Good Vibes to Our Friends Enduring the Current Storms

[lbpesq]

Best wishes and good vibes to our friends living through the big storms.   I know Modder Dave lives near Ashville, which has been hit especially hard.


Bill, tgo

[edwardofhuncote]

Yeah Asheville got clobbered but good. I hear a whole section of I-40 is wiped out. Dave lives outside of town a good ways, and way up on high ground, but he's likely hemmed-in and without power. Hopefully no trees feel on his place... that's mostly what we're dealing with up here in Southwest Virginia. I went in to work early yesterday morning, marked in-service and gassed-up. I got back home at 10:30 this morning. Roads everywhere have been blocked by trees, and downed power lines. Both of my major Water Treatment Plants were offline by 1500 yesterday, both back on by 0330. I was working on remote sites and staffing out what I could since.


It's been a wild couple days, but we've had a lot worse. Some folks have it a lot worse. Like I was telling the Greg-lings, there's gonna' be days like this... and this is what they pay us for. Take care of yourselves and each other, so you can help serve the public.


Sound off when you can Dave.

[StephenR]

I tried to get in touch with my brother who lives in Hendersonville... not far from Asheville. So far no response today, I am relatively sure he has no power and not sure about cell service either. I remember that he told me when he bought the house that he was not in a flood zone so that is good. Mainly wondering if his house and property are okay. The area got pounded by an unusual amount of rain this summer and the ground was already saturated going into this latest event. I read today that the French Broad River, which runs though the area near Hendersonville, Asheville etc. broke another flood crest record during this storm, 31.3 ft. When the river recedes it will got down to about 6.5. What was even more disturbing is that the same river last set a flooding record on 9/8 when it hit 20.1 ft. As Greg mentioned the roads in that area of the state are a huge mess and will take time to repair. Hopefully no-one lost their homes or lives.

Hope your okay Dave!

I have another friend who lives in Asheville and probably should try to contact him, too. I have no idea if people in the city were impacted the same way as in the outlaying areas.

[pauldo]

Sincere wellness wishes for anyone out there.   Mother Nature has been flexing lately. 

[keith_h]

I hope Dave is doing ok. He is high up on a mountain side so stream or river flooding shouldn't affect him but there are lots of trees and his property is very steep. I also believe he is on a well so no power means no water.

Many roads are washed out, including the two major interstates that support area, so it is going to take longer than normal to get help and supplies into the area. I really feel for the folks down in the Asheville arts district as many are artists of limited means whose workshops and display rooms are in low areas along the French Broad River.   

We came home from the Outer Banks on Friday and hit portions of Helene about the time we got to Rocky Mount. It was the heaviest rain and wind I've driven in and a tornado touched down in town while we were going through. With the storm's rotation what we drove through would would have dumped more rain on the mountains up around Asheville adding to their problems.   
 

[cozmik_cowboy]

My dad, baby sister, and her middle daughter are in south central NC.  They got a bunch of rain, but the serious damage stops about 20 miles away (Sis didn't say what direction).

Her son-in-law died last week, so my great-niece came home from Western Carolina University for the funeral.  Called the school to tell them she'd back late, and was told the school remained closed for at least this week - and every road between them & it is closed, anyway.

They're about 132 miles SE of Dave.

Peter

[StephenR]

I still haven't been able to contact my brother but I just spoke with a friend in Asheville, he had no cell service until a couple of hours ago. The building he and his partner live in was hit by a falling tree which destroyed two of the apartments in the building. They live outside of the downtown area and flood zones. The building has been condemned and they were evacuated to an empty apartment where they have been sleeping on the floor. There is no water or electricity and it sounded like they have little in the way of anything to eat. They have been listening to the car radio for local news but need gas soon or they no longer will be able to start the car and charge their phones. The few gas stations that are open and pumping have long lines of irritated residents. If they can get gas they plan to try and get out of the area and stay in a motel somewhere until they can find another place to live. Even though we see it all the time now it is hard to accept how brutal nature can be.

[rv_bass]

Best wishes to those affected by the storms, hope all are safe!

[edwardofhuncote]

I just talked to my Cousin Graham over in Boone, North Carolina. Boone he says is a mess, but he is in good shape. Like Dave, Graham lives on the side of a mountain (lots of folks do in that part of the world...) there just ain't much flatland out there... so fortunately all he got was some downed trees, power lines, and a mudslide on the driveway. He has a generator for power and to run a well pump, enough rations for a little while. Their son Andy is over in Asheville where it's worse... he's dry and sheltered, but no power or water. Trouble is, all that water had to go somewhere, and it did, with a lot of force.


It is pouring rain here again, FWIW. Like we needed more of that. 

[keith_h]

Good news. I just heard from Dave. They were able to get out of the area yesterday and are staying at a hotel in Mooresville. He said that there was no damage to the house and that they are doing fine. My guess is he will update us more when things settle down a bit.

[cozmik_cowboy]

Thanks, Keith!

Peter

[edwardofhuncote]

That is good to hear. Glad Dave got outta' there.

[pauldo]

Happy.

[pauldo]

Understand there is still a lot of challenges there.   Been thinking a lot about the people.  Any updates on our members?

[David Houck]

Thanks everyone!  We're fine.  We returned Friday evening and cleaned out the refrigerator.  Took all that to the landfill Saturday, and bought more groceries yesterday; so we're in pretty good shape.

Asheville's water treatment plants suffered serious damage.  From what I hear, personnel and resources have quickly been brought in to at least get temporary fixes as soon as possible.

The disaster response has been tremendous.  When we drove back home Friday evening we passed the Outlet Mall.  The mall was closed, but the entire huge parking lot all around the mall was filled with power line trucks and their support.  The motel we stayed at quickly sold out as not only residents of Western North Carolina were seeking shelter but many power line trucks and their crews were staying there as well, driving back and forth each day.  (We got our reservations just in time, as all the Charlotte area motels were quickly filling up.)

As we drove to the landfill on Saturday we saw numerous people and places providing water and food to residents.  And along our route huge numbers of trees had been removed to clear the roads.

Cell service was out all over the region, but is returning.  And our cable internet came back just as we got home.

We're fine, but our area has been hit very hard.  And they say the storm that is heading right now for central Florida will be worse.