My storm update

I am so glad to hear you are doing okay and getting things repaired! Not sure NC will ever be "normal" again, but as close as we can is okay!

I am so glad to hear you are doing okay and getting things repaired!  Not sure NC will ever be "normal" again, but as close as we can is okay!

Thanks.  I agree, quite a bit of WNC is changed forever.

Got wifi back this evening!!!  

Feel a bit guilty though.  The mountain areas are so bad. Recovery could take years in some areas...and some will never be the same. I have friends in Asheville I cannot get in touch with.

Also concerned about Fla now with Milton. 

Got wifi back this evening!!!  

Feel a bit guilty though.  The mountain areas are so bad. Recovery could take years in some areas...and some will never be the same. I have friends in Asheville I cannot get in touch with.

Also concerned about Fla now with Milton. 

GREAT NEWS...

I'm happy for you. I know it was a real trial, but perseverance has brought light where only darkness was...

Asheville is still pretty isolated as far as communication goes. Hopefully your friends are okay, and just unable to communicate. Fingers crossed and hoping for a good and quick outcome.

Florida is going to get hammered. One 'bright spot' is the forecast track of the storm. Other than the Tampa area, it might not be too bad if the storm continues tracking almost due East. It won't be over land for long, so hopefully the effects will be quick and not 'terrible'. Maybe it'll work out.  

There are many incredible stories. Stories of the strengths of the victims.  The volunteer effort continues to be incredible.  (For those saying Fema is not there...they are wrong.They have a hue presence.)  There is such kindness and generosity.  So much loss and devastation.

I do not want to sound callous...because I am not.  If you live in Fla...especially near the coast...you signed up for this.  Not victim blaming...there are still many who are unprepared and their devastation is awful but not unexpected. (I have less sympathy for those in mandatory evacuation areas who refuse to evacuate. I am glad emergency personnel have let them know they will not risk their lives to save them...after what I went thru...if it was ever suggested i evacuate....I am gone You do not have to tell me twice!.)

People moved wo WNC to escape all that.  We all though we were safe.  The mountains will be in terrible shape for months.  Many with no electricity, no water, and lucky if they still have homes.  Winter is coming.  It is cold up there with lots of snow.

I was so touch by the concert for the Carolinas last weekend which raised over $24million.  All those performers donated their time and talents.  Got this together at warp speed.  And to his credit Tepper donated the stadium, parking, even food and beverages.

Also...I just read this:

Among the donations pouring into Western North Carolina to help people recover from Hurricane Helene is a sizable one from a foreign government. Taiwan donated $300,000 to the N.C. Disaster Relief Fund, which was created by the state and is administered by the United Way. Donations to the fund are distributed to local organizations involved in disaster relief and recovery. Taiwan, also known as the Republic of China, announced Oct. 12 that it would donate $800,000 to help local governments and residents in three states hit hard by Helene. It pledged $300,000 each to North Carolina and Florida and $200,000 to Georgia. The money was distributed through the Taipei Economic and Cultural Offices in Atlanta and Miami. “Taiwan has experienced similar tragedies and understands the profound sense of loss that follows typhoons and earthquakes,” Yi-Lung Wang, director general of the Atlanta office, said in a written statement. “It is this shared experience that motivates us to stand in solidarity with the people of North Carolina during this difficult time.” Gov. Roy Cooper said Taiwanese officials traveled to the state Monday to present the donation. “North Carolinians are determined to recover and rebuild from this horrific storm, and we’re grateful for the help pouring in from across the country and around the world,” Cooper said in a statement. “It’s heartwarming to receive this donation from Taiwan and the support of its people for ours.”

Read more at: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/l...rylink=cpy

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Also....there is this story.  So many of these things bring tears to my eyes or I can't talk about them without choking up.  (I was so lucky and I know it.  Just a few miles west of me it is a different story).

This story is from Avery County....county seat is Newland. That county borders mine...but when travelling there the elevation goes way up.  Always 10 degrees cooler up there.  I used to travel thru there to go to my hometown in Tenn.  They were very hard hit.

The evergreens growing in perfect rows on a far hillside at Cartner’s Christmas Tree Farm outside Newland were still wrapped in fog on the morning of Monday, Sept. 28, when Dale Haney set out in search of the perfect specimen. It needed to be tall, at least 18.5 feet. It had to be full, with no gaps or holes. And its branches must be strong; there would be a lot riding on this stately Fraser fir. On Nov. 20 the chosen tree will be cut and sent to First Lady Jill Biden for placement in the Blue Room of the White House, where volunteers will help hang more than 30,000 ornaments on its fragrant, feathery branches. But more than that, Haney, the White House grounds superintendent, knew the tree would carry the hopes of tens of thousands of people in Western North Carolina looking for a bit of normalcy and a glimmer of joy as they face the holidays with so much recovery work ahead. Newland is the seat of tiny Avery County, one of those hard hit by flooding and landslides when the remnants of Hurricane Helene barreled through on Sept. 27. Four deaths have been confirmed in the county as a result of the destruction, and almost everything in people’s lives has been affected as well. A section of downtown Newland was raked by the rushing North Toe River when it overflowed its banks. Some businesses flooded by the river or nearby tributaries have not yet reopened, and heavy equipment operators are at work rebuilding roads and bridges that were washed out. Traffic is heavy in town, with dump trucks bringing rock and gravel in and hauling debris out. Restaurants that have reopened are bustling, and people gather to talk about how the county’s rebuilding is going.

Christmas is big in Avery County, one of 14 Western N.C. counties known for the production of Fraser firs. North Carolina is the nation’s second-largest producer of fresh Christmas trees, and Fraser firs, marketed as “the Cadillac of Christmas trees,” make up most of those sales. Jennifer Greene, executive director of the N.C. Christmas Tree Association, says about 1,300 growers produce about 53 million Fraser firs on about 33,000 acres in the state. The Cartner brothers’ parents, the late Sam and Margaret Cartner, got into the tree-growing business early, in 1959, planting trees on former cattle pastureland to raise money to send their boys to college. A photo of Sam Sr. from those days shows him pruning a tree with a steak knife because he hadn’t yet invested in the tools of the trade. Monday morning, Haney and Robert Downey, chief usher at the White House, walked a section of the field where some of the three Cartner brothers’ older — and bigger — trees now stand. David and Jim Cartner followed with a telescoping measuring stick to check each candidate’s height and the breadth of the branches at the bottom. This one has potential. That one is nice. “What about this one?” Haney asked, summoning Sam, his brothers and an entourage of local and state politicians and industry specialists gathered for the occasion. It was the 16th White House tree to come from North Carolina since the National Christmas Tree Association started the tradition in 1966. A TREE THAT REPRESENTS HOPE, JOY, GENEROSITY It’s a point of pride, but for the Cartners, it’s also a way of saying thanks. When asked what it means for the farm to send the tree to The People’s House, Sam Cartner said he could speak for his parents and his brothers in saying that the gift represents “all the good things in society. We’ve experienced that here in this county from this disaster,” he said. “The generosity of people, the supplies that have flooded in, the people that show up on the doorstep saying, ‘Can I help you cut this tree? Can we get the mud out of your basement? Do you need a place to live?’ 

“That’s what my parents and we want this tree to represent,” Cartner said. “Faith, hope, love, joy, happiness, sharing, generosity. “It’s coming from Avery County to represent the good things in life.”

Read more at: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/s...rylink=cpy

The rest of the country could take a lesson from these awesome people.