Last week I put my life on pause and went to Western North Carolina to help with restoration. It was the fall of 2024 that Hurricane Helene dumped incredible amounts of rain and wind on the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee. The result was significant damage and loss of life. I’m told around 260 people died, mostly on the western side of the continental divide where Interstate 40 crosses the border into Tennessee.
Where I visited, the town of Chimney Rock was completely demolished. Fast moving landslides threw tons of rocks, trees, and water down the valleys. Everything there converged on the town and wiped out everything in the way. This area is rural and remote, and one of many places still suffering a year later.
Driving in, the roads were still collapsed and limited to one lane with sharp drops toward the river. Houses hung on the river’s edge, their insides spilling out. Twisted vehicles lay upside down completely embedded with mud. Many houses were just gone while others floated downstream and became lodged amongst the trees.
I volunteered with Spokes of Hope.
They are volunteer driven and have rebuilt the town of Chimney Rock and are continuing to coordinate, build and repair far beyond this town in the name of Jesus. Hordes of Amish have volunteered along with many churches, companies, and individuals both religious and nonreligious.
I came with a few people from church. It was good to have a break from the stress of the desk job, get some manual labor under my belt, and serve God and fellow mankind. Monday, we went to work on a house, one of about ten that were washed away in a small stretch of the rural countryside. This is a solid 35 minutes from Chimney Rock and past Lake Lure (which is still being dredged every day for whatever was washed there).
One day it was raining, so we went into a Spokes of Hope warehouse that needs to be up fitted for future use. It had also gone through the ringer and water ruined everything that was previously inside it and the warehouse next door. We moved contaminated dirt, moved pallets of donated furniture, demoed inside, built walls, painted, installed insulation, windows, and doors, among various other tasks.
Another day we worked on an old house that had about five feet of water run through it, one of many such houses in the area. We replaced floor beams, created drainage, and installed underlayment. There are so many people still waiting for volunteers to slowly rebuild their houses for free. I’m sure many are still paying mortgages on their old houses as well.
I spent days with people that drive from far away every week or two and continue to serve. I come back knowing that the effort is larger than its parts, that God moves when people sacrifice in His name, and that the American culture of uniting on common ground is still alive and well despite the division that desperately tries to tear us apart.
Long past when the media moved on to all of the Next Thing, this area still needs a lot of help. Help and money are dwindling, and there is much to do.
This isn’t a call to action, its just a reminder.
We have pizza with the fire chief of Bat Cave, NC, Steve Freeman. He told us some amazing stories and so I’m including the videos below to provide those here as well.
