Army veteran has boots on the ground in North Carolina High Country

Army veteran Ken Thomas said there was little doubt that he would use his military experience to help his fellow North Carolinians recover following Hurricane Helene.

Thomas began volunteering with a non-profit organization called Operation: Airdrop in the wake of the Sept. 26 storm that left more than 220 people dead and devastated the western part of the state with fast-moving flood waters.

“I chose them because they seemed to offer the best solution to getting emergency supplies to stranded people in the region and I also thought my Army background might be useful because I'd spent some time with helicopters,” he said.

Thomas said the experience he gained as a result of serving in the Army from 1986 to 1990 turned out to be irrelevant because most private helicopters ended up being used for search-and-rescue.

“It was just packing boxes of donated goods and loading them on small planes,” he said. “As some roads into the area started opening up, I got drafted to ferry truckloads of cargo into the region. That wasn't really something that was planned. I have a big truck, know my around a chainsaw and a winch, and I suppose I look like a guy who will get stuff where it needs to go.

"I guess my Army experience did come in useful for that because I can still use a compass and a topo map. Google Maps is useless in the region because there's still no cell phone service and most of the main roads are gone.”

Thomas and his wife relocated to North Carolina from their home state of West Virginia in 1994 to pursue job opportunities.

Having lived in the Tarheel State for three decades, Thomas said he and his wife Vicki are  “pretty experienced” when it comes to hurricanes and rode out Helene at home in Thomasville.

“We keep a chainsaw, a generator, about 40 gallons of fuel, plenty of drinking water, and about two weeks of canned food on hand all the time,” he said. “We're not what anyone would call 'preppers', I don't think - but I'm a veteran and we're both West Virginians. We like to be pretty self-sufficient.”

Helene’s path stayed west of the couple's home, which had very little damage. Thomas said the few trees that came down on their property would become wood for their fireplace. He added that their power was out for less than six hours.

However, the communities west of Morganton did not fare so well, Thomas said.

“ Helene was an unusually devastating hurricane because the entire area got 6-12 inches of rain in the days before the hurricane became a factor. They were already getting flash flood warnings,” he said. “Most of the rivers, creeks and lakes were already near flood stage. With the ground already saturated trees fell everywhere when the wind picked up, and some places got an additional 20 inches of rain in just a few hours. The results really are catastrophic. One stream in Caldwell County crested at 22 feet above flood stage.”

He noted that the only flat ground to build things on in Appalachian communities lies at the bottom of valleys near creeks and rivers. Along with many houses and almost all the businesses, that's also where the roads, power lines and water and sewer lines go.

“Helene destroyed anything that was within 50 yards of a river or creek - sometimes more. bridges, roads, substations, power lines, water treatment plants, and entire communities were wiped out,” he said. “There's a mud plain now where there used to be a town. People who got out of their homes before it washed away don't have anywhere to go. People with houses that were high enough on the mountain to survive are trapped with no power and generally no cell service.”

Thomas said his impression is that people who are native to the area are coping pretty well.

“Appalachian culture. They can handle it,” he said. “But there are a lot of transplants - the NC High Country is popular with tourists and wealthy people from somewhere else. They don't seem to be coping as well.”

Thomas called the outpouring of donated goods following the storm “overwhelming.”

“ It will probably take another week to get it all to the people who need it, but I feel like those immediate needs have been addressed,” he said. “Now what they're mostly going to need is money to rebuild.”

Thomas’ advice is to donate to The United Way of North Carolina.

“They've got a 100 percent rating on Charity Navigator, and are close enough to the ground to know where the money needs to go and how to most effectively distribute it,” he said.

Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com .