Asheville, NC

First thing I want to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers for the Asheville, NC areas. As it reaches much farther than Asheville.
I am one of the few who got power back and not sure I will keep it, my immediate family are all fine.
I know you have seen the news but they can't get to where residents can.
There's only one Interstate open into the area and that is I-26 from SC.
There's no water system working in Asheville and surrounding areas. So there's no drinking water or cooking water.
The gas is scarce because there's no electricity and no way into our area, no cell service texting is the best way to communicate if you can find a tower.
Cell carriers are bringing in portable towers but if you can't get to 1 your out of luck.
Whole towns were submerged under water and buildings are gone!
I've never seen the devistation before.
I won't be responding to this thread because it will be too much for me to keep up with. But I wanted to share an update from within the area. If I find anything out that should be passed along I will post.
As I will be out in my community trying to help my neighbors with cleanup and whatnot.
Thank you again for your thoughts and prayers for our part of the Country.

 

Prayers with you and your community.
Please post any updates.

 

We have been watching what is going on down there in the news and communicating with my brothers down the road in Spartanburg. Spartanburg region has no power as of yesterday and my brother is running a generator set up from his camper to keep the refrigerator operational. Also said gas stations are all closed and damage to his area even though they got a lot of the rain was mostly wind related. Still had several deaths.
Yesterday my brothers fired up the grills and had a meat party and ate all the meat they could stomach before they had to throw it out.
We are planning to drive down in 4 weeks to visit and take in the SE Gasser event at Shadyside in Shelby but now are concerned about the trip from Spartanburg to Gatlinburg that we have reservations for with I40 washed out at the NC /TN state line. No word on Gatlinburg either or our hotel which is right on the Pigeon River. If we do make that part of the trip it looks like we have to go 60 miles detour up 26 to Bristol and then down.
I know that area well having visited yearly since my brothers moved down there in 1985. Also been to Asheville many times. I see the pictures on the news and cant imagine what everyone is going through down there. I wish everyone the best.
We got the remnants of that storm up here right now and it doesn't want to leave. Its rained for 3 days here (Kent Ohio) but nothing remotely like what you experienced. Your in our prayers.

 

I'm about an hour West of Asheville. A lot of trees down and power outages, but we were fortunately spared the destruction seen elsewhere. We still don't have phone/cell or internet service, save for a couple of random spots. Shortages of necessities - food/water, fuel, etc. - are becoming an issue now and I imagine it's going to get worse quickly with the area supply chain being so diminished.
Mom and dad are in the Southern end of Buncombe Co., within spitting distance of the French Broad, and they're still isolated due to floodwaters and tree debris. We've been able to exchange a few text messages and a brief phone call. They haven't had power since Friday, but are okay otherwise. They have a few neighbors that are also stuck and they've been able to take care of each other. It's a terribly helpless feeling not being able to get to them and do something.
I've grew up in Asheville, and have spent my whole 40-some-odd years in WNC. So many places that I've known, loved and held a lot memories are gone. It's heartbreaking.

I've seen a couple of videos from Sevierville, Pigeon Forge, and Gatlinburg on Youtube. It looks like they didn't get hit too hard and are operating somewhat normally.
I-26 is closed just over the TN/NC border. The section near Erwin TN is completely washed out.

 

I was just in Maggie Valley the weekend before this hit with a motorcycle forum. I love that area and it really is heartbreaking to see all the destruction. I'm active on ADVRider.com forum and there is an active thread over there for motorcyclists and it's been my best source for up to date reports. Link below. Hope this works for anyone interested. Not sure if you must be logged into their forum to see it all or not.

https://advrider.com/f/threads/riding-north-carolina-tn-and-va.1200235/page-754#post-51431147

Link is to the most recent posts so you may need to go back several pages to start closer to when this hit.

 

Just terrible! Hang in there. Prayers

 

I feel that what I'm seeing on the news is not anywhere near the full extent of the devastation. The cost for recovery will be tremendous and unfortunately some families will never fully recover. Last week, I was griping about the rain inhibiting some carpentry work on my house. I see now how insignificant my personal needs are in light of what my western neighbors are dealing with.

Stay strong mate.

 

My heart truly goes out to this region. We were camped out in Asheville/Mills Creek just this previous Wednesday.

I have been through big storms before, it sucks, but this one seems to have taken everyone by surprise. I hope for a painless recovery for everyone.

I'll be making a small donation to MANNA food bank (in addition to active orgs like red cross) and hope that they get operational asap.

 

Someone please let me know if the link I posted works for you......Thanks

 

Looks like it works.

 

Update: I-40 East out of Asheville is open I-40 from the East going West is still no travel. I-40 from TN is closed both directions. I-26 from TN both directions is closed. FEMA is here along with the NC National Guard. They are still ask people to stay away from the area for safety reasons and not hinder relief efforts. It's still dangerous around and many places still don't have power or water. Water is non-existent so this a problem. With the power lines on the ground you all know that issue.
https://drivenc.gov/
Here's the link for closed roads. Here's how to help.
https://pay.payitgov.com/ncdonations
https://www.nc.gov/working/volunteer-opportunities

 

Thanks for the update.

 

Prayers from St. Petersburg. Be safe.

 

AVL still out of water period, won't be back for awhile having to rebuild the water system. There's no water.
They've been announcing the Blue Ridge Parkway is closed from VA to AVL. until further notice.
Curfews are in place and increasing because of looting.
Leaf lookers are not welcome this year, I can't stress this enough there's no water.
The power is coming back but not to all the areas because they can't access them, the roads are gone
Grocery stores are opening up and starting to get dairy products in and taking cards instead of just cash.
Gas is starting to get easier to find because of the power coming back on line.
Things are getting better.

 

Sending positive vibes from the other end of the state; watching this all transpire on the news broke my heart as we love visiting the Asheville area, as well as Boone, Blowing Rock, etc. I remember opening up the National Hurricane Center page on NOAA and seeing a hurricane symbol over the border between NC and TN, which was absolutely shocking. I had just assumed the storm would start to break down once it hit land further south.

If anyone wants to post some donation links I’m sure people would be happy to give, just want to find a a way to get money most directly to the people impacted in that area.

 

https://www.mannafoodbank.org/how-you-can-help/donate/

 

Perfect, making a donation now

 

Manna got destroyed but they soldier on.

 

Forgot to mention that I-40 both directions from Statesville NC to Asheville are open but they only want relief efforts vehicles only going into WNC .
Thank you for your support and prayers.