Doing so much good for their community. Of course, I think many have seen by now that the current scene in western North Carolina is completely devastating — there's really no other way to put it. Hurricane Helene came through the southeast on Thursday and Friday, wreaking havoc on Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, North and South Carolina and other states in its path. But what happened in the southern Appalachian mountains of North Carolina is utterly heartbreaking. Over a foot of rain fell on cities like Asheville, which had over 14 inches of rain on Thursday and Friday. Some areas like Busick received nearly 31 inches, and Spruce Pine had 24.12 inches through 8AM Saturday. Catastrophic flash flooding, mud slides, and downed trees took out homes, cars, and even entire towns in some cases. Very sadly, a total of over 150 people have died so far from Helene in multiple different states (with many more still missing), and that will only continue to rise as water recedes and emergency workers can continue to assess the tragic situation. Towns like Chimney Rock and Old Fort look to simply be gone, leaving only rubble and devastation behind:
You can see Lake Lure (where
Dirty Dancing was filmed), filled with debris from people's homes. In some cases, it could be remnants of entire houses or other business buildings: https://www.instagram.com/p/DAb12BcRCKo/ Asheville, the biggest city in the North Carolina mountains, was hit extremely hard, and many of the more remote, more rural areas nearby look as bad or so much worse. It's hard to even put into words the amount of devastation and loss that has occurred: <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en"> The water receded at Biltmore Village today revealing the devastation. I have been in this area many times, and today it was not recognizable. Now that the water is gone the rebuilding process can begin <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/helene?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="nofollow"> #helene </a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ncwx?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="nofollow"> #ncwx </a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/asheville?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="nofollow"> #asheville </a><a href="https://t.co/ZgMYFrZJ07" rel="nofollow"> pic.twitter.com/ZgMYFrZJ07 </a></p> — Dan Whittaker (@severeforecast) <a href="https://twitter.com/severeforecast/status/1840543834796655009?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="nofollow"> September 30, 2024 </a></blockquote><script async charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"> The terrain in this part of the state is mountainous, and many people live in extremely remote areas that are tough enough to get to as it is. Many of them have been without power, water and cell service for days now, and it's beyond heartbreaking. There's really no words to describe how dire and bad it is. But there is hope, and so many have stepped up to help by donating money, time and even resources to those in need, including NASCAR owners Joe Gibbs and Rick Hendrick, who are using their
private helicopters and planes to assist in recovery efforts however they can: Driver Greg Biffle, along with Cleetus McFarland, is also helping organize donations and flying them to areas of western North Carolina that are only accessible via air... and that's an incredibly large part of the region at the moment due to many road closures. And not only is Joe Gibbs continuing to send his private helicopter for good (it was back in Boone this morning), but the Joe Gibbs Racing office in Huntersville, North Carolina collected supplies all day yesterday and this morning, filling up a hauler that's typically used to transport their very expensive race cars, to carry even more supplies up to he mountains via truck. Some of the major highways have been reopened in some areas, enough to let trucks like this bring important and needed supplies into the towns: https://www.instagram.com/p/DAlNHZgR2mk/?img_index=9 They also shared some video of their chopper on the ground: https://www.instagram.com/p/DAjE74eRMAx/ Jr. Motorsports, owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr., is another team collecting items to send at their Mooresville office: https://www.instagram.com/p/DAlqueTxkfq/ And in addition to 23XI owner Michael Jordan <nbtemplate data-id="AdPlaceholder" data-content="JTdCJTdE"></nbtemplate><strong><a href="https://www.whiskeyriff.com/2024/09/30/michael-jordan-his-23xi-racing-nascar-team-donate-1-million-to-north-carolina-disaster-relief/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank"> donating one million dollars </a></strong> for hurricane relief in North Carolina, their race office is also collecting supplies at their Huntersville office to transport up the mountain: https://www.instagram.com/p/DAl_CXTSxtE/?img_index=1 And I'm certainly not surprised at all to see the NASCAR community step up like this. The mountains here, as well as the foothills, are integral to the sport that started in the hills and hollers that have been so devastated. Charlotte Motor Speedway has opened their land and space to those assisting with relief efforts, and North Wilkesboro Speedway is collecting items to donate and take to those higher up in the NC mountains. A HUGE thank you to everyone who was offered anything to our beautiful Appalachian mountains, whether it was a prayer, donation, or anything else. It's going to be a long road to recovery, and we need all the help we can get. It means more to the people up there than you can possibly imagine, and we are all <nbtemplate data-id="AdPlaceholder" data-content="JTdCJTdE"></nbtemplate><em> so </em> incredibly grateful for it. If you feel led to donate, no matter the amount, <a href="https://samaritanspurse.org/article/pray-for-those-in-helenes-path/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> Samaritan's Purse </a> is headquartered in Boone, and already has boots on the ground with volunteers and employees helping with relief efforts. Other great places to donate include the <a href="https://donate.mannafoodbank.org/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> Manna FoodBank </a> in Asheville, <a href="https://www.hosphouse.org/donate" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> Hospitality House </a> of Northwest North Carolina and <a href="https://feedingaveryfamilies.org/support-faf/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> Feeding Avery Families </a> , just to name a few. </div>
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