Helene in Western NC. I'm a WNC native and knew something was off after 3 straight days of rain before the hurricane winds were even supposed to hit. I remember telling my boss the day before something was wrong and this was different and he laughed at me. Woke up to the sound of my windows getting pushed in and the loudest rain I'd ever heard. Walked out to the road to see the only way out was up to my shins, and the wind was trying to knock me over with the trees screaming. Taped cardboard over my windows, charged everything I could, ran my bathtubs and plugged them, then grabbed my cats, flashlight, and phone and went to sleep in the bathroom (my center most room).

Woke up to quiet, then walked outside and saw a white pine through the roof of the apartment building above me like a spear. Trees everywhere, water so high and nowhere to go, power lines and poles floating in the road. Took out the cell towers so my neighbor and I raided remotes and his girlfriend's vibrator for batteries to power a small radio he had. We sat in his dark living room staring at the dark cell tower in the distance (no warning lights even) and the first transmission we got was the current dead and missing list. Neighbors started just walking around aimlessly the first day sharing what need they had, where they tried to get out, water bottles and snacks. Day two everybody started grilling their formerly frozen meat and passing it out. After that people started fighting over pool water to flush their toilets, I started smelling my neighbors' collective shit and piss, and was running around playing tag with the local kids for something to do other than wonder if the whole state had washed off the map...

They didn't get my road cleared enough to leave (I was out helping and trying but I was an apartment dweller with only an angle grinder and limited battery lol) until about 5 days in. No stoplights were on, cops were stopping people on their way out to give directions and manage everything. Cop asked where I was going, I said Charlotte since I had family there and knew I had just enough gas to get there. He said "Well you can't go this way, you can't go that way, but you should be able to go this way and God be with you". 

As soon as I got near enough to a cell tower it was alert, email, text, buzzing, beeping and my car read off horrible message after horrible message. Family members trying to see if I was alive, news headlines of this and that, and most horrifyingly a text that just simply said "Dude, Chimney Rock is GONE."

It was another 30 mins before I got a strong enough signal to call family. Checked in on my family in northern WNC first. Thankfully they knew I was alive enough to try to call them and saw a missed call from me once a day. They were stranded without power but alive, together, and trying to decide if they were going to put the boat in the bed of the truck when they came to rescue me. Hung up on them after asking them to call the family I was on my way too see and called my boyfriend as my brother said he'd been asking how I was for days and no one knew. Got instantly asked if things were as bad as they looked on TV and I just had to say "... I don't know. You have to catch me up because I only know what I saw."

That was the start of the next week of me just reading headline after headline, trying to get ahold of friends, and just sobbing. Eventually loaded up my car with water and survival gear, headed back in, and tried to visit everyone I hadn't made contact with to see if they were alive and drop off toilet paper, water, and canned food. The soil along the rivers was melting the soles of boots from the plastics factory the river ate. Everything was orange with clay dust and the rivers were not where they used to be. The areas along the sides of the river banks and roads were just strewn with family photos, toys, shoes... Septic tanks sideways against cliff faces, truck trailers washed up against houses, bridges gone, signs over the highways were flashing warning people not to go to WNC and that the highway to Tennessee was GONE. 

It took so long to get water back, even longer to get clean water back. I'm terrified of not having clean water and most of my pantry is bottles of water, shelf stable food, and emergency supplies. I saw so much beautiful charity and neighbors helping neighbors in the aftermath though. Donkey trains, hikers, and private helicopter pilots going into remote hills to check on elderly relatives and being medication and supplies. Restaurants opening their doors and feeding everyone they could. Volunteers digging through the litter along the banks trying to reunite people with their items. Individuals and companies from around the state, country, and even outside the country just sending as much help as they could. Gave me faith that we can still get along with each other when things get real bad.