I have been living a hellish nightmare since Hurricane Helene came to town September 27th. It all began with rain a day before it hit. It got windy and the rain got heavy before the electricity went out. I eventually learned more than a million people in our region lost power. And then the Internet, cell, text and phone service just stopped. And then the water stopped running.
Woke up the next morning to find broken branches and leaves covering our parking lot and one broken tree hanging out on wires over the street out front. It was predicted to be the worst storm to hit our area in the last 500 years but we almost kinda felt cheated. The hurricane did not seem to be a big deal.
Some of us went out to venture around to see if there really was much more. We could walk or drive maybe a half mile in any direction to find whole trees blocking the entire road in every direction. There was very little news available because even most radios we could access required electricity if they were even broadcasting locally. Most of us had no easy way to really know the extent of the damages. We had no way to contact or hear from anyone outside our own neighborhood. Other than gathering small broken branches to drag to the street edge for pickup and getting that one big tree cut, everyone on our block seemed fine.
Cell phone service was restored September 30th but with very poor service. Data service and connection to the Internet was so spotty it was still very limited use. We might be able to call friends and family to let them know we were OK, but the calls dropped off over and over for days before it got steady enough to search for any further information. Depending on the carrier, some neighbors still didn't have mobile service so they had to borrow working phones to at least contact family. Of course there was always that recording, “all circuits are busy now. Please try your call again later.” I must have heard that recording 300 times in the past few days.
With no power, refrigerators were all off and food was going to have to go. Our little apartment complex joined forces among ourselves. We all joined in to build a fire in an outside fire pit. There were plenty of downed branches from the storm to keep the fire roaring. Took the racks out of an oven to make a grill surface and began having big meals to share from each refrigerator. First time some neighbors who all lived right here even met each other. We sort of made it a big block party as we shared supplies we each already had.
A whole frozen turkey was the last to thaw so that was the last dinner from the fridge to share. Hated to throw away what we could not eat but there was no way we could save the leftovers as we all pigged out on all we could eat from each meal.
Roads were finally cleared enough to venture out for more supplies, but most grocery stores, gas stations and all other businesses were closed either because they still had no electricity, or water, or had been damaged by winds and flooding. A few tenants went out hunting to bring back supplies for us all, at least whatever they could find. One of our tenants was able to get a 55 gallon barrel of water in the back of his truck from a rain water collection at his work so we had enough to flush when needed.
Still no electricity, and my modem was still not getting service so I could not use my computer. At least the cell service improved enough to search out news for this area.
As a comparison, consider this report as an example of the entire affected region and consider the 73 periods used here as the rare spots that were hardly touched. It seems I live in an area represented by one of those periods. Although we had very little mess to clean up right here, the rest of the region is devastated.
Two weeks later, trees have mostly been cleared from the roadways but a lot of them are still on top of buildings or cars. A lot of wires are still laying across roadways and all you can do is drive over them. In the worst hit areas, buildings had been inundated under more than 30 feet of floodwaters and are now smashed to pieces. The damaged construction material and building contents are just laying all over the place. Railroad crossing arms were ripped up and lay as twisted reminders of where they stood. Mud scraped from the roadways line many streets like plowed snowbanks in the winter. Mud is still thick enough on the hardest hit areas that those roads are still blocked.
I have my solar electric system, but there has been so much cloud cover I'm not getting enough power to do much with it at all. I can't keep my own refrigerator going with so little sunlight. At least there has been enough charge to keep everyone's electronic devices charged up. I have been recharging devices as needed including games, cell phones, backup battery packs, gizmos I can't even describe and a blood test device for a diabetic resident.
Water went out near the end of the storm. The city mayor came on the news to explain that many streets were ripped up right down to the underground water supply pipes and it could be weeks or months without running water. Seems she learned at the same time the rest of us learned that our water services come from 2 separate water reservoirs. She reported on the north reservoir but failed to mention the south reservoir. My neighborhood is apparently being served by the southern reservoir that does not have the same level of damage. Our water service was restored on October 2nd even though much of the city is still without and will be without for some time.
By this time a handful of gas stations had reopened, but the lines took hours before you got to the pumps and even then they ran out of gas before everyone in line could be served. Most accepted cash only because the charging system requires electricity and an Internet connection to run the computers and banking connections. Charge cards were pretty useless even with ATMs due to the power loss. If you didn't have cash on hand you were stuck. My bank and the ATM at that location were underwater in the flood zone so I can't access a thing there, even 2 weeks later. I hate paying the ATM fees at other bank facilities. It was always free to use at my bank.
Some customers could only hand carry fuel cans and stand in line because their vehicles had already run out of fuel. Then they had to drive back and go through the lines a second time when they had enough gas in the car to do so. Of course, all EVs were simply stranded right where they were with no way to recharge. (Yet another reason EVs are NOT the answer.)
There were several places handing out free water and even limited hot food dinners if you could get there early enough to get some before they run out. Food banks with needed supplies have popped up in dozens of locations. I happen to have a few extra ice chests and began filing them with the free hand out water bottles to have on hand for the next big emergency. I now have about 25 gallons of bottled water saved in ice chests in preparation. There are still some roads blocked by downed trees, wires or flood damaged roadways that are impassable although repairs have been moving forward at a rapid pace with astounding improvements each day.
Trash and garbage pickup service was suspended until October 7th because the trucks could not navigate the blocked roadways. All that rotting food from the refrigerators piled up next to the full cans and dumpsters adding a rancid stench to the air all around. At least all that has now been picked up.
A few grocery stores finally restocked and reopened followed by several others each day, but there is very little available to buy that would require refrigeration. Hundreds of crews from around the US and Canada have come to town to help with repairs but it will still be months to get back to normal. My electricity finally came back on October 3rd, but my modem and computer are not yet working.
Seems my Internet carrier thought my connection was repaired on October 5th. They contacted me by text message, but when trying to connect, it is just not working quite yet. In the meantime, many more gas stations and grocery outlets are now open and those with fully restored power are accepting credit and debit cards. There are no longer long lines waiting for service but many areas are still without electricity even two to three weeks later, and some areas don't expect water service anytime soon. Repairs are going forward everywhere and access to more sources are improving daily.
The hardest hit areas are going to take awhile but we seem to be well on the way back. I have heard reports that more than 260 people have died locally during the storm and more than 1000 people are reported missing. So many people left town to stay with friends and relatives during the aftermath that it is very likely most of the missing are just out of town. I suppose we will eventually hear something more accurate over the next few weeks and months. You can find multiple videos about this disaster by searching “Helene Asheville”.
A funny thing happened October 7th. I walked to one of the properties where I work to begin cleanup of broken branches I had noted earlier. I pulled along a wagon to load up all the branches and had just entered the driveway when a car pulled in right next to me. As it happened, a tenant was moving out and had piled the stuff he no longer wanted by the curb for city trash pickup.
By sheer coincidence, my wagon was right next to a large truck toolbox they had discarded. The guy in the car wanted that toolbox, but saw my wagon right next to it and assumed I was there to pick it up myself. He said something about me being the first there so he started to drive off. He then backed up and said hey, if I give you $20 right now, can I take the tool box? I said sure! He gave me $20 so he could take it. Quite honestly, I did not have a truck and had no interest in it. $20 profit just for being there! Should I feel guilty? NAW!
My internet service provider contacted me a third time telling me my Internet connection was repaired on October 17. Yet again, it was not. I again contacted them by phone and was told all service tickets had been completed. If my own service was not working, they would have to make an appointment to come to my home to check what was still wrong. Problem is, they have a big backlog. My appointment is not until November 9. Today is October 18.
So with this continued delay with my current provider, I broke down and ordered the frequently advertised Ryoko portable modem October 19. It was at a reduced purchase of $40 for the modem itself and an ongoing $12.95 per month for full service and no data limits or roaming fees. (My existing service has been slightly more than $50 per month for years.)
My internet connection has still not yet been repaired. I now have the Ryoko portable modem and just now got it up and running. That explains why I've been gone all this time. Although there were an initial few language glitches, it seems to be working fine for now. I may end up just canceling my expensive internet provider.
Note: I have added or altered details in this report as they happened each day since the storm over the past few weeks while waiting for my internet service to return. Clean up and repairs are ongoing and are expected to continue for months.
Did anyone learn anything from this? Probably not. We will see the next time some disaster hits and everyone is in a world of hurt again.
