As the last remnants of Hurricane Helene dissipate, I can consider myself lucky. Not lucky that I’m about a good 1,000 miles from the major damage, but lucky I’m not on the road right now because a friend or family member was seriously hurt or died.
As of this posting, CNN is reporting there are 95 dead people across six states in the wake of Helene’s damage. To the best of my knowledge, the last time a hurricane or tropical storm got that far north in the direction it went was 1995 when Opal hit. I remember there was a lot of rain and thunder overnight. They say people from the South can be awaken only when the cooling fan turns off. If you’re below the Mason Dixon Line, you have a ceiling fan, box fan or even an oscillating fan and it runs every night even if it’s damn near zero outside. And when it shuts off, it’s like a bugle playing “Reveille.”
Opal shut off the power and knocked down a tree in my backyard that thankfully north otherwise it would’ve crashed on the back porch and maybe on my mother. Also, thankfully, that no one was seriously injured around that area. And I was also thankful my stepfather, who had only been dating my mom about a little over a year, had power at his place. Everything was electric in the house I grew up in and that include the water heater.
A cold shower does wake you up. But I just felt bad going to school without a clean shower in the morning. So, I was able to shower at his place until the power came back on a couple of days later. Now, I hear that people back east in south Georgia or North Carolina are without power. One of my English professors who still lives in Statesboro near Savannah said they are without power with a notice it could be Thursday, Oct. 3 until it comes back on.
They had a lot of tree limbs down in the backyard. They are ok. So is the daughter of a woman I went to school with who goes to school now at Georgia Southern University. However, her car is totaled as a tree fell on it.
And the Ashville, N.C. and surrounding areas are heavily flooded and buildings are damaged. Asheville is in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Appalachia. It’s more than 300 miles east of the Wilmington, N.C. and about 2,134 feet above sea level. That’s six feet short of half a mile.
It’s very unlikely people in the Asheville area anticipated it would be this bad. The problem with a hurricane, tropical storm or any other weather front is you never know what will happen before it’s too late to take many precautions.
I also believe in climate change and feel this is a sign of the future if we don’t make changes already. If you can donate, please make sure it’s a respectable charity. Don’t dump all your junk with a charity because they’ll probably end up dumping it. Donate blood if you can.
But most important, stay out of the emergency responders way. It never surprises me whenever there is a natural disaster storm, sight-seers will come wanting to see what happened. But they will block roadways from the vehicles getting through. Most of them are usually block off anyway from the general public.
My stepfather worked for Georgia Power. They often had to work long hours repairing lines and downed poles. They had to sleep in pick-up trucks and had to use the men’s room while many feet in the air. It’s a tough job for everyone right night trying to get help. And it’s even harder with some roads and bridges washed away.
Zane Says 