‘It’s just catastrophic’: West Virginia chef with Asheville ties recalls experience helping Hurricane Helene victims

CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) – One Charleston chef with ties to Asheville is recalling his experience helping people whose lives were destroyed by Hurricane Helene.

John Evans, a chef at 1010 Bridgem has made two trips down to Asheville where he lived for several years. He left on Oct. 2 for his first trip and came back from his second visit on Monday.

“In a week’s span, I’ve been down there a total of about 48 hours, I guess, and spent 28 hours on the road, driving back and forth with traffic because with 40 and 26 being out, transit is a little crazy right now,” he said.

Evans said the Asheville he once knew looks nothing like what Hurricane Helene left behind.

“We had a point on a map to go to and hoping that we could get there. Went under downed power lines, a lot of debris on the roads. Coming out of Black Mountain going down there was just so much mud on the interstate from people driving out of Black Mountain that had been able to get out, and there were still people trapped up on the mountains. It’s just catastrophic the amount of debris that’s piled up beside the interstates,” Evans said.

Before his first departure, Evans and several staff members at 1010 packed up donations that community members dropped off at the restaurant to take down to Asheville. Evans said he plans to make future trips after seeing the devastation firsthand.

“It was just numbing,” he said. “Because now you’re seeing the kids seeing the effects. At first, they’re like ‘Oh we’re out of school, we’re having fun, we’re running around.’ Now they’re tired, and there’s no normalcy down there.”

What truly impacted him, and even brought tears to his eyes as he recounted the story, were people’s testimonies.

“Usually, they walk up to you, and they start crying, and they give you a hug. ‘Thank you,'” Evans said.

Evans said it will require an “ultramarathon” to get places like Asheville back on their faith.

“I mean, people always say it’s not a sprint. It’s a marathon. I’m a runner, I’ve run all distances. I don’t like sprints. I’m not a very fast guy. Marathons, I don’t like either because they’re on the road. Ultramarathons I love because they’re in the mountains, and you’re out there all day. This is an ultramarathon,” he said.

He continued, “It’s not going to end today. It’s not going to end tomorrow. It’s not going to end next year. They’re not even going to have an interstate until next year. So, they need help, and they’re going to continue to need help. In a day or so, Florida is going to need help too. So, FEMA is going to have to divert their resources there. Asheville is going to get left in the backseat, and it’s going to get left to the locals to take care of themselves.”

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