A Hurricane in the Mountains, My Helene Experience & Moving Forward

This June we opened our second store location in Asheville, NC - something that I've been saving for & working towards for several years. My goal was to have a place that offered stability when weather or other issues in New Orleans went awry. A place for growth & one whose community supported protecting the environment & local artists/makers. Asheville was in my top 3 cities and I selected it since it met thesee criteria and I loved the natural beauty of the area.

Our shop location was in the River Arts District which you likely know now is one of the hardest hit parts of the city. (An alternate location in River Arts that we considered last year, closer to the river is sadly now a pile of rubble, heartbroken for the tenants that moved in here & JUST finished their renovation in the weeks before the storm.) After a breakup, I also moved my apartment to Asheville & was excited to explore the beautiful Blue Ridge area. Hurricane Helene, combined with days of rain beforehand, & second weather system brought 27'+ water, deeply flooding areas along the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers. Biltmore Village & River Arts saw flooding over the roof tops & into second stories. Many small towns surrounding Asheville have been devastated - homes being washed away down rivers/sliding down mountainsides as well as the roads to access them. 

Early in the morning of the storm, around 6am, I watched two large, old, very tall trees fall in my backyard - the loud, eerie creaks as they slow mo fell & then loudly crashed onto the ground & small lake, I felt the thunk standing inside. That morning, my car was totaled beneath another large tree on the other side of the house, in my driveway. I also heard that crunch around 8am but didn't know it was my car until the storm passed. I then started getting evacuation alerts on my phone for a nearby dam breaking around 11am. Being new to the area, I didn't know where the dam was & decided to pack a small bag with change of clothes & food for ChaCha to go see how my friends up the hill fared. Fortunately, I was able to let my Mom know that I would walk up to a friend's house, before cell service disappeared for days. I was not prepared for this storm, nor was the city.

My friends & I combined resources - they being avid campers had all the needed gear, such as water containers, headlamps, & a gas stove. I had just stocked up at the grocery store so brought up my food and light sources. I also had my hurricane experience from New Orleans - we need to eat the fresh food first, conserve gas, clean out your fridge so it doesn't get ruined, etc. Information on what was happening was hard to come by, time changed shape and lengthened, each day felt like ten.

One day we walked around the neighborhood, neighbors had started cutting through trees so that some streets were passable again. We walked to an overlook (aka Verizon HIll) to see how Biltmore Village looked (not good). At this point the water had gone down - the mud washouts, debris brought by flooding, and crumpled infrastructure was left behind. There was a national guard truck trying to keep people on foot that were trying to get through to family/friends off of the bridges and away from the damaged areas. (This was the first outside help that I saw)

On one of these walks, we bumped into a city council person - she had on a vest & her city council badge, she was checking on some of her students. We asked her for any info - I asked would drinking water & food be distributed to people sheltering at home? There was not a plan for that - this was on day 2. The focus was on rescuing those still in danger in the water or trapped inside destroyed homes, by landslides, etc.

The problem was that there were not warnings given - no heads up before the storm, to stock up on water, food, etc. If I hadn't combined forces with my friends, all I had was the drinking water in my filtered water pitcher & the 1 gallon of emergency water I always keep in my car trunk. That would have lasted me a day or two for me & my pup.  I digress - when I asked, she said I'm glad I bumped into you, now I know what to ask in my upcoming meeting - they were about to have their first emergency city council meeting. When I initially asked about water, she thought I meant the city water & I said, no DRINKING WATER, everyone needs drinking water. She also stated that Black Mountain had issued a statement for people to stay home, a warning for the danger in the aftermath. But, that Asheville hadn't done so for fear of making people panic. I also suggested that she could post information for folks on the front window at the community center on the main road for people that didn't have a radio for the broadcasts. She did so, each day posting a new update the old school bulletin board way.

I found the lack of information given by the city before, during, and after to be disappointing and alarming. The daily radio broadcasts after the storm had few shreds of useful information - websites & telephone numbers were given to find information on food, water, shelter - but we had no cell or internet service, so that information was completely useless. The people assembled for these broadcasts were also sometimes arguing amongst themselves during these discussions. No outside help was on the way yet on day 2 or 3. (Felt like months)

Would we run out of food & water? I felt stuck & the previous stress from weather events was triggered & magnified. When would cell service come back so that I could let friends & family know that I was ok? Being on constant high alert is exhausting. Information was shared by word of mouth: there's water at X person's house, they have a well, X heard that if you go to X hill, verizon service is spotty but can send texts, some calls going through, gas is available at X, cash only, if you take 240 to X then you can bypass trees down at X to get to X, grocery store on X is open, cash only, lines for gas at X...

On day three a shelter was being setup at a nearby community college - we were able to get some drinking water there. Although it seemed like they didn't want to - wanting to keep it all for those coming to the shelter. Understandable, but we did need it too. I believe on day 3 World Central Kitchen came in & set up to distribute food & water (they're so great). Cell service came back on day 3 in a very limited way, mostly in SOS mode. I could get a few texts through to my people. Dear friends in VA & FLA were my eyes & ears, texting me info on status updates where to get water, gas, and which roads were passable for evacuation. I couldn't open links or download pics, all of the text had to be sent through.

Day 4, a friend was so kind to drive me to Virginia. My Mom was recently in the hospital, so I wanted to go help her. My car had been totaled, and was SO grateful for this ride home. He stocked up on supplies to bring back to Asheville while in VA - water, food, etc. To leave, we had to go south first in order to go north due to landslides/downed trees on the interstate east of Asheville. (Roads North & West of AVL are still closed.) On the drive, eventually we stopped for a snack/bathroom break and I said isn't it wild to be able to order whatever we would like here & it will just pop out in a few minutes? And he said - yep & in the bathroom I was still looking for the bucket to flush. HA! Humor can get you through. The things that we take for granted are nice. A flushing toilet & an easily gotten snack. A shower & a fresh pair of socks was a big prize at the end of the journey as well as big, longs hugs from dear friends, aka framily.

I was evacuated for about a month, feeling numb & displaced. The thing about evacuating is that when you're in normal land, not surrounded by people going through the same thing that you are, you feel like you don't fit. Everyone is living normal lives & traveling & posting pics of happy lives, functioning as you do, but you are traumatized and feels like you're in slo mo. Sadness, heaviness, shock, unknown thoughts for the future, loss for what was supposed to be... in the weeks after I realized that I would need to relocate. There was no rent relief for the shop or my apartment & with Kindhearted being so new, we didn't have the long term community in place to help us survive this. I knew from New Orleans, restaurants will come back first. It's a way to feel normalcy, to go out to eat. It feels good to support local businesses & see people in public. Retail shops like mine aren't first on the list. It seemed like I would be hemorrhaging money for rents & I ain't rich. I already had recovery loans for Ida & Covid. That made the decision, I couldn't afford it. As so many people in the area are displaced, my apartment was easy to fill. We had to negotiate with the shop landlord to end our 3 year lease. With our location being one of a dozen left in the River Arts District, we knew this would be quick to refill as well. We paid Oct rent & forfeited our security deposit in order to terminate the lease. I'm glad that our shop space went to two artists who lost their studios that were close to the river during the storm.

Now, almost 2 months later, the situation is still so hard in WNC. I just returned for 10 days to pack up the shop (2 eyes crying emoji) & my apartment (2 eyes crying emoji). My dear friends Nik & Adri drove from Richmond to help me, beyond grateful for their help. Nik (NikGyver) brought her transit van & helped me pack up the products in the shop, take apart shelving, paint, etc. & then drove all of the shop items to Richmond, VA. Adri came & packed up most of my kitchen, it's always the worst. I had just packed & set up home so recently. It was extra heartbreaking to close the shop after just celebrating the grand opening the month before. Holly our shop helper at Kindhearted & friend Stephanie, who I'd collaborated with on popups at the shop also helped me finish packing up my apartment after I left. It takes a village. While there, I was surprised at how fearful I was around the trees, fearful that they'd fall on my replacement car or on the pod or my house, or... I was also triggered by a storm on the way back to NC. The alert came up on my phone from my radar app & I had to stop & take some deep breaths & walk around for a bit. Friends in Asheville said the same - the winds picked up & when it dumped rain, everyone was on edge. I was used to this in New Orleans - a regular rain there triggers worry about your car flooding/whether or not you'll be able to get home. But, was hoping to get away from these stresses. I don't think that's possible anymore.

In Asheville, water in the taps is still for flushing only, potable water is estimated for mid December. I so hope that comes to pass. Camping inside is how it's still going in Asheville. Having the power & internet back definitely helps. There are community care stations around town to take hot showers in potable water, pick up some drinking water, & do laundry. It takes a lot of time to get/use water when it doesn't come out of the tap. Many people have lost everything, their home & everything in it. Some businesses were fully washed away. The economy relies heavily on tourism, with the water not being potable yet it's hard for tourists to return. With so many disasters of all kinds, it's hard to keep track of them all - but please know things aren't ok in WNC. Help where you can. Search go fund me for Asheville folks in need & two favorite local groups are BeLoved Asheville & Brother Wolf Animal Rescue. This disaster cost me at least 25K (totaled car replacement, move, & forfeited security deposits), not to mention the lost cost of setting up the shop & home in Asheville, around 15K+. Insurance paid me around 10K, my spot fund is here if you're able or plz share to help raise the rest.

I'm so grateful for my deep community in Richmond, for my mom & dear friends, my deep community in New Orleans & NYC, all of the places I've lived. I'm going to keep my things in storage for a while. The pod will be loaded in Asheville today, I'm paying friends who need cash to load it for me as I work on setting up shop in Richmond.

My dear friends Nikki & Neil who own Proper Pie have an open storefront next door to their pie shop. They're dealing with some plumbing issues on the lower floor & once those are set we can open shop. We'll do a 6 month trial run & if it goes well, sign a long term lease. I'm staying in dear friends' open airbnb's and guest houses. So grateful for that too. Disasters are expensive. They're hard, they're traumatizing. They're depleting and exhausting.

Climate change sucks. Billionaires & fossil fuel industry are ruining our environment for the rest of us, for wildlife. They take the profits & we pay for the disasters. Accountability is needed. Timing with the upcoming orange menace administration is beyond unfortunate, they don't give a damn about anything but profits and will further damage our precious planet and ecosystems.

Build your community, lean in to community. We need each other to help us through all of this. It's so much to deal with, so hard. Personally, this year has been a grind since February, so tired. Listening to Eat, Pray, Love right now, thinking about a chair on a beach somewhere. Italy keeps coming up for me, maybe a trip is due once I can. Portugal is always calling. And evidently, so is Richmond. Third time's a charm? So happy to be embraced by my longest friendships, my framily as Nikki says. Richmond is a lovely city. It's changed a lot over the years, as we all have. I'm glad to be here & be part of this community again.

One day at a time, one foot in front of the other, we just have to keep moving forward. We'll find a way to get through - just like climbing a mountain, find your footing and then take the next step.

What did I learn from this? Climate change is everywhere, there is not a safety spot. If you can, live on a hill & not in a valley (if you're close to water). This was also a strong reminder, the only thing you can count on in life is change. The world isn't static, life isn't static. Our industrialized impositions on the planet need to change - nomadic cultures had it right, they adapted with nature & that really makes the most sense. We're not doing this right.

ps - If I didn't mention your help by name, my apologies, my brain is toast. And I appreciate you <3

(Spotfund for disaster expenses is here)