Hurricane Helene

Hurricane Helene came through the mountains on Friday, September 27. It had already been raining for 48 hours straight and our basement had 8 inches of water in it before the storm even hit. We lost power in the morning and spent the majority of the next three hours scooping flood water out of our basement. We were only able to maintain a delicate equilibrium however, as the water was coming in from all sides. Our phone service went out around 1:30pm and by the night we had no running water. We had prepared enough in that we had our camping gear out and had filled the bathtub with water. We had no real damage to the house and out neighbors were all okay, so we gathered together and began to take stock of our situation. We cooked over the camp stove and grill, picked up debris, and took walks to see everyone. By Saturday evening it was clear that the storm had been much more deadly than we had understood. It was also clear that power, phones, and water were not coming back any time soon. Our only line to the outside world was the radio. We had lost tough with Noah (who was in Boone) during the day on Friday and were just hoping that he okay and that hopefully he had found a way out of town. We learned that every road out of our county was blocked. We couldn't get out and emergency crews could not get in. It became scary and stressful quickly.

Working on rumors, we heard that we may be able to get out of town via I-40 on Saturday afternoon, but we were stopped when we got to Black Mountain. Driving through Asheville, we also witnessed the destruction for the first time. It was a rough moment, but we found that we had cell service on the side of the road. We were able to make contact with my family in Winston-Salem, let them know we were okay, and have them contact Noah. They explained the situation from their end and we told them that we would escape to them as soon as possible. They opened I-26 on Sunday and we loaded up extra gas, our dog, and enough clothes for a week - and drove to Winston-Salem. Arriving there was glorious, but then brutal as we quickly learned just how much this storm had destroyed. Noah had left Boone for Raleigh, where we were able to pick him up soon after. We stayed there a week and then returned home to begin the process of rebuilding, volunteering, and trying to find a new normal.