Disaster and calm

 

This probably was the town of Chimney Rock, where the river has been reconfigured into a close approximation of where it was before Hurricane Helene on Sept. 17, 2024. This was an Oct. 30 ABC news story.

A TV interview with a man outside his destroyed home and business.

Yes, many efforts have been made in the last month to bring back some of the order of roads that are connecting us. The biggest benefit remains how people came together with their neighbors (most for the first time) in this catastrophe throughout western North Carolina. Much remains to be done however.

While in my neck of the woods, some pretty leaves still give color around the buildings.

It's nice that these grounds had little damage from the storms. Kind of makes me grateful to live here!

Here is a video of Jennifer Berezan and others as they made her 2- hour long CD 10 years ago. "A Song for All Beings" Video is just six minutes.

In these Arms A Song for all Beings © (p) Jennifer Berezan I cannot turn my eyes, I cannot count the cost Of all that has been broken, all that has been lost I cannot understand, the suffering that life brings War and hate and hunger And a million other things When I've done all that I can And I try to do my part Let sorrow be a doorway Into an open heart And the light on the hills is full of mercy The wind in the trees it comes to save me This silence it will never desert me I long to hold the whole world in these arms May all beings be happy May all beings be safe May all beings everywhere be free

And here's the 2:15 hour concert: Song for All Beings

I listened to the whole concert...admittedly in short bursts. I loved it so much!

Today's quote:

When wealth is passed off as merit, bad luck is seen as bad character. This is how ideologues justify punishing the sick and the poor. But poverty is neither a crime nor a character flaw. Stigmatize those who let people die, not those who struggle to live.

-Sarah Kendzior, journalist and author (b. 1 Sep 1978)

Around the mountain towns

Many coves and ridges bring people together in these times. Yes, a disaster is a possibility for neighborly sharing. And then the scammers start arriving. So everyone is particularly cautious around strangers these days. What do they want to sell!

Downtown Spruce Pine NC

Penland School of Crafts (near Spruce Pine) reports the main road is cleared of trees but not good to travel on, so they're working on the gravel road.

Near Spruce-Pine - notice water line is also disrupted

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Good numbers to start the process of applying for help.

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Thank heavens for National Guard help

Sign still stands after everything else has washed away.

Chimney Rock with Helene's torture Photo by Nikolas Goninus

Below:

Reality check, showing people in Swannanoa just a few days ago. I'm sure they've been rescued by now, but it just is sobering to see some of what they went through!
 

Many mobile homes like this one were just swept away. I'm pretty sure that's where a lot of lives were lost. My thoughts go out to all their loved ones dealing with families lost. 

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Yes there is good news!

Press Release from the Town of Black Mountain Public Works, Police and Fire Departments.

Black Mountain, NC – October 3, 2024.

Situation Report- Over the course of storm response, over 400 lives have been saved. Basic needs are now being met in the town, and aid continues to arrive daily. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is onsite in the Town and assisting the Fire Department with secondary searches. FEMA will be going to damaged homes in order to inventory damaged structures. Additionally, resources are available for citizens for FEMA disaster assistance at www.disasterassistance.gov. BEWARE OF SCAMMERS. We have had reports of scammers in the area. Ask all personnel to show identification badges. All FEMA support will be in identifiable uniforms or vests.

Road Access & Fuel- We are pleased to report that 90% of town roads are clear within the Town of Black Mountain as of 9:00 A.M. The remaining roads are closed because they are impassible or are not safe to travel on at this time. With the restoration of power to the downtown area, several local gas stations have reopened. If you come to an intersection with the stop lights out, please treat this as a four-way stop.

Electricity- Power has been restored to portions of downtown Black Mountain. The majority of Black Mountain, Montreat and Ridgecrest remain without power. Power restoration will occur as lines are cleared. We encourage you to visit https://outagemap.duke-energy.com/#/carolinas to check on power restoration status. The Black Mountain Fire Department pulled electrical meters from unoccupied damaged structures in order to mitigate any potential fire hazards as power begins to be restored. Residents should turn off the hot water heater breakers at their home if power is restored in order to keep it from burning up due to no water. Also, residents should turn off their ice makers.

Town Public Water System- Town water and sewer systems are still down. Restoration of running water is still unknown. The Town of Black Mountain Public Works Department is working today to repair road washouts today to the rest of wells in order for crews to restore power to these wells. Further, crews are fixing leaks that they can and awaiting materials for one of the main water distribution lines. We are continuing to work with the City of Asheville to get one of the distribution lines back online. (more is available at their Facebook site)

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how I 26 looks on last Tuesday in Unicoi County, Tennessee, near the North Carolina border.

How I- 26 looks on Saturday in Unicoi County, Tennessee, near the North Carolina border

Map of I-26 W between NC and TN

I-26 between Weaverville and Johnson City…closed till March 2025, photo near the NC-TN border.

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I-40 between Asheville and Knoxville…closed till September 2025

Map of I-40 between Asheville NC and Knoxville TN

Mud Tools production office, tools for potters everywhere, Bat Cave NC

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Today's quote:

The principal goal of education in the schools should be creating men and women who are capable of doing new things, not simply repeating what other generations have done; men and women who are creative, inventive, and discoverers, who can be critical and verify, and not accept, everything they are offered. -Jean Piaget, psychologist (1896-1980)

Chimney Rock and fun clouds

  

This view, with a mickey mouse kind of cloud, shows Chimney Rock up on the top of those bluffs. It really is in front of them with a US flag on top of it, so it isn't showing in this view.

Looking the other direction are the bluffs on the other side of the valley through which the Broad River flows into Lake Lure. 

This is the marina, and somewhere over to the left are pontoon boats that take tours around the lake. I might do that, if the price is right.

Entrance gate to Chimney Rock

If the elevator is running, I might go up to the lookout...or maybe not. Depends on the price of tickets!

I may have showed you this little beach last week, on Lake Lure.

Sharing with Skywatch Friday!

Today's quote:

“Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.”

Wandering from creekside through Spanish Class to Chimney Rock

Flat Creek when it's behaving itself.  There is nothing flat about it, full of rocks, tumbling from the heights down to join the various forks of the Swannanoa River in Black Mountain NC.

It's rainy today, with spats of heavy showers, and much grey sky.  It's also not only terrifically humid (like 100%) but hot (at least upper 70s) though not as bad as some thermometers in the world these days.

I enjoyed a Spanish conversation class at the Lakeview Center today...some folks (not all seniors) drop by to share sentences they've formed with key words that they drew from a box of vocabulary words.  Then everyone else tries to guess what the sentences mean.  Some of us are a bit more advanced than others, and thankfully they correct the rest of us.

I had the stunning experience of my brain just plain freezing up.

I couldn't say anything except, "my brain has stopped working".  I'm grateful that I could still say that...as the gestures of holding my head might have been misinterpreted...in either language.  So that's what I get for trying to form conversation in Spanish.  I hope I can entice my brain to work a bit better.  That's the point, after all.  I'm not planning to use Spanish in traveling, or even with some of the Hispanic people in Black Mountain.

 I just want my brain to keep working. And learning new things is supposed to be better than doing things we already know how to do, over and over again.  Now I know that I got to a point today in forming new neural pathways, where there was either a road block, or my ability to follow any pathway in my brain took a break.

Not too far down the road from Black Mountain, is Chimney Rock, a great cliff on each side of another river valley (gorge perhaps) which leads to Lake Lure.  You can't tell that the chimney is over on the right, separate from the cliff face.  No wonder some of this was the setting for "Last of the Mohicans" movie.

Incidentally, I was given a heads up that the elevator has been repaired at the park so that you don't have to climb the stairs up to the look-out area.  (But for those of us with claustrophobia, be warned!)

Chimney Rock looking towards Lake Lure

 The repairs from the landslide on NC 9 are coming along, and it has one lane open, maybe not on weekends, but at least some of the time.

This is a pretty recent shot of the landslide...imagine that it had been totally covered by the trees which fell, and the road repair crew had to build a road of some kind to get to the top to removed trees and grade it.  No wonder it's taken 2 months.