Thinking of our friends in the western part of the state and surrounding area.

[Gofor]

We have a fire crew on scene as well as a couple VFD cooks in the Boone area. The county is developing a roster of fire fighters and equipment to rotate people in and out where needed. The objective is also long term support as some entire first responder facilities and equipment (fire, medical, law enforcement) were completely wiped out. The Wayne jet port is collecting and flying in supplies to some of the cut off areas, and numerous organizations are collecting supplies for transport. Hopefully mother nature will allow getting things stabilized before winter weather increases the difficulties.

 

[ScottM]

I don't know a lot of our Western members by name, but anyone have news on:
Andy - CaptA
Raymond
Rob - McRabbet

 

[Wiley's Woodworks]

I live right on the line of Waynesville and Maggie Valley, 30 miles west of Asheville. We were really smacked, but from what we can gather from local grapevines and social media, others were hit worse. We got 9" of rain in less than 24 hours. Our home was undamaged and we were without power for 4 1/2 days. Cell phone service is sporadic and unreliable; so is internet.

Low lying creeks and streams may have hit 100 year record levels. At the bottom of our road is Jonathan Creek. A small stream side trailer/RV park was devastated; can't get a death toll there, or anywhere in Haywood County, which is first county West of Asheville. Bodies are being found in treetops. Bridges are destroyed, neighborhoods with hundreds of residents are stranded, gasoline supply is exhausted.

Asheville has two major rivers flowing through it. It probably has worse death, damage, and devastation than we do. City water plant is badly damaged and not functioning, so drinkable water is running out. Much of city still doesn't have power; no reliable estimates when it might be restored. Talk is property damage is worse than Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans in 2005, and I wouldn't dispute it.

Landslides and washouts have blocked I 40 about 25 miles west of us. This is the major overland feeder for supplies and support. Goods can travel east to west only. Nobody knows how many pockets of homes and people are completely cut off due to road and bridge damage. There are so many areas that only have one road access.

My wife Diane is searching for a local charitable/church organization for us to volunteer our abilities. Will post its name when she connects. We all know scams and thieves are going to pop up everywhere.

 

[Mike Davis]

I live right on the line of Waynesville and Maggie Valley, 30 miles west of Asheville. We were really smacked, but from what we can gather from local grapevines and social media, others were hit worse. We got 9" of rain in less than 24 hours. Our home was undamaged and we were without power for 4 1/2 days. Cell phone service is sporadic and unreliable; so is internet.

Low lying creeks and streams may have hit 100 year record levels. At the bottom of our road is Jonathan Creek. A small stream side trailer/RV park was devastated; can't get a death toll there, or anywhere in Haywood County, which is first county West of Asheville. Bodies are being found in treetops. Bridges are destroyed, neighborhoods with hundreds of residents are stranded, gasoline supply is exhausted.

Asheville has two major rivers flowing through it. It probably has worse death, damage, and devastation than we do. City water plant is badly damaged and not functioning, so drinkable water is running out. Much of city still doesn't have power; no reliable estimates when it might be restored. Talk is property damage is worse than Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans in 2005, and I wouldn't dispute it.

My wife Diane is searching for a local charitable/church organization for us to volunteer our abilities. Will post its name when she connects. We all know scams and thieves are going to pop up everywhere.

Glad you are OK.

 

[ScottM]

I live right on the line of Waynesville and Maggie Valley, 30 miles west of Asheville. We were really smacked, but from what we can gather from local grapevines and social media, others were hit worse. We got 9" of rain in less than 24 hours. Our home was undamaged and we were without power for 4 1/2 days. Cell phone service is sporadic and unreliable; so is internet.

Low lying creeks and streams may have hit 100 year record levels. At the bottom of our road is Jonathan Creek. A small stream side trailer/RV park was devastated; can't get a death toll there, or anywhere in Haywood County, which is first county West of Asheville. Bodies are being found in treetops. Bridges are destroyed, neighborhoods with hundreds of residents are stranded, gasoline supply is exhausted.

Asheville has two major rivers flowing through it. It probably has worse death, damage, and devastation than we do. City water plant is badly damaged and not functioning, so drinkable water is running out. Much of city still doesn't have power; no reliable estimates when it might be restored. Talk is property damage is worse than Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans in 2005, and I wouldn't dispute it.

My wife Diane is searching for a local charitable/church organization for us to volunteer our abilities. Will post its name when she connects. We all know scams and thieves are going to pop up everywhere.

Wiley, glad to hear that you and yours are okay. Wish I could do more to help.

 

[Wiley's Woodworks]

Wiley, glad to hear that you and yours are okay. Wish I could do more to help.

Thank you Scott. We're in a position to help others, so that's what we are doing. We're in good shape.

 

[Jimbo]

We live in Banner Elk - able to get out yesterday. Our house is high up so we only saw wind damage with numerous trees downed and snapped, including a 16 inch one on our roof. No leak or structural damage (Yankee Barn kit house really held up). Big sinkhole blocked the only road out, and the bridge to the road washed out farther along. No power, water,phone or cell. Able to survive 4 nights ok because our son happened to be visiting and he diligently carried bottled water up to us; we could get water from a stream about 1/2 mile down the mountain, so were able to flush toilets (time to upgrade from old 2 gallon flush commodes for sure). A private citizen with a chainsaw worked tirelessly to clear a path so we could walk to a road that he had cleared earlier, then some kind neighbors drove us via a temporary bridge to a car dealer in Boone and we got safely to a hotel.
And we were absolutely the lucky ones...
The devastation at the level of the Elk River is massive , widespread, and heartbreaking. Military style helicopters are all over, DOT was actively working to fix some of the multiple washouts on the main road, so things may get a bit better short term but it's going to be a LONG time before the infrastructure is fully restored. Authorities are begging for people to stay out of the area, but an SOS from Town Hall says:

Many people have offered help. Some of the items the Banner Elk Town Hall need are:
Diapers
Formula
Air Mattresses
Protein Drinks
Benadryl
Pillows
Socks
Underwear
These items should be sent to the Banner Elk Town Hall, 200 Park Ave. Banner Elk, NC 28604.

Samaritan's purse is active in the region if people wish to help monetarily.
That's all I've got, and thanks for reading.
Jim O'Brien

 

[McRabbet]

I have not had any cellphone service until this morning when I was able to access the internet through a hot spot on my cell, so this is how we stand.

We are safe and dry, but power and water (we are on a well, like many) are still out after 7 days. Finally got 5G cell service this morning and am accessing my email through hot spot on my phone for the first time in a week. We have a 3 KW propane-fueled generator running in 6 hour stints to keep our refrigerator and freezer cold and phones charged. Making coffee each morning on a camp stove and cooking on our gas grill. We have a huge white oak tree laying over our roof – doesn’t appear to have done much damage and I just hear back from tree service that they will come today or tomorrow to see what they can do to remove it (branches extend 35 feet over the top of my house) – attached photo fyi. We have plenty of propane, bottled water and food supplies to last a long time so we are fine.

My major loss has been that I discovered that my 10 x 20 storage unit located a mile away on lower ground had 4 feet of water in it and my 25 foot travel trailer parked 100 feet away had water 17 inches deep inside. I’m sure both will be total losses due to water and mildew.

Just sharing back that we are safe and healthy after a week enduring this mess; just glad to hear from @dancam (Dan Campbell) this morning that he is fine as well.

Rob

 

[Mike Davis]

Good to hear from you Rob, glad you are mostly OK.

 

[woodworkingshop.com]

I wanted to reach out and let all know we are collecting items and getting them to WNC thru different channels - one being the Hickory Airport to Asheville - where 100's of helicopter folks are donating their time, money, and choppers to take supplies up.

Operation Air Drop
We are using 3 of our 4 stores for drop off areas. Please consider bringing by supplies. There are 1,000's who need these things.

Asheville will be opening back up Monday the 7th from 9am - 3pm Monday thru Saturday - closed on Sundays for a few weeks.

 

[Canuck]

Good to hear from you Rob, glad you are mostly OK.

I echo Mike's sentiment's, Rob. I was wondering how you were doing.
Take care!

Wayne

 

[woodworkingshop.com]

By the way, ROB - so glad you are ok my friend. If you need anything, let us know as we are coming up next week and can bring stuff to Fletcher location if you need anything.

 

[ScottM]

Rob glad to hear that you and Dan are ok. If you hear of others check in for them or remind them to check in. We are all concerned.

 

[ScottM]

I wanted to reach out and let all know we are collecting items and getting them to WNC thru different channels - one being the Hickory Airport to Asheville - where 100's of helicopter folks are donating their time, money, and choppers to take supplies up.

Operation Air Drop
We are using 3 of our 4 stores for drop off areas. Please consider bringing by supplies. There are 1,000's who need these things.

Asheville will be opening back up Monday the 7th from 9am - 3pm Monday thru Saturday - closed on Sundays for a few weeks.

Thank you Coleman.

 

[Gofor]

For those of you in harms way with cell phones, etc. News here making a big deal about a bunch of free Starlink nodes, as well as free Starlink for that area now. Musk said he was allowing other providers to use his links as well. Might be something to check on. Appears those in the area are not getting the word.

I must admit I am ignorant about how it works.

 

[Roy G]

My daughter has connections to the Marshall area. She said she received an e-mail stating the Fire Department has said the mud is toxic because a plastic manufacturer upstream was flooded and various chemicals were washed down to Marshall and Hot Springs. There are reports of chemical burns and you may have seen the WRAL reporter wearing a mask and talking about the air quality. If you know anybody going up there specifically to the Marshall area, they need to have a respirator and Tyvek overalls, good rubber gloves and boots. You don't know what you may run into.

Right know, donations are the best way to go. The military and national guard people going there are more likely to have protective gear.

Roy G

 

[McRabbet]

Thanks everyone for your kind thoughts. Still no power, but we're still doing okay and have food for a long period. Just need to find a laundromat pretty soon! (We may try to drive down to Travelers Rest or Greenville in the next few days.)