Taking it Day to Day - Post Hurricane Helene
I live in Asheville, NC.
Three weeks ago today, my life was "normal."
That upcoming Sunday, my husband and I were going to take a lovely fall drive to see our daughter perform in the symphony at her university. The following Sunday, we were going to visit again to treat her to a birthday dinner at her favorite restaurant. And then she'd be home the weekend after that for fall break. Triple delight!! So unusual during the school year.
None of those things happened.
We were fortunate. Our daughter is safe where she lives. Her apartment building was unharmed and she's had power, water, and internet. Classes resumed yesterday, with full campus recovery many months away--or longer.
Our house was undamaged, although part of our driveway washed away and trees are down all over our property. We were without power for 16 days. We ran our generator sparingly which allowed access to water from our well.
I work from home. I currently have sparse, unstable cell phone and internet coverage. My phone flips from 1-2 bars to SOS repeatedly throughout the day. I've had a few brief calls with clients, which typically drop 2-3 times.
Sometimes the hot spot on my phone works and I can do a bit of work. Although they're closed, our local public library is providing free internet, so I can draft emails at home and hit send when I go out.
We're okay.
The losses are significant, devastating and unimaginable. Everyone in this area has been impacted by this disaster in some way—whether through the loss of lives, health, homes, jobs, schools, or so much more.
Interwoven with this destruction is the deep humanity and care shown by those around us. The sense of community support and caring has been powerfully uplifting.
When the insurance inspector called to make an appointment to look at our damage, the first thing he asked was "how are you doing?" I told him we're okay. He responded by saying he was so glad we were safe--that so often in his job, he isn't able to say that to people.
I've had dozens and dozens of friends and colleagues reach out to check on me--as well as people on LinkedIn who saw that I'm in Asheville and contacted me to see how they could help! My interactions with neighbors, utility workers, grocery store clerks, and people everywhere I've gone have been uplifting.
My hope for all of us is that we can hold on to this sense of connection and care as we move forward.
𝙃𝙚𝙧𝙚'𝙨 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙛 𝙚𝙛𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘼𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙖.
𝘼𝙡𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙡𝙤𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙛𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙗𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙙, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙢𝙖𝙯𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙩 𝙈𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙖 𝙁𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝘽𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙣𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙥 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮. https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2024/10/15/food-bank-bounces-back/
𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙙𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙈𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙖 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚: https://www.mannafoodbank.org/helene/