OT: 7 Months Out

[JustInTime]

I’ve mentioned previously I’m driving Uber while trying to land my next contract. Might end up semi-retiring 5 years earlier than planned and drive and do Rover to subsist until dipping into retirement funds.

Today I got a fare in Swanannoa. Name might not be as familiar as Asheville or Chimney Rock but the impact of Helene was similar to what was broadcast on the national news. Maybe worse I had heard. Parts of downtown Asheville still look like a bomb went off every couple blocks. Half the River Arts District is gone but at least it’s been tidied up a bit.

About a half mile from my pickup I turned on a road marked with a hand painted sign reading “Thoroughfare Closed Local Traffic Only”. I pressed on.  Kinda wished I hadn’t. To my left was a river, to my right shells of what once were modest ranch houses. Debris everywhere. Mud everywhere. Zero signs of work being done or even equipment to do so.

Quarter mile from my pickup I drove up a steep hill. When I say steep I mean a 15% grade. It looked like I had teleported to a different location. Grass. Homes intact. Trees not uprooted, leafy. Normal. Whatever that is. 

Picked up my fare. Older, somewhat frail woman. Bohemian. Exchanged the typical pleasantries and we were off back down the hill. She thanked me for picking her up as a lot of Uber drivers would accept a fare and then cancel. 

I mention the Hurricane damage and she started to recount the storm. She felt blessed to have missed the worst of it but the destruction to her neighbors was still fresh in her mind. “This house was moved completely off its foundation. Two of the six apartment buildings were destroyed and swept down river. This bridge was just gone. Two people died”. I pretty much could only nod in response. 

Dropped her off at her art studio in Black Mountain. Turned off Uber and headed back towards home. Spent the time counting my blessings. We’re right in between Asheville and Chimney Rock but were pretty much spared from the bulk of the destruction. Huge trees uprooted. No power for nearly 6 days. No consistent cell service for about two weeks. Same for internet. Basically we were inconvenienced as opposed to having the course of our lives completely altered if not worse.

Hurricane Helene is far removed from our 24 hour news cycle but the devastation and recovery are still very real to the folks of western North Carolina. Matching federal funding was ended a month ago and an appeal to reinstate was denied. Still lots of work and years to go in the recovery.

[MaroonBells]

Good reminder about how tragedies all over the world, though measured and fitted by their impact on the news cycle, have large scale, mostly unseen consequences for the people who live there. Meanwhile, the rest of the world moves on to the next hurricane or wildfire or earthquake.

[Montana Tom]

Thanks for sharing...we forget how bad it can be. It's tragic that FEMA has been cut off at the knees. I could go on, but we have 3 1/2 more years of this disabling of any semblance of a safety net that the Federal government once resembled.

[purplefaithful]

I'm sure there are PLENTY of good intended people who work there...But the truth is that FEMA has been a shit-show for decades now - just go back to Katrina.

That said, nobody has really fixed it much - at all.

[MaroonBells]

I'm sure there are PLENTY of good intended people who work there...But the truth is that FEMA has been a shit-show for decades now - just go back to Katrina.

That said, nobody has really fixed it much - at all.

I thought Brownie did a heckuva job.

[JustInTime]

Thanks for sharing...we forget how bad it can be.  It's tragic that FEMA has been cut off at the knees.  I could go on, but we have 3 1/2 more years of this disabling of any semblance of a safety net that the Federal government once resembled.

I get daily reminders so it stays pretty fresh in my mind.

[ncvike]

I live on the coast in NC and weathered a few hurricanes. Never thought it would be my cabin in Black Mountain that would be destroyed by a storm.

[JustInTime]

I live on the coast in NC and weathered a few hurricanes. Never thought it would be my cabin in Black Mountain that would be destroyed by a storm.

Holy shit. Sorry man, that sucks. Hopefully insurance did right by you.

[Waterboy]

Thanks for sharing...we forget how bad it can be.  It's tragic that FEMA has been cut off at the knees.  I could go on, but we have 3 1/2 more years of this disabling of any semblance of a safety net that the Federal government once resembled.

FEMA was the issue and North Carolina only got real  help since the new administration.   Bypassing helping people because they had a Certain political sign in their yard were the glory days to you.  What a bs simplification of what really went on. More funding and speedy recovery has come on as a result of money going directly to the state. It’s this kinda nonsense that has enabled the mess we got into, not the necessary change that is taking place.

[JustInTime]

FEMA was the issue and North Carolina only got real  help since the new administration.   Bypassing helping people because they had a Certain political sign in their yard were the glory days to you.  What a bs simplification of what really went on. More funding and speedy recovery has come on as a result of money going directly to the state. It’s this kinda nonsense that has enabled the mess we got into, not the necessary change that is taking place.

FEMA set up rescue operations a mile from our condo the next day. So, I’m pretty familiar with the rapid response to the devastation. I heard the helicopters take off and return hourly. Smaller helicopters were then used to ferry the injured and dying to local trauma centers. This went on from dawn to dusk daily. It was a pretty sobering and somber experience so it’s pretty etched in my internal hard drive.

FEMA Support Vehicles and a couple dozen FEMA trailers were staged a few miles away at I-26 rest stops for months. The Walmart parking lot, which is about 3 miles away, was staged for months by FEMA trailers with a variety of services, food and other supplies. These folks and the prior administration have my gratitude.

The current administration declined to extend matching funds and upon appeal denied further funding despite obvious ongoing and long term needs.