him to look for and focus on "the helpers". There would always be people stepping up to help. And it's still true. A number of non-governmental organizations immediately stepped up to help out.
In addition to the always dependable Cajun Navy (you can help them out here) a unique group is helping bring supplies to remote areas that have been cut off due to the destruction of the few roads leading in and out of their communities: Mountain Mule Packer Ranch is delivering relief the old-fashioned way.
I've seen a lot of stories of people trying to reach victims cut off from assistance due to the storm, but this one just blew me away. Pack mules. In 2024. Political leaders are nowhere to be seen, but these guys show up with their mules and get the job done. This part of the article especially got to me:
Sarah Haynie had fled her home in Swannanoa to reach her parents in
Black Mountain. She was outside with her family, surrounded by downed
limbs and debris, when a member of the Cajun Navy 2016 approached. “They
walked up through the trees that had fallen over our driveway and asked
if we needed food or water. And then they saw my two boys,” Haynie
says. The volunteers returned with a chainsaw to start clearing the
downed trees, and stuffed bears for each child.
“My boys lost all of their toys in the flood, we lost everything,”
Haynie says. “The only thing they have are the clothes that they left
in.” The volunteers handed Haynie $40 in cash, bottled water, and bags
of food. “He told me he noticed our spot up on Ruth Street because his
grandmother’s name was Ruth. As he was leaving, he had tears in his eyes
and said, ‘This one’s for grandma.’”
Forget politicians. They don't care about the common man. But our fellow common men...they're the ones who show up when needed, and they don't do it for votes or photo ops. As appalled as I am about some of the things I'm hearing about lack of official action, I am heartened by the non-official action.
