As you no doubt know, Hurricane Helene slammed into the Southeast a week ago and stayed strong into the Appalachian mountains. Splendor in the Sticks hails from the foothills of those western North Carolina mountains and we got our electricity back last night after six days of not having power. We are grateful for the hard, HARD work being done by line crews (the one who replaced our snapped power pole hailed from Missouri), city and county workers trying to clear roads, keep us informed, and do everything you often don’t notice that your town does to allow you to live in comfort. Yes, we were inconvenienced – the contents of our fridge and freezer had to be discarded entirely, we had a little water seepage (meaning we have to do some waterproofing and drainage work), and humbly learned the generous nature of our neighbors, who kept us supplied with good humor, power blocks for charging devices, warm food, laundry facilities, and so much more.
And we’re the lucky ones.
Further west, in the beautiful Blue Ridge, there is widespread devastation that hasn’t even been adequately calculated. Lake Lure, where my parents honeymooned and Dirty Dancing was filmed, looks like a tornado-hit parking lot, due to all the boat debris littering the lake surface, along with most of the nearby town of Chimney Rock. Many of these smaller communities – Old Fort, Black Mountain, Fletcher, dear Swannanoa – are just now being reached, and that is often by unconventional means, such as mule train. We’ve had airdrops of supplies, since roads are swept away – and we’re talking about interstates, not just little red dirt roads. The entire Blue Ridge Parkway – a breathtakingly gorgeous scenic drive stretching 469 miles through North Carolina and Virginia – is closed indefinitely. I-40 and I-26 are closed in this area for well into the next year.
Divas – it’s time to assemble. Our guiding light here at Splendor is that we take care of ourselves so we can take care of others and others need us badly just now. Here and here are two starting points for ways you can help.
If you can drop off supplies, please do so. Bottled water, baby supplies (diapers, formula, etc.), non-perishable food, matches, lighters, first aid kits, and pet food are always needed. And, God help us all, winter is coming to those mountains, so consider warm socks and clothing. Make flood buckets. Look around your community – so many places are drop-off points.
If you can’t drop off supplies, please donate in other ways. Funds to buy these things, to buy gasoline to get the aid to the people needing it, to buy feed for the mules (yes, I’m serious about the pack mule trains), and more are badly needed. Look for reputable charities, such as those on the two lists up above.
Donate your time. If you can spend an afternoon at a drop-off point sorting through donated clothes or assembling hygiene kits, please do. Give blood if you can – there is going to be a massive shortage.
Reach out to your neighbors. Trust me, no one who has been without electricity for three-plus days cares if your laundry room is a bit untidy – having warm, clean clothes and towels (we used every one in our house to sop up water after we lost power) feels like heaven. Letting someone in need use your generator and power blocks to charge devices is, as my Jewish friends would say, a mitzvah. Same for offering half a shelf in your fridge/freezer so not EVERYTHING has to be thrown away. Same for letting someone use your shower or your spare room. We have so much that we often don’t even realize what we have.
This is going to take all of us.
Straighten your tiaras – let’s get to work.
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