Hello Beakers!The Helene death toll continues to rise. I will spare you the rising numbers. You can look it up if you want to know. The number missing is now an unknown - just say hundreds.
Prayers for all.BL, thank you! I have smelled that smell.
Beakers, good news for my TENNESSEE Mtns Sis - she and her husband are heading back home today! - their power is back on!! No clean water yet, but progress!
Her NC mtns grown son (my nephew!), and his wife, who lost their stored contents of their home in the flooding not far from where they live,
are coming to help my Mtns Sis and her husband today - to help with things, like clearing out and hauling away the contents of their 2 refrigerators and freezers.
I'm waiting to hear from my Mtns Sis that she and her husband have made it home safely. The roads are still treacherous and covered with debris that punctures tires and such, as well.
Bless that nephew of mine and his wife. I'm biased, I know.
They currently live in a remote area of the northwestern NC mountains, but the house they are living in was safe from floodwater, thankfully, as well as the house next door to it - they built both of them in a remote forested area - a few miles from West Jefferson, NC. They are letting a couple live in the home next to them who have lost power to their home. That nephew and his wife are professional restorers, builders, etc... they have been working hard in another tiny west NC mountain town, also not far from West Jefferson, NC, where another of their properties is that they had stored the contents of their home in and lost it all to flooding. They are handling that very well, and are staying non-stop busy helping elsewhere where there is great need. Anyway... that little town is one of the many that was basically destroyed by Helene's flooding.
He and his wife are helping clear out and rebuild/restore an 86-year old woman's home that was completely flooded. She lives in a home that is a neighboring property to the property my nephew owns there (where their stored house contents flooded). He and his wife, and some associates of his, are donating much equipment and supplies, and all their labor, of course, and more, to the effort of saving that home for that 86-year old woman. He started a GoFundMe page for saving her home to help mitigate the extensive costs, since they won't be able to get all needed supplies donated, even though some of it is being donated by others to help, thankfully. Of course I won't post the GoFundMe listing here, but
I am going to copy the description of what that woman has gone through, below - it is just 1 of the many incredible stories from that region - there are hundreds of them!!Here is a portion of it: (I'm blotting out her name here.
Think of an 86-year old woman, living alone, doing this.)
"M***** S*****, 86, a long-time resident of Lansing, NC, and the town's historian, is in need. Her home, once a gas station owned by her father, was severely damaged in the Helene flooding that has affected much of western NC. At 1 pm on Friday, she was forced out of her home as a mudslide to her right and floodwater to her left gave her no choice. She watched from a hilltop as her town was devastated, walked back down through a foot of mud, and spent 2 nights in that flooded home until roads permitted her to get out and stay with family outside the area.
..."
Understandably, I am so happy my nephew and his wife are undertaking this project to help someone who lives near a property they own in one of the tiny NC mountain towns hit so hard by mudslides and flooding. I can just visualize this woman, in all that mud and rain and floodwater, climbing up the mountainous hill and looking down as the town totally floods, and then somehow getting back down in all that mud, and staying in her home the next 2 nights till she could get out to safety with family members elsewhere.
((Karen)), that's wonderful of your nice neighbors to get that work done in your yard! Detours are in all the states now that got hit so hard by Helene. Of course many people still don't have any open roads anywhere to get out.
((Lani)), I'm so sad about that news from Brooks Falls! My heart goes out to
all who follow and love the Katmai/Brooks Falls story there. Heartbreaking news.
Lisa, I saw the green on the weather radar near you, and had wondered if you were getting much rain from that. Congrats on your continuing good lab reports!
Phyl, nice treats after your appt.
Clynn, it would be pretty cool if
Erin and Bradley got to know each other! They def would have a lot in common!
TSK, ugh on your phone outage yesterday. I heard about that VZW nationwide outage yesterday. Thankfully, I didn't have issues from that here. Glad you're working again and got the call from your doc by way of your hubby.
KB, happy Fall gardening!
Lori, that's a lot of pumpkins! LOL. Has Destini forgiven you yet for her Fall shave?
Waving to All the Beakers. Take care, (((All))).