Helene has left at least 116 people dead, CBS News has confirmed, and caused widespread destruction.
*****
Several people have asked how they can help and where to send donations.
With the destruction and damage so widespread as well as comms being down, I don't know how you'd contact anybody in the area. My first instinct would be to donate cash, food, or clothing to the Salvation Army or check with your church to see if they've got something going on. If you live in the South and your city/county is sending rescue crews, you might want to consider giving your donations of money or goods to them.
If any of you have ideas, please leave them in the comments below for other readers who might want to help but don't know how.
Sundance over at Conservative Treehouse is all over the governor of North Carolina regarding his utter fecklessness in responding to this disaster.
ReplyDeleteHe also has a great article showing how private groups are helping. He mentions that Franklin Graham’s group Samaritan’s Purse is based locally and that might be a good group to support with a donation.
I've got the private groups post scheduled in about an hour.
DeleteGave to Samaritans purse today. There HQ is in the middle of the affected area of NC
DeleteLived in the Midwest when those tornados ripped through Nebraska. Many discovered that you DON'T want to support the Red Cross. There was a nearby distribution center for the Church of Christ Disaster Relief group, and they did yeoman's work on getting supplies to people. I'm sure there are a number of religious affiliated groups that do similar work.
DeleteMight be an idea. They are located in Boone, NC. ~90 miles NE of Ashville.
ReplyDeletehttps://samaritanspurse.org/article/pray-for-those-in-helenes-path/
The salvation army and red cross are not helpful.
ReplyDeleteSamaritans purse
Correct!
DeleteWell you can dump this over there, then
ReplyDeletehttps://x.com/smcroasters/status/1840701477762781233
WiscoDave
Samaritans Purse is supposed to be a good organization. Salvation Army CEO is paid a million per year. Fuck that!
ReplyDeleteSamaritans purse is very much on the up and up. They helped our area out immensely during the flood of 2016. FEMA was nowhere to be found.
DeleteKenny I’m assuming you made out alright?
ReplyDeleteWe got about 6 inches of much needed rain over a 2 day period. It soaked up nicely. Winds were light with gusts up to maybe 35mph. No damage or flooding at all here.
DeleteThanks for asking.
Excellent news.
DeleteI gotta tell you, when I checked the radar forecast and saw it was going to stall right on top of us for a couple days, I figured it was going to be a lot worse than what it was.
DeleteYeah the one in the Atlantic supposedly has us in its crosshairs. We haven’t finished picking up from the Cat 2 a month ago.
DeleteFinished up a small job just east of Spruce Pine, NC two weeks ago, thankfully. That area received 20-26" of rain last week.
ReplyDeleteMy oldest daughter, two of my granddaughters, and two great-granddaughters are in West NC. Haven't heard a peep in days, and it's costing me what's left of my hair. Please send prayers to everyone in the area.
ReplyDeleteamateur radio operators are doing a lot of work trying to get people in touch with each other. Find a local ham and see if he can get to the nets. there is a net active on 40 meters and the Mt. Mitchell repeater is going full time. Best of luck to you.
DeleteQuoted from Redditt:
On HF, 7232 KHz and VHF 145.190 MHz Mt Mitchell repeater. Audio link on broadcastify under 145.350 they're running traffic in and out.
The entire area is a disaster with no power nor cell service.
Found a better link to Mt Mitchell repeater
Deletehttps://www.broadcastify.com/listen/feed/43107
Thanks you.
DeleteFinally got a message - no water, power, or cell service. They're just east of Ashland, and got slammed pretty hard. No damage to the homes, just fridge and freezer dumps. I-40 is shut down for many miles in both directions. Of course, the kids are taking it as another exiting camping trip.
DeleteVerizon's main cell tower in Ashville.was destroyed making the network pretty unusable in a large surrounding area.
DeleteI had always planned on bugging in. Found the holes in my preps and now have bugged out. Biggest mistake was water (yes, I thought about water, but I didn't think enough about water).
Samaritans Purse is Legit,
ReplyDeletethe Southern Baptist assistance group is legit too.
the Cajun Navy2016 is legit
Red Cross and Salvation Army are bloated corrupt orgs.
Mercury One is another private group that helps people.
ReplyDelete