Hi all from Hendersonville in WNC. Just some brief post Helene news

[NewHendoLib]

My wife and I are fine, but shaken. 20.9 inches of rain Wed to yesterday - 70+ mph winds from 4-5 to 9 AM yesterday. I have intermittent Internet on my phone via Verizon. Our power will be out for days. The damage is unreal. We have about 12 big trees down but none on our house. Got gas to cook with, lots of food to eat quickly! - our health and safety, good neighbors - this was very much like Fran in Raleigh in 1996. Hoping all my WNC DU friends - and anyone impacted by Helene - are OK.

[Attilatheblond]

1. Glad you and yours are as OK as possible, considering the circumstances.

[bedazzled]

2. Thanks for the update...

My bestie lives there and I am so worried....

Hope you get power back soon!

[senseandsensibility]

3. Thanks for the update

and glad you're okay! Hope the recovery is relatively painless as well.

[MoonchildCA]

4. I'm worried about my daughter in Asheville.

Haven’t been able to get a hold of her since yesterday. I’m in Mexico on vacation, and I can’t access any of my news channels, so my info is limited.

She lives across the street from the VA Hospital.

This is really tough.

[malaise]

12. Suggestion

Call franchise or high end restaurants in her neighborhood. Most have generators and will give you an idea about conditions in the neighborhood

[mtngirl47]

19. Much of Asheville is without power and cell phone service

Near the VA Hospital she should be far enough off the river....however many of the roads in and around Asheville are closed, washed out.

We're hoping for cell service soon....I've been told it's because there is no power for the towers.

Try to text her----anyone with internet is sharing so that folks can communicate with loved ones.

[MoonchildCA]

29. I've sent a few texts.

The last I received from her was 10:30 am yesterday.

[Siwsan]

50. My nephew lives in Mills River. I haven't heard from him since Saturday

But he said they are on higher ground so they had just a little water in the lower level (tri level house) and no power. He had the 'sketchy' trees removed a few years ago and said the rest, on his property, withstood the storm.

Fingers crossed the power is restored, soon. I went a week without power during Christmas week, back in 2013, so I know how miserable that can be.

[woodsprite]

53. If she's near Montreat College, you can go to

Their home page. They have some local info that they’ve been updating.

[WinstonSmith4740]

25. Just heard from my sister there.

Power is out where she is in the mountains, with spotty cell service, so that's probably why it's tough getting through to your daughter. Biltmore Village got hit hard. Let us know when you hear from her.

[dweller]

5. Good to hear

Ppl are posting clips on Facebook showing flooding , damage etc . Saw one from Hendersonville and it was bad .

Good to know you are ok . I remember Fran over in Chapel Hill then, it was horrible .

Stay safe !


✌🏻

[livetohike]

6. Thanks for checking in! Hope you are restored to normal

asap. Glad you are okay. We got lucky down here near Charleston, SC Strong sustained winds , but never lost power.

[questionseverything]

7. I'm glad you are OK but to lose 12 big trees is heartbreaking 💔

[Shermann]

8. Wow that's a lot of rain

The local news said the published rainfall totals were misleading because some areas got hammered. I hope you had time to get some preps together.

[littlemissmartypants]

9. Sorry to hear about your trees.

Maybe you could cook up some of that food and share it with your good neighbors.

[malaise]

10. Glad to hear from you

Stay safe

[CousinIT]

11. The damage is just hideous from what I'm seeing online

I'm glad you and yours are OK! I've been thinking about a trip there in the next year or so. Maybe not a good idea now. It will take years to rebuild/restore.

[greatauntoftriplets]

13. Good to hear that you're okay.

Sorry about the trees and lack of electricity.

[surfered]

14. Good luck. Got water?

[NewHendoLib]

23. Got water! And a gas stove top, and water heater!

[soandso]

32. All critical!

Glad no trees fell on your house and that you're okay. Terrible pain in the ass to have to go through all this but it will soon be behind you.

[Lifeafter70]

15. We were living in wilmington nc when hurricane Matthew hit

Evacuated inland to Raleigh, big mistake couldn't get home for days because of road closure. Wilmington was not hit as hard with flooding like they were inland.

[central scrutinizer]

16. My sister lives in Hendersonville

Along with her asshole husband. Both are GQP cultists. Haven’t heard from her,

Thanks for your on the scene report.

[KS Toronado]

17. Thanks for the update.

[MagickMuffin]

18. Glad you hear that you weathered the worst of the storm

One thing I learned when my power goes out get the ice chests out and try to safe as much food as possible. We don’t usually have a lot of meat since I only eat fish.


Sorry about your trees, but glad they didn’t attack your house! Stay safe and if your devices need charging and you can charge it in your car if you have that option. It came in handy for us during the winter storm Texas had several years ago.


Take care and Bon Appétit 😋

[Hekate]

20. Thanks for the update, and be well

[R Merm]

21. Glad to hear both of you are doing relative OK

We drove home to Raleigh from Atlanta yesterday, the amount of damage around Augusta, Ga and Aiken, SC was also unreal. We drove for hours without cell service or seeing any sign of power along the road.

[Solly Mack]

22. Good to hear from you. Take care!

[denvine]

24. Glad to hear you and your wife are alright!

I know the clean up will be a pain but the fact that your house made it through is wonderful! Best to you both!

[highplainsdem]

26. So sorry to hear about the tree loss, but thank God you weren't injured! Hope the power will be

restored sooner than expected, since there were lots of teams from other states stationed in the area to restore power asap. The damage I've read about and seen photos and video of has been heartbreaking, though.

[gademocrat7]

27. Thanks for checking in.

Glad you and your wife are ok. Please take care.

[canetoad]

28. I'm so glad you two are OK

Sounds as though you've been through the washer on heavy-duty cycle, but you survived. I really hope your power is restored before too long. Shame about the trees - that's a lot to lose. Sending love and good vibes bro.....

[barbtries]

30. I'm so glad you guys are well.

and so sorry for all the damage. stay in touch as much as you can!!

[Nevilledog]

31. Just saw this video. Stay safe.

Link to tweet

Aaron Fritschner
@Fritschner
·
Follow
Drone footage posted on Facebook this morning by Shepherd Benson; this is the aftermath of Helene in my hometown- Hendersonville, North Carolina


2:06 PM · Sep 28, 2024

[TBF]

33. So glad you're doing ok -

we go through some of this south of Houston - Harvey was the most similar event to what is happening to y'all. Hang in there!

[BMW2020RT]

34. The storm has sadly removed that part of the country from an upcoming motorcycle ride.

Good luck.

[BumRushDaShow]

35. Wow. Glad you and yours are safe

Hoping you get power back but I can imagine anywhere that is dense with trees will be a bear to clear.

PA Task Force 1 based here in Philly, had headed down to NC this past Thursday ahead of the storm to assist in rescues and recovery.

Philadelphia task force deployed to N.C. to assist with Hurricane Helene

Link to tweet

Philadelphia Fire
@PhillyFireDept
·
Follow
There are 48 @PATaskForce1 members deployed to support the response to Hurricane Helene. Early this morning (9/26), 45 packed up and rolled out. They're headed to Winston -Salem, NC. Two members are in FL, and one is in Washington, DC. #PATF1 @fema @PEMAHQ
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3:07 PM · Sep 26, 2024

Thanks for the check-in and pop in with any updates when you can!

[Deminpenn]

36. Got a similar report from a friend

living in northern, South Carolina, lots of damage (no homes lost in my friend's neighborhood) with trees down, no power, roads closed, neighbors charging cell phones in cars, local Publix shelves cleaned out.

[Alliepoo]

37. Glad to hear from you and that you and your wife

Made it through that awful storm safely with no catastrophic damage. Stay safe and I hope things start to shape up soon!

[Joinfortmill]

38. Glad you are safe.

[babylonsister]

39. So glad you checked in!

Sounds daunting yet you're very lucky.

[mnhtnbb]

40. Glad to hear you are ok

and that none of those trees down damaged your house.
I've seen videos of damage in Hendersonville on line. What a mess! Flooding and road damage all through that area and towns surrounding Asheville are horrendous. It's going to be a very long clean up process.
Hang in there!

[AmBlue]

41. So glad you are ok...

... and none of those trees fell on your house!! We too are without power in St. Petersburg, Florida, but are feeling very fortunate, relatively speaking. Whole neighborhoods here were flooded and people are in the throes of stacking all their furniture and wet belongings at the curb for the insurance adjuster to assess along with the damage to their homes. And these are the people who came out of it alive. There is so many that are so much worse off. Truly heartbreaking. 💔

[HeartsCanHope]

42. So glad you are okay.

Will be thinking about you and your wife. Going without electricity is no fun. Take care.

[Niagara]

43. Happy to hear that your safe and sound

Please continue to stay safe and sound.

[spanone]

44. K&R...👋

[calimary]

45. Thanks for the update, NewHendoLib!

Glad you made it through the storm. Hope the post-hurricane clean-up isn’t too overwhelming.

[Stinky The Clown]

46. Glad you guys are okay, Craig.

A forced end to tomato season, no doubt!

[uppityperson]

47. Glad to hear from you

Sounds like a real mess, I'm glad your house didn't get trees on it and you have water at least. I was reading about the roads and flooding, sounds like getting around is very difficult. Stay safe and thanks for checking in.

[stollen]

48. For those in the area

We're you expecting to be hit? Did you buy extra food, water, etc before hand?

[NewHendoLib]

55. Hi! Not this hard - was supposed to go west toward the TN line.

No one could fully prepare for what we are seeing!

But we're OK. Visited by our daughter and her boyfriend this AM.

[lark]

49. Helene sure packed an unexpected wallop here in Jax.

We were expecting top end 40 mph, based on how storms that large but far away have impacted us in the past. Nope, not this time. We got hit with 70 mph winds and it had been raining every day so the ground and trees were already saturated and over they came!
My neighbor had 2 very large trees come down on her fence and carport, their back yard was nothing but giant trees and branches! One of our trees, right by the property line went down too, but we have a very large yard and nothing but an alredy dilapidated shed was hurt. We were without electricity for 12 hours and it took 2 days before we had internet again! When it's 90 degrees and you are working hard to pick up all the branches, and tons of tree shit, it gets really hot and there's no airconditioning to cool off in, it' pretty is miserable.

Good luck with your clean up, it sounds like it will be extensive.

[SheltieLover]

51. So glad you are ok, NHL!

TY for checking in!

[OneGrassRoot]

52. I lived through Fran in Raleigh...

thank you for making that comparison to give me a better idea. I’ve been thinking about you and I’m very glad to see your post. The damage is heartbreaking.

[mcar]

54. So glad you are OK

Western NC is one of my favorite places of all - we spent many vacations there with our kids.

I am heartbroken seeing the devastation there and so afraid for the people trapped in those small towns.

[MontanaMama]

56. You're one DUer that I have been thinking about.

This will be a long road ahead but I am heartened to hear you and yours are safe, have food and that no trees fell on your house. Thank you for the update. Sending you all the good vibes for a speedy clean up. I know these things can be complicated and take time.

[Saoirse9]

57. Our friend in Hendersonville had his basement flooded

He had moved up there from Florida to get away from hurricanes. Yesterday he had a heart attack and died before his partner (here with us in FL) could get up there to help.

We are just gutted.