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Major Hurricane Helene


BooneWX
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Finally getting released from Helene storm work. Thoughts and prayers continue for all those affected by this horrific storm. Lots of good out there too with folks helping one another. Awful situation continues in mountains. Hopefully they aren’t forgotten after Milton 

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4 hours ago, kvegas-wx said:

https://youtu.be/w86T7IiaowQ

You may find this of interest.  Filmed around the Burnsville / Spruce Pine area.  These are my peeps and friends of peeps running search/rescue/recovery/aid ops in conjunction with the guard and FEMA.  Still cannot believe this damage.  So much forever gone!

Between all the guns and chaotic damage, it's truly apocalyptic.

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4 hours ago, purduewx80 said:

Between all the guns and chaotic damage, it's truly apocalyptic.

I'm not going to say they were getting shot at, but those guns ended up being needed more than once when they were escorting FEMA door to door.  As @Met1985says, this is quickly becoming a humanitarian disaster.

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23 minutes ago, kvegas-wx said:

I'm not going to say they were getting shot at, but those guns ended up being needed more than once when they were escorting FEMA door to door.  As @Met1985says, this is quickly becoming a humanitarian disaster.

People really don't know the half of it because the news isn't covering the super bad stuff. Bodies are still being dug out of the ruble...

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I really don't mean to contribute to any kind of back and forth on the topic but I can tell you that what I'm seeing on the news (MSM) are stories of devastation in the area, stories of amazing acts of courage and bravery and service by those that live in there, and an outpouring of support from outside the area in terms of donations.  This is a catastrophe, people need help, and the death toll will rise.  I've not seen anyone say or imply those facts are a conspiracy.  I'm sure there is more help needed and it's needed faster than it's coming.  I hope that happens.  

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1 hour ago, Phelps said:

I really don't mean to contribute to any kind of back and forth on the topic but I can tell you that what I'm seeing on the news (MSM) are stories of devastation in the area, stories of amazing acts of courage and bravery and service by those that live in there, and an outpouring of support from outside the area in terms of donations.  This is a catastrophe, people need help, and the death toll will rise.  I've not seen anyone say or imply those facts are a conspiracy.  I'm sure there is more help needed and it's needed faster than it's coming.  I hope that happens.  

Yeah there have been a huge outpouring of support across WNC. It's amazing how people have come together.  

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Was in Black Mountain on Saturday with a friend to help take care of a huge oak that fell in my nephews driveway.  They are lucky.  No trees hit the house.  They have power but still no water.  There is definitely a lot of help in that area, especially Swannanoa which was a bad as everyone has said.  Can only imagine what is going on in those remote areas.  My nephew said a group from Oklahoma showed up at his door right before we got there offering to take care of the tree.

IMG_3325.jpg

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10 hours ago, wncsnow said:

I worked with DHS, CAP and others today assisting with water truck fill ups in Asheville. Have to give World Central Kitchen a shout out for all the free meals they are serving the folks in Asheville. 

I replenished my water supply at a World Central Kitchen truck yesterday and very much appreciated it.

For anyone interested, the article linked below is a very good summary of the situation with the Asheville North Fork water supply system:

https://avlwatchdog.org/city-starting-to-repressurize-water-system-in-eastern-buncombe-but-full-systemwide-restoration-could-still-take-weeks/

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Pulled two deceased from the mud in a Dollar General this morning per the dog team.  This is so far from over.  Took a mother and baby to the hospital with horrible coughs.  They were living in the shell of a trailer with the floor half washed out.  So many people yet to be located.  I completely understand the world moves on.  I mowed yards yesterday, worked on my tractor ,etc.  We can't be in the NC mountains 24/7.  Now that FEMA has pretty much pulled the plug there, give until it hurts (please).  Don't forget these people.  Winter is here.

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Over two weeks later and it’s still surreal to me that this event happened the way it did. I love weather as much as anyone on here but it’s been hard to even look at forecasts the past few weeks. My appetite for appreciable weather has been subdued by this event tremendously. 

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14 minutes ago, kvegas-wx said:

Pulled two deceased from the mud in a Dollar General this morning per the dog team.  This is so far from over.  Took a mother and baby to the hospital with horrible coughs.  They were living in the shell of a trailer with the floor half washed out.  So many people yet to be located.  I completely understand the world moves on.  I mowed yards yesterday, worked on my tractor ,etc.  We can't be in the NC mountains 24/7.  Now that FEMA has pretty much pulled the plug there, give until it hurts (please).  Don't forget these people.  Winter is here.

Yeah I talked to some State Trooper friends that say they have no clue if people were swept away on I40 when it gave way. They told me that they may never now the true number of deceased people in WNC.

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2 hours ago, kvegas-wx said:

 Now that FEMA has pretty much pulled the plug there, give until it hurts (please).  Don't forget these people.  Winter is here.

What do you mean by this? There was a temporary stand down caused by terroristic white supremacist threats. The White House outlines in this document exactly the amount of federal help that is occurring there in western NC, and they specifically mention FEMA continues to increase support in the region.

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1 hour ago, purduewx80 said:

What do you mean by this? There was a temporary stand down caused by terroristic white supremacist threats. The White House outlines in this document exactly the amount of federal help that is occurring there in western NC, and they specifically mention FEMA continues to increase support in the region.

I work disaster response for a living supplying equipment for government and private entities.  FEMA has condensed their response efforts tremendously over the last week.  Initially because they were ineffective in remote locations (as evidenced by local sheriffs telling reps to just leave).  And now governors of NC, SC and TN are taking the lead in directing response efforts.  I had multiple orders out for FEMA that should have been approved on Friday.  Now they have been cancelled and redirected to the state of NC.  

I'm not sitting here saying the FEMA is 100% out of NC.  I am saying their efforts have been consolidated to larger aid centers where their logistics supply chain has the most effect.  For the average citizen outside of Asheville, FEMA basically doesn't exist.

And as for terroristic threats, I suggest you get in your car and head to Burnsville, Spruce Pine, Micaville, Pensacola or any other town along the state border.  I'm confident you won't find anything more than people defending their property and telling FEMA to take a hike.  As said in a prior post, don't believe much of what you hear or read on government websites (regardless of party...this isn't a politcal comment).  Get on the ground and talk to people.  Understand what they are afraid of.  They just lost everything and all they see in their yard are agents coming to register them and take them to Asheville to a camp.  That's not who these folks are.

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Personally I've had a very tough time with FEMA assistance here in Haywood.  And this isn't anything with misinformation or all that but straight up what I've been going through and what others have also here in Haywood.  I filled out an application two Friday's ago for just the basic 750 dollars support.  We went without power for nearly 11 days and no water. I've spoken with the Mayor of Canton, the Haywood county of emergency director, the FEMA director for Haywood and a DHS person this past Friday and I still cannot get any answers or assistance from any of those people other than don't fall for the misinformation... I couldn't give two shits about that. I just want a bit of help especially replacing all my food that spoiled.  

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And furthermore I've spoken with multiple families from Madison County, and Buncombe county who didn't have to fill out half the crap I did to literally get assistance overnight.  I spoke with a friend this afternoon who didn't even lose power in SC and they filled out there application this Friday and got money this morning. I've had the take pictures of my drivers license,  my SSC, my power bill in my name,  and I had to get a certified letter from Haywood EMC electric company stating how many days I was without power.  I had to have date and exact time... There are a lot of discrepancies with all this and I'm not getting it through social media because I'm living the shit out.  Needless to say I'm not happy with FEMA on a personal level.

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FEMA assistance has been pretty easy here. It's certainly not a perfect system though. My uncle in a remote part of Yancey got a free generator from FEMA. People looking for issues will find them if they dig deep enough. Unfortunately this has turned into a political situation and some are really enjoying that. Its a shame that party affiliation means more than suffering lives.  

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2 hours ago, Met1985 said:

Personally I've had a very tough time with FEMA assistance here in Haywood.  And this isn't anything with misinformation or all that but straight up what I've been going through and what others have also here in Haywood.  I filled out an application two Friday's ago for just the basic 750 dollars support.  We went without power for nearly 11 days and no water. I've spoken with the Mayor of Canton, the Haywood county of emergency director, the FEMA director for Haywood and a DHS person this past Friday and I still cannot get any answers or assistance from any of those people other than don't fall for the misinformation... I couldn't give two shits about that. I just want a bit of help especially replacing all my food that spoiled.  

I got my check in days as did almost everyone I know. Sorry you had that issue 

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1 minute ago, wncsnow said:

FEMA assistance has been pretty easy here. It's certainly not a perfect system though. My uncle in a remote part of Yancey got a free generator from FEMA. People looking for issues will find them if they dig deep enough. Unfortunately this has turned into a political situation and some are really enjoying that. Its a shame that party affiliation means more than suffering lives.  

Oh yeah I'm glad to hear those that are getting help. I just don't know what the discrepancy is from here to there. I did finally get ahold of our local FEMA director this evening and he's going to look into how things are flowing. 

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2 minutes ago, wncsnow said:

I got my check in days as did almost everyone I know. Sorry you had that issue 

Yeah I really don't know the discrepancy for this. Shoot I've talked to people who've done everything and they had a check in the mail in a week. I'm just looking for a standard in all this.  Hopefully I'll get some answers tomorrow. 

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5 minutes ago, Met1985 said:

Yeah I really don't know the discrepancy for this. Shoot I've talked to people who've done everything and they had a check in the mail in a week. I'm just looking for a standard in all this.  Hopefully I'll get some answers tomorrow. 

FEMA is supposed to check the damage to our farm equipment and mowers but hasn't reached out. I know some people who they have already done inspections with. It seems hit and miss 

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On 10/13/2024 at 4:37 PM, kvegas-wx said:

I'm confident you won't find anything more than people defending their property and telling FEMA to take a hike.

I don’t understand this. What (or who) are they defending their property from? Is someone trying to take their property? (This is a legit question.) Why would you tell the agency willing to give you money to go away?

I have no ties to FEMA in any way, but I can tell you their response to my family in Old Fort was fantastic. FEMA met them at their property five days after the event to review their situation and do their initial survey. Five days later they received email notification of the dollar amount they would be receiving from the federal government for the total loss of their house. (It’s obviously nowhere near the amount the property is worth, but we never expected that either.) We were all incredibly grateful at FEMA’s rapid response.

I’m baffled that others are flat out refusing any financial assistance from FEMA and are threatening their employees (if that is what is meant by “defending their property”).

I do recognize that not all mountain areas are able to be accessed as quickly, but over time, I would expect everyone to get their own visit from FEMA. Is the time issue what is being debated here? Do people feel FEMA isn’t helping because they haven’t been able to reach their property yet? FEMA would have limited resources (travel capabilities, number of employees, etc.) like any other organization. They can’t be at every location immediately, as they’re not omnipresent.

I just don’t understand, I guess. I am so befuddled by this anti-FEMA reaction. People come to your door and want to give you money, but you tell them to go away? Where is the logic in that?

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Politics and conspiracy theories have moved into weather and disaster response. 

If you take the $750 they will take your house and put you in a camp because they want the lithium that is in the ground.

Thats just one of many conspiracy theories that are being spread. @calculus1

 

I was just responding Calculus’ question. If you want to discuss and argue over this subject please take to Randy’s Hood in the off topic section.  Thanks

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I did get an answer from the FEMA director today on why things are slow for the people who applied early on. With all the communications lines down around here there was a glich in the system which makes a lot of sense now. So they are setting up various FEMA checkpoints for people to come and recheck everything for people and add additional assistance for those who haven't heard or gotten anything.  So I talked to a few people today to clear some things up and more and more people should be getting processed now across the area. 

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