Latest on North Carolina Recovery Efforts

NCDOT provides detour information

Road Conditions Hazardous

The roads around Asheville, particularly northwards from I-26 heading towards I-81 are still being assessed, cleared, and repaired. I-40 east and west of Asheville are also flagged for obstructions and repairs per the North Carolina Department of Transportation. Truckers may need to travel through Charlottesville to head westwards towards Atlanta then circle back upwards to reach Knoxville. According to Destinations A to Z, which caters to RV travelers, there is a partially open road going to Greeneville, TN from Asheville, NC (US-25 / TN-70), but the road has many twists and turns.

According to official press releases I-40 Knoxville the Tennessee-North Carolina border to Mitchell County may be shut down until September 2025. I-26 North is expected to re-open by March 2025. However the nature of repairs and reconstruction whether temporary or long-term is that one must expect delays traveling through Western North Carolina because of re-routing, which can happen on short notice. People are advised to tank up and carry an extra tank because gas-lines in front of gas-stations are at least a mile long.

The current travel advisory reads: “Do not travel in or to Western North Carolina. All roads in Western North Carolina should be considered closed and non-emergency travel is prohibited. I-40 is impassable in multiple locations. I-26 is closed at the Tennessee state line. Travel in this area for non-emergency purposes is hindering emergency response.

Despite the valient efforts of volunteer road crew, including rebuilding roadways, establishing temporary bridges even using 18-wheeler type flat-beds to ford streams, clearing culverts and constructing berms, the residents are working against the approach of winter the challenges of the cold season.

NC Detours for Trucks longer than 30 feet

NC detours around affected areas as of 10-22-2024, from NCDOT website

Emergency Response

This is not inhibiting a slew of emergency rescue volunteers. In fact according to various sources including Appalachia’s Homestead, the National Guard appeared within a week of the hurricane departure. Thousands of volunteers and rescue workers are needed, but due to delays in a federal response, far fewer military helicopters and personnel have appeared on the ground. Volunteer flight response was critical due to the number of small towns and villages dotting the Smoky Mountains region. Many live at higher elevations than 2000 feet, and if the roads become impassable, the only way to reach them is via air, or mule, or on foot.

Thus the early flight response has been nearly a 40 to 4 in personal private aerial vehicles used versus the government. Among those organizations who volunteered were Jaars, Inc; Aerial Recovery; Hillbilly Pilots; and Redneck Airforce. People even tried to fly drones in to drop water and meals off. Heart-wrenching stories on recovery operations abound, such as the couple that were stranded then reunited near Lake Lure. Many have lived up in these hills for generations, and it is not uncommon for several generations to live nearby one another or even in the same home helping to take care of one another.

Jaars, Inc. recorded their volunteer efforts in their vlog online, and using lightwing aircraft, helicopters, and map coordination provided critical relief supplies during the first week. Being a Christian ministry flying missions around the world, they are very familiar with remote navigation challenges; furthermore, being based in North Carolina, they already had access to local airports, including their own hangars and mechanics. However the emergency response was a new matter for them; nevertheless, they delivered many necessities to distribution points including water, generators, baby food, and toiletries. In one week, using seven craft, they were able to provide 270,000# of aid via air and ground.

Distribution Centers receiving Supplies and Donation Resources are listed. Gifts are appreciated & not limited to North Carolina. (Please check the names carefully to avoid look-alike scams.)
Aerial Recovery
Avery County NC Cleanup
Cajun Navy (mules, car caravans)
Crossroads Community church
Edwards.House.gov (Chuck Edwards, Representative)
Generation Church in Asheville
Gentry and Sons Trucking
Grindstone Ministries
Hearts with Hands
Heroes for Humanity
Hillbilly Pilots (Highwing Hillbillys)
Jaars, Inc
Mountain Mule Packer Ranch (mountainmulespackers.com)
National Guard
NC Outdoor Adventures
Operation BBQ Relief
Red Cross
Redneck Air Force (Savage Freedom Defense savagefreedom.com/savageops)
REVOL church western NC hurricane relief amazon wish list
Salvation Army
Samaritan’s Purse
Save Our Allies

They were relieved to see when the National Guard flew in two of their huge military helicopters starting Monday, September 30, and provided 200,000# of aid. Appalachia’s Homestead and Mark Huneycutt both interviewed survivors who witness National Guard clearing roads and rescueing people trapped higher up in mountains, as well as recovering cadavers and putting remains in body bags. According to NC Outdoor Adventures, the NG marked over 100 possible bodies in just a six-mile stretch of river; but the recovery requires them to dig out and try to retrieve body parts such as teeth; so it may be a very long time to identify the missing people.

In fact, NC Outdoor Adventures couple had to dig themselves out after the flood, because the Toe River near Red Hill had undermined and dislodged the railroad line, and filled up a tunnel passageway with debris. People in that area are short on supplies for winter and they had a wishlist that included propane fuel, camping stoves, handwarmers, blankets, food for diabetics, and ORV transport. However at the same time, since people in these remote areas still have limited storage areas it may have to be incremental; for instance, she pointed out a swing bridge that was crumpled up; and she pointed out homes where all that was left standing was a stone chimney.

North Carolina aerial airforce types such as Rebuild Rescue are doing flyovers recording how the river above Lake Lure has broadened to twice its size, jumped its channel, and altered the terrain. Hydrogeologically speaking, it will take work to assess how and if the streambed can be restored to its original alignment confined to a channel running parallel with the road and railroad embankments. There are many instances of this whether the French Broad River, Toe River, Pidgeon River, where major roadways are washed out.

Coordination between Local, State, and Federal Authorities

The extent of aid from even large corporations has been invaluable; for instance, Walmart has set up (10) emergency distribution centers. People are in most need of basic necessities such as bottled water, canned goods, winter clothing, portal-potties, tools, batteries, flashlights, headlamps, de-icers, boots, electrical cords, tires, etc. According to outside observers, the years of training in the mountains as survivalists have fostered hardwork, neighborliness, and organization. Many of these hillbillies are also veterans, and their sons and daughters have served in the military both as soldiers and civilians.

Thus, even when the Homeland Security delayed with approving Title 10 for mobilizing the standby troops in Fort Bragg or Fort Jackson or Fort Benning or other military installations in the area, the local soldiers took three-day leave just to help out at home; this accounted for the National Guard and others present even if they were not actually working in an official capacity. Naturally they combined with local area contractors, landscapers, farmers, and drainage district workers to rescue people caught in the 30 to 40 feet sludge flow.

According to Brooks Agnew and others, this storm measured at least 500 miles wide, and dumped up to 30 inches of rain in 72 hours; per Adapt2030, the record rainfall exceeded that of the hurricane in 1916, and before that in 1791. The previous record was 22 inches, and now it exceeded 29 inches, and many rain gauges were swept away or stopped recording. It did not help matters that the weather had been wet and rainy for days prior to Hurricane Helene’s arrival, meaning that the soil was already saturated and the drainage systems already filling up. Dams along French Broad River such as Lake Lure Dam, Pidgeon River (Walters Dam) and Nolichucky River (Nolichucky Dam, TN) are in danger of failure even with water released from the spillways.

In fact many of America’s dams are beyond their estimated life service; acquisition by asset-focused power companies further endanger required repair and maintenance. A sudden failure can severely exacerbate flooding and there is evidence that several dams had worn a pathway around the spillways and were flowing around the dam. In fact, according to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, there are more than 3,000 dams statewide. During flood season, those dam operators should be carefully coordinating spillway releases according to weather schedules; there is speculation that retention of water in the reservoir may have been done to facilitate “lithium leaching” in sediment at higher elevations.

If the navigation sluice gates were locked up so that water could back up to the altitudes where the lithium deposits are located to facilitate future lithium harvesting, that would be considered a tortfeasor, not to mention carelessness that led to manslaughter. In any case, the public has a right to know when tortable negligence in oversight takes place.

Good Samaritan laws

The need for encouragement and recognition of all the volunteers who have shown up from as far away as Ohio, Maryland, Florida, and Missouri is not being adequately demonstrated so far by authorities. In fact, many have complained about a cover-operation full of counterfeit claims made by various officials including minimizing death counts, overstating the extent to which power and cell-tower communications are restored, and dismissing or even threatening volunteers. This concern was discussed at SGT Report on October 5, 2024 broadcast with lawyer Todd Callender and Dr. Lee Vliet about the extent to which FEMA has oversight. And generally, although it varies by the state, local and state authority can take precedent; if the authorities deem there is federal agency overreach, it can limit its intrusion. Callendar also mentions victim survival assistance; that if the action is well-intentioned and the situation is critical, then saving the victim is a priority over “following chains of command.”

However the issue of “chain of command” and proper procedures is an issue that is centuries old, as told in the classic novella of “Billy Budd, Sailor” by American writer Herman Melville. From this reading, the moral might be that one should use common-sense and be respectful. Today “Billy Budd” might be a banned book; our society is increasingly at odds with “independent thinking” and “community organization outside the sphere of government.” Perhaps the “Golden Rule” of “Love Thy Neighbor” just doesn’t sound nihilistic enough.

Nevertheless, Dr. Vliet cites the Good Samaritan Law in medical care as similar to being able “to offer legal protection to people who give reasonable assistance to those who are, or whom they believe to be injured, ill, in peril, or otherwise being incapacitated.” Depending upon the country, it is a “legal principle that prevents a rescuer who has voluntarily helped a victim in distress from being successfully sued for wrongdoing. Its purpose is to keep people from being reluctant to help a stranger for fear of legal repercussions should they make a mistake in treatment.

An analogy to reflect upon is how in the old days before America was founded, if a pioneer found himself wounded by a dangerous animal, but a Cherokee Indian just happened to pass by and provide decent care. Even if the Indian were non-white (therefore seen as non-civilized), non-Christian, and many other sine qua non, the fact that the person is cured probably matters a great deal to the survivor. Yet today, our country seems to have shifted in favor of bureaucracy and red-tape to the point of inflicting harm from delays.

Everyone realizes that the recovery from Hurricane Helena (and any other recent hurricane, such as Milton) requires state-wide mobilization and coordination, such as Florida State Governor Ron DeSantis has. In North Carolina, a bright spot is offered by Chuck Edwards (R), North Carolina, whose district includes Asheville. His website, Edwards.House.gov offers near daily reports on Hurricane response and resources, including county by county.

Ultimately, coordination with local trusted centers, conducting citizen patrols, and assigning useful leaders are key to being able to obtain mass-assistance for groups of people living along the same road or rural township, not to mention faith and values.