Hurricane Helene Perspective

It's hard to believe I haven't posted in almost 2yrs. So much has happened since then but more of it was related to things in my personal life rather than fishing. I had back surgery, got into playing pickleball and didn't fly fish much at all. Kids sports have really cut into my free time but other than that I don't have a lot of excuses. This fall was going to be my season to get back into trout fishing but hurricane Helene changes that. 

If you don't live on the east coast or have seen news about the damage from the hurricane but don't know what's true and what fake, I can give you some incite. 

4 days after the storm hit my wife and I took supplies to the people in Todd, NC. 

On the way to the mtns from Raleigh we saw several trucks with long bed trailers loaded with supplies. 

We were able to get there fine but on HWY194 there were signs of flooding and several places where debris was on the road. It literally looked like some parts of the road were cleared with in 24hrs of us being there. We saw lots of destruction, military vehicles driving around, destroyed houses, and people sorting through what they had left, but we also witnessed several people helping each other and offering hot meals. 

Many people lost all they had and in the rural mountains and that's not a ton to begin with. My brother-in-law works as a volunteer rescue squad member and he told me most of the severe damage was west of Boone, NC. The main issue was over 30 inches of rain fell in a span of 3 days. The flooding caused landslides and took out bridges. He told stories of several being killed or trapped in their collapsed homes and even more of people who were stuck in their location and couldn't be rescued because it was just too dangerous at the time. 

I have not been back but have had several friends and family that have went to Western North Carolina to offer help. The stories have been mostly the same. There's so much damage and destruction but those that survived are happy to be alive and resilient that they can rebuild. 

The article below has a donation link and even more about the facts from this storm and the damage it caused to NC. If you're able to donate to the relief of this tragedy, please do. 

Rapid Reaction: Historic Flooding Follows Helene in Western NC - North Carolina State Climate Office