Former TV journalist who retired in Asheville aids in Helene relief efforts

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WNCN) — After 40 years as a news anchor and reporter, Frank Kracher is finding out what it’s like to be part of the story.

“It was always somebody else’s problem. You went and you were on the outside looking in and you were talking to them about what they were going through. And now you look around you go, wait a second, this is very much mine. I own this as well,” Kracher said from his home that still remains with water and electricity.

Kracher wrapped his career up in Asheville at WLOS and retired in the city he has come to love — a city with parts he now doesn’t even recognize, and an entire mountain region he mourns for after Helene hit western North Carolina hard .

“I was in San Francisco for the for the quake in 1989, and the sense there was looking around and saying, ‘Is this place ever going to be the same? Are they ever going to be able to fix all this?’ The answer was no,” Kracher said. “They were able to make a lot of improvements, and over the course of years get back to a new normal, and I see this as being even bigger. This is so widespread and people have said this is ultimately going to be worse than Katrina. I wouldn’t argue with that.”

Kracher’s wife Barbra Fisher is a well known local artist. Her art and studio in the River Arts District were wiped out in Helene’s wrath. So they both have gone to work in a different way.

“It’s almost like we have assignments every day. I get up in the morning and go with three other people down to a creek nearby and we get buckets and buckets and buckets of water just to flush toilets,” said Kracher. “Other people will always say, ‘Hey, I’m going to the store. Do you need anything?’ We have friends who’ve gone out of town to get a bit of a break. They call and say, ‘I’m coming back. What should I pack the car with?’ Yesterday and today I was able to go out and do food deliveries for Western North Carolina AIDS project.”

With no means of communication in the first few days, those on the outside knew far more about the damage and the loss than people in the middle of it all. But there is one thing Kracher is realizing that doesn’t require the internet, cell service, electricity or the media.

“One thing I’ve learned, not only in this disaster but from covering others: what you see is good people become better and bad people become worse,” Kracher said. “And I can tell you that now I’m seeing a whole lot more good and a whole lot more better than the other side of it, which lifts you up.”

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CBS17.com.