Huns Helene Soundoff

Posted on by hollyfrostgoldportpress

From the Assistant, since apparently WordPress doesn’t show y’all who made the post.

We were very glad to hear from RES yesterday in comments, and would like very much to hear from the other Huns and Hoydens that everyone is all right, as time, and internet and electricity access permit.

139 thoughts on “Huns Helene Soundoff”

  1. WordPress may eat my comment like it did one I posted a few days ago but…there were minimal issues in the greater Charlotte area. A fair number of people in spots had power out for 1-2 days and there was isolated small stream flooding but absolutely nothing like what’s going on two or three hours west/northwest of here. The previous biggest documented flood in the NC mountains was in 1916 and Helene shattered every one of those flood stage records by feet.

    I grew up hearing stories of what Hurricane Camille did just north of my home in Virginia in 1969. This is their Camille. Except Camille was a freak event in one county for the most part. This is affecting the entire spine of the mountains along the North Carolina/Tennessee border. (BTW, Camille dumped 24″ of rain in 5-8 hours. The highest estimated rain total from the entire Helene event over a couple days in NC/TN was 33″.)

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  2. we just got a little rain from it. Roomate’s wife and her parents are just north of Asheville and are ok but have no water, power, cell service, or route out.

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  3. We are good. Some minor flooding in the basement. I did lose a book to it but just one. No power loss.

    Rental company is finally paying to seal the foundation (second time that part of the basement flooded this year) and I’m hoping will replace the carpet (they are replacing padding, learn about carpet Monday).

    We are also not getting much from the Georgia chemical fire…just in the right direction to get nothing.

    My in-laws in August are still without power.

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  4. Helene didn’t come close to me in East-Central Illinois.

    Oh, I Will Not Say That Hurricanes Will Never Come Close To East-Central Illinois.

    Take care everybody who was in Helene’s path.

    Liked by 1 person

      1. Same in PNW. Water here is cold. It is not heating up. Since hurricanes rely on warm water to start and kept going, it is a rare one that gets close to come ashore locally. Can, obviously. Reports are Columbus Day storm moved too fast for it to break apart and break down.

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        1. I believe the Inauguration Day Storm of 1993 skated right up to the edge with a measured windspeed at Boeing Field of 70 mph. (Which if I recall correctly, also moved very fast. Some people had trouble getting home from work due to all the trees across the roads…which accords with my mother’s memories of the Columbus Day storm.)

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          1. I think we had a lot of trees down in Eugene too. Not our neighborhood, but mostly south hills neighborhoods, and one a mile north of us, at least. Neighborhood one a mile north of us made us glad we did not buy there. Looked. Looked hard. Lots of fir trees fell, roots and all.

            I remember Columbus Day storm because I walked home in it through trees. School let us out early because storm was hitting. Would not let us walk the back way (along fields), but I’d been told, never ever, never ever, walk along the two lane highway. So I cut through the trees between the school and the trailer park. I was 5 (for a whole 8 more days, but I was still 5. First grader.) Mom said I had a neighbor with me, but that I don’t remember, she may have been following me. Mom met us after we emerged from the trees. She was delayed because she couldn’t leave my 4 and 1 year old sisters until a neighbor could come over. Trailer park lost a lot of big trees, one took out 3 trailers. No one killed.

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    2. The one several years ago (land hurricane) died near the Iowa boarder headed to Illinois. Finding out that hurricanes on land are called Derecho’s by living through one is a really rough way to having my vocabulary expanded.

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  5. WP will show the author, if that’s in the template. E.g., it shows on teh WP.com feed that you are hollyfrostgoldportpress, but that info does not show up on the post itself.

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  6. Columbia, SC had mainly rain. My power was out from sometime before 0400 am Friday (when I get up for work) and 1100 am Sunday. We had tornadoes in Greenwood and Sumter counties. I’m still activated for work.

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    1. We’re also in Columbia with similar lack of serious trouble.

      My sister, on the other hand, is just across the road from the same Cane River that ripped a giant gash through Burnsville, NC. I’ve seen the drone videos of downtown. Pretty chilling. I haven’t heard from her yet. Finally got through to the sheriff’s office today, and they said they’d send someone to check on her. Took me that long to find someone who gave a s***.

      One thing no one has mentioned yet that I suspect is going to be salt in the wound: These folks live on the side of a pretty steep mountain. I doubt any of them carries flood insurance, even the ones who live on the river. It wouldn’t make any sense to me to take it out. But insurance companies won’t pay for flood damages. That gets handled by federal flood insurance.

      I suspect we’re going to hear about some huge tragic consequences in the coming months, and these folks don’t have the advantage of being illegal migrants.

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  7. how does it compare to Agnes in 1972 in NY and PA?

    1927 in VT and elsewhere? 1938 and 1955 hurricanes in NE.?

    These storms happen every so often

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    1. It’s a 500-year flood for the localities affected. I’d say at least as bad as Agnes from what little I remember hearing about Agnes. The effects are magnified by the rugged terrain.

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      1. Apparently WordPress ate the Reader’s first response…

        Here west of Richmond, we experienced little impact from Helene. The James has had some minor flooding from the rain further west.

        The Reader remembers Agnes well. He was working construction in MD that summer and spent a couple of weeks pumping out basements on construction sites. Agnes’ impact was a lot different. The rain in PA and NY fell over a few days so there was not as much local damage. Downstream, the Baltimore Beltway was under water for 3 days where it crossed the Patapsco River and Ellicott City experienced its first 100 year flood (it had 3 more by 2018). The Chesapeake Bay was devastated by the huge amount of fresh water, debris and silt that flowed into it and marine life didn’t recover for several years. None of its impacts match what has happened with Helene.

        As an aside, the National Park Service has closed the entire length of the Blue Ridge Parkway in NC and VA until all of the damage can be assessed. The Reader expects that only the northern section in VA from Harpers Ferry to I 64 will reopen this year. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/blue-ridge-parkway-in-north-carolina-and-virginia-is-closed-for-all-uses/ar-AA1rHXST

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      2. I was 12 when it hit. Our house was in the nortb side of a creek that was essentially the northern edge of the storm.

        We didnt flood though there was a couple if inches in the south end of the yard.

        contrawise the Chemung River flooded from Horsehead down to its juncture with the Susquehana. Corning Glass was flooded almost 30 feet deep. Elmira was flooded. The Chemug river valley was flooded deep enough to almost cover barns.

        The town at thr end of the valley I livednin was flooded more than 5 feet deep.

        The damage was.less then what Helene did the WNC

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      4. From the Reader’s memory, this is far worse than Agnes both in destruction and in loss of life.

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          1. The Reader thinks that mainly there was 50 years less building. An Agnes today would cause far more damage from the Susquehanna and Potomac headwaters to the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay.

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            2. Exactly! Not so much flood water that caused all the damage, but flash floods and entire hillsides, with trees, brush, rock, and mud, coming down onto homes and communities, then sweeping away what roads there are and taking out bridges. How do communities prepare for all that? Answer: They can’t.

              There is one video of a family where one creek wiped out 25 acre property. They lost everything except the barn. The creek that wiped them out was on the far side of the “lower pasture” from the house. It is now on the near side of the upper pasture, new channel moved more than 20 acres from the original channel. (Video showed before/after pictures. Family, pets, and stock, survived.)

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            3. I consider it a “flood plain” if that’s where there is a historic record of flood waters inundating it. While a steep-sided, V-shaped ravine isn’t exactly a plain, the fact that it fills 2/3rds of the way up with water several times over a couple of hundred years counts. On the other hand, as an amateur geologist, I look at things like raised beaches from glacial impoundments, and former lake bottoms. Technically speaking, most of eastern Washington State could be considered a flood plain, as is most of the Willamette Valley.

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              2. Check out the Juniata valley through east-central PA, from Lewistown down to Harrisburg; every flood caused by a hurricane leaves stuff in the tops of 50 to 60-foot trees along the banks.

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                1. I remember reading the Reader’s Digest version of the Johnstown Flood; which incidentally was also in Pennsylvania. Earthen dams are bad news over time. But a lot of strong dams don’t fail themselves; the water finds a different route around them and quickly eats a new channel, leaving that wonderful piece of engineering high, dry, and virtually untouched.

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    3. Went through Hazel in MD in ’53(?). Donna and Cleo in Lauderdale, Agnes in MD (nailed PA worse than it did us; a brand-new reservoir off PA522(?) that was projected to take about 2 years to fill filled in less than a week). But I never went through the sort of rain and flooding that Helene caused. Those people are in real trouble, and the FEMA pukes who npot onl;y refuse to do anythiong, but prevent others form helping, need to get fired. At a minimum. :-x

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        1. Based on the videos I’m seeing they’ll be lucky to get out of WNC. “They chose poorly” might be their epitaph. If they do make it to DC, again one of the videos, one congress person is taking this personally.

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    1. I am NOWHERE near any place that will be affected by a hurricane beyond make the cloud go the wrong way for a few day (Katrina? did that. It was EERIE.)
    2. I am “Off somewhere” (Iowa and/or Nebraska) for the weekend. This is *planned*.
    3. As a Minnesotan, (for now) let me say that Walz does an AMAZING job of reminding me how cool-headed, sane, and rational things were with Gov. Ventura.

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  9. North Idaho is plotting the destruction of FEMA and the creation of a state-based emergency service.

    Also supporting as many relief workers as I can and praying.

    Thanks to all who have checked in.

    If I can help in any way you know where I am.

    His rich blessings to everyone.

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    1. FEMA is the greatest theft of taxpayer dollars to give to illegal aliens that the Democrats have committed yet. And it solidly torpedoes every argument that illegal aliens don’t raise our costs.

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  12. I don’t want my hand held. The last person I allowed to do that has left the building.

    I’m glad so many Huns are uninundated.

    Rgrds,

    RES

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  13. The Reader has been unaffected here west of Richmond VA. The James has some minor flooding from all the rain to the west of us but nothing serious. The Reader remembers Agnes in MD in 1972 (he was working construction and spent a couple of weeks pumping basements at construction sites). Ellicott City MD had its first 100 year flood (3 more followed by 2018) and the Baltimore Beltway was closed for 3 days when the Patapsco River overran it. The Chesapeake Bay marine life was mostly wiped out from the freshwater coming down from PA and took several years to recover.

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    1. Ellicott City (old town, on the river) always floods in any major storm; deep-valley watersheds (it’s about 200-300 ft below US 40, where “new town” is) tend to do that. We used to fish there pretty frequently with UL spinning tackle or fly rods for smallmouth bass, and any bad storm meant we fished somewhere else for a few weeks.

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      1. Downtown Eugene used to. Reason why it originally was called Skinner’s Mud Hole.

        Now with the flood control dams, not so much. Last time Willamette came close, not that long ago, the two active, very deep, gravel pits flooded instead. Actually 3 gravel pits flooded if you count the old shallow ones north of Valley River Mall. Still have problems with fields flooding no matter how close to the river they are because of soil saturation. Bone of contention between the environmentalists and farmers; wet lands VS farmland.

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  14. Tornados at storms edge. One that didn’t touch down passed over my home. Hulk cloud. Big green, mean, kettledrum starting to drop and turn, but never quite decided to touch ground.

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  15. There was talk of a hurricane actually making landfall here in LA County earlier this year It would have been a once in a century event (and a very mild one).

    But all we got was rain. Falling *straight* down. Less wind than even our usual rainstorms. Quite the let down.

    I hope all of you who experienced Helene are doing well. And may you avoid the Federal Government’s attention as long as you need to!

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  17. I live in a high desert–if we could have, we’d have been happy to take some of Helene’s rain off everyone down there’s hands!!!

    Alive. Glad it’s Friday. Wishing I could have a new spine, as my current one is reminding me (again) how much it hates me and *especially* how much it hates that I spent all of Sunday fixing the roof. Although it courteously waited to do this until the REST of the sore muscles stopped screaming–I have mixed feelings about this courtesy.

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    1. Yeah; here just south of Phoenix we’d be delighted with some of the excessive rain. Not as much as NC got, though; floods here are no joke either. And they do happen.

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      1. Flash floods are constantly warned about in higher elevations desert country in Arizona, Utah, and even Nevada.

        Dry wash beds can suddenly have flash water in them when it is perfectly blue sky above. It isn’t where you are that is the problem, it is where it is raining that is. The flash floods will wash away vehicles on the road, let alone someone walking across one. Difference with these flash floods and what the Appalachian states have gone through is the large trees, clay mud, and boulders, in the water, even before civilization debris is mixed in. This happened this year in Grand Canyon: https://www.nbcnews.com/video/body-of-woman-swept-away-in-grand-canyon-flash-flood-is-found-217969733873 These hikers had no clue this flash flood was coming. They were not being rained on at the time.

        This is one of the reasons why we’ve never been very adventurous hiking when we visit the Utah national parks. Not the heat, we typically go in the winter when heat is not a problem, but potential of flash flooding is. Not that flash flooding can’t happen in the summer, because it can be hot where you are, but raining hard, miles away.

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        1. Where we are, the sort of flash floods common in the mountains north of Phoenix aren’t an issue; it’s pretty flat, but the local wash (once a shallow desert river, the Santa Cruz, now dry except during heavy rain) occasionally overflows its banks. We’re not in the local flood zone, but we’re within about 1/4 mile of it, and only out of it by about 5 ft elevation.

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  18. I’m in Earthquake country, not hurricane country. It’s why we have emergency supplies in our shed, just in case.

    Hearing the stories of FEMA shutting down unofficial rescue and support efforts makes me angry. Because in a sane world, FEMA would have people whose job is to coordinate them and get their help.

    (But, then again, sane world. The clown makeup has been thick and crusty since 2016 and has only gotten worse in 2020.)

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    1. Word (via at least one Starlink engineer on-site that Musk quoted on X) is also that FEMA is also taking credit for work that others have already done. For instance, FEMA hasn’t actually distributed any of the Starlink kits it has been seizing. But it’s claiming credit for distributing the ones that were handed out before FEMA arrived, or despite FEMA’s interference.

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      1. At one point, FEMA was bragging about the thirty Starlink kits they handed out to local government entities, while Starlink/Trump had already given out over 500 kits.

        The Y’all Group https://ryanhallyall.com/ has given out more Starlink terminals than the US government has managed to do…

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    1. The governor’s job is to make sure the state is delivered to the Democrats on Election Day, not serve any white trash in the western part of the state. /s

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      1. The Blue Ridge Parkway, connecting Shenandoah National Park and the Smoky Mountains, is reportedly the nation’s most visited national park. Along it’s route are routinely hosted music festivals, art festivals, cultural festivals (the Scottish Games, for ex.), harvest festivals, and festival festivals. The damage inflicted is likely to be severe and long term.

        Rgrds,

        RES

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        1. If I recall correctly, autumn is the season that gets by far the most tourist traffic as well, because the fall foliage along the drive is normally spectacular.

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  20. Outside of the human costs, which are a priority, there isn’t much mention in the news that this is a virtual repeat of the flood in 1916. Even though there was a recent film and articles noting the anniversary.

    https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2015/11/30/ashevilles-great-flood-can-happen/76554860/

    But people have very short memories, especially those that do not have roots in the region. Even people who are native to a region are forgetful.

    Example: DFW, not known for massive snows, had a 12″ snowfall in 2010. There are scores of people that lived through this that have wiped it from their memories. Also various other severe weather events like the flooding of 2015, where a local dam developed a leak, the FW downtown tornado, etc… gone like teardrops in a August heatwave.

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  21. In Oregon so we’re fine.

    The stories out of WNC, and other locals, regarding authorities, regardless of levels, not coordinating with, shutting down, and taking the credit of work by volunteers who actually have been doing the job is heart breaking and sickening.

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  22. Utility company from here went east to backstop other utilities who sent people to FL/GA/TN/NC. Trucking school (state JuCo) students hauling loads for one of the big charities to points farther east (with instructors on board.)

    Me? I’m sooooo glad it is Friday. And the cold front earlier this week made my paws and bad knee hurt something fierce. Doesn’t bode well for real winter.

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    1. Nothing said locally, but would not surprise me if utilities are sending trucks and crews too. OTOH they are also working to restore power where fires have swept through.

      I hear on the knees. Turns out continued fallout from right knee buckling in late July, is arthritis triggered flare. No broken bones, no torn ligaments, etc. Got off lucky. Nothing that can be done about the arthritis flare or arthritis directly, but can strengthen proper muscles, and lose weight to take stress off the knees; both knees have arthritis. Have started PT, will keep that up through October, then just switch to Gym trainers. Cost out of pocket about the same and trainers know what gym equipment is actually available.

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      1. Sounds like we are in the same boat.

        Tore meniscus in one knee in August, MRI also revealed a bone spur. Surgeon won’t touch until I lose some weight, so gimping around with a brace and a sometimes a cane. Walking too much causes crippling flare up.

        Looking forward to prehab and rehab. Promised the dog we would go to the lake.

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        1. Relatively in same boat. No surgery in my future. Which is very good news because hubs is looking at surgery or radiation. Waiting on appointment to figure out which. If surgery, penciled in Nov. 12. Also follow up needs to occur on when son needs to start making sure his PSA is tested. Right now since dad is 72, specialist said at age 45. But maternal grandfather had radiation at age 62. Question is does maternal line matter? Breast cancer history is only maternal line. IDK if prostrate cancer is only paternal line. (Note, earlier it occurs early sixties and before, more likely it is genetic predisposition.) Someone who knows, please weigh in.

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          1. Best of luck to you all. When dealing with my cancer I discovered breast and colorectal cancers are linked. I’m not sure if prostate is somewhere in there, too

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        2. Didn’t have a bone spur, but badly torn lateral meniscus and cartilage issues behind the patella–that dated back decades. I’m running around 280 pounds, but the meniscus procedure (removal of the torn bits) was pretty smooth. I got a set of crutches to get from the hospital to the hotel, but went to the cane right away. I think I stopped using a cane abour 2-3 weeks after the procedure.

          It issue for me was not being eligible for MRI (slender chance of an implant being magnetic), and CT scans don’t work as well. That and a host of non-related things that showed up during the tests. Took 6 months from injury to repair, but 11 weeks post-op, my knees are as close to normal as my age will let me be.

          Note: Removal maps to much faster healing than repair. I did a fair amount of online research and was happy to learn it was going to be the removal. PT, done 5 days a week has been sufficient to get strength back.

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    2. Repaired knee is pretty good, though I have to remember that the parts that were removed were in place for a reason. OTOH, if I behave, it doesn’t complain. I can do a lot, but “Don’t be stupid.”

      Didn’t need a round of professionally directed PT, got the list and integrated it with what I’d been doing since the major injury back in ’21.

      Wildfires seem to be winding down, and air quality has been pretty good since the early September wire was dealt with.

      Trying to get ready for winter. Considering a cool summer and dry autumn, I’m not sure what we’ll have. The storied 3′ snowfall hasn’t happened since we moved here, but maybe. I think the last one was about 30 years ago.

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  24. We got three days of rain and a lot of wind here in Dayton. A lot of the AES repair trucks went south for Helene, turns out we needed them here for the 60+ MPH wind gusts. Other side of the street still doesn’t have power. My side of the street is on a separate circuit. We’re okay as far as that goes.

    Me, still dealing with renal cell cancer, and now spondylosis of the lumbar spine, and my freaking insurance keeps denying the treatment for that! I keep thinking, what is wrong with you guys? You paid for the first one! Now you don’t want to pay for the other 2?!

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    1. My part of Fairborn never lost power or even Internet, fortunately. My parents and younger brother lost power for about fourteen hours, but stuff was okay.

      We had a neighbor mostly lose the edging from the front of her roof, and it just sort of dangled and swung in the wind, very loudly. It was still hanging there the next day. Finally somebody helped cut it off, and it got fixed pretty quickly after the rains dried up.

      We got plenty of rain, but no significant flooding where I was.

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  25. Still alive. In Oregon so no weather danger. May the powers that be fail to see you and yours.

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  26. No problems here in NH, other than one Marxist Democrat traitor vet who was trying to intimidate me into not distributing handbills for our state rep. I know the rules on legally (in NH and federally) posting handbills to the supports, decorations, post, or bottoms of mailboxes. You can’t put them on the sides, or top, of the box, obstructing the number or name, or interfering with the flag or door in any way shape or form. No, I didn’t shoot him. And I told him he was perfectly welcome to “report me” to USPS. (I would not put it past him to take one of those bills off and reaffix it in an illegal manner though. We all know that is precisely the kind of people we are dealing with.)

    As for North Carolina, I have a couple of gaming friends down there. One had a tree come down on his house, and another on his truck. Power and cable are both out for him for about a week. Other one was concerned about one of the dams possibly failing, so I think he and his wife temporarily relocated until the danger passes.

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    1. BTW, I use interior painter’s tape for sticking the handbills up. They stick better than post it adhesive, don’t leave any residue, and don’t take the finish or paint off anything they’re stuck to.

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      1. Just a suggestion… Assuming you have a cellphone or digital camera, when you post one on a mailbox take four pictures, one from each side, and include enough background so the box location is identifiable. That way if some lowlife a55hole moves it you’ll have at least some evidence it’s not where you put it. A picture of The Intimidator (apologies to Donald Hamilton😉) would be a plus, too.

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  27. Based on pickup efforts in the aftermath of the 1989 quake here in Northern CA a group of local pilots started thinking about more structured disaster airlift, working and planning and writing procedures and holding tabletop exercises and refining roles and processes, then holding live real world exercises, and eventually establishing DART, for Disaster Airlift Response Team. It really started going with annual live exercises about ten years ago, and through a lot of work and a lot of volunteer hours has spread to multiple airports and spun up to a statewide umbrella organization, CalDART (https://caldart.org).

    The DART system includes local efforts to collect and organize donated needed supplies, ground logistics and planning efforts on the staging and dispatch end, flight dispatch to receiving-end airports, communications and coordination with official organizations, and of course pilots flying stuff and people into areas in need, so it’s not just pilots and aircraft.

    CalDART has been activated multiple times and delivered supplies and people where ground transport would not work.

    Anyone wanting to learn more can contact CalDART through the “Contact Us” button at that web site.

    I was minorly involved from fairly early on, including participating in various roles in various exercises and helping refine processes and documentation, so I can say it does work, and that a structure like DART, combined with efforts to build relationships and awareness in advance of actual emergencies with local emergency officials, makes a huge difference compared to trying to get things to happen via any ad hoc effort.

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  29. Tampa Bay area, but >5 miles from both beach and Bay so no storm surge.

    Lost 10 ft of metal fascia and an awning/storm shutter support rod tore off. Power stayed on (1/3 of the county was out). Lost Internet for a day.

    Overall we were blessed. Some local family members who lost power were able to stay here in the A/C.

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  30. Here in Connecticut, I suspect that our rainfall was an outermost band on the hurricane. Only meant some reasonable rain, though.

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  31. We were supposed to at least get rain and high winds from Helene, but nada. We’re actually seeing more rain today.

    I know DeSantis is helping FL power people get up there to start with restoring power, and I’m trying to avoid most news to keep my blood pressure down, but what’s going on in the mountains – or should I say, what the government tasked to do is not actually doing – ought to get people jailed.

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    1. Florida got hit hard by the hurricane, but except for power, their infrastructure is intact. Flooding but they regularly get flooded. But they are prepared for that. OTOH, unlike WNC, and the rest of the Mountain states along the Application Mountains, Florida does not have mountain sides coming down on them.

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      1. Very true.

        Ivan, however, we did have to dig out from under several trees, more cherry laurel than I ever want to see again, and the neighbor’s house.

        …In retrospect that was almost funny, because the inside of said house was there enough that the phone still worked, and we ended up picking it up and answering it. Resulting conversation went something like this:

        Caller: “Where’s Neighbor?”

        Us: “We don’t know, they evacuated and we haven’t seen them since.”

        Caller: “Then how did you get into his house?!?”

        Us: “What house?”

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  33. “We ain’tent dayed yet.”

    Posting from second backup laptop. Main PC fried. Parts to rebuild on the way. Flood damage middlin’. Still got a house. Cats are okay. Frazzled, bumfuzzled, fuzzy and feisty as the four furballs be. Roof torn up, needs patching. Water ain’t safe to drink. Power is iffy, here today gone tomorrow.

    Most of the worst scrap is up and gone. Still some demolition to be done. Minor repairs ongoing. Most of the time, taken up with work and helping others as can and needed.

    Bad knee, hip, and foot still acting up. Got supplies to last, not worried about me. Others, refugees need stuff more’n I do.

    One of the wee kitten-cats made it back today. From clear down the creek South of here, about six hours away. Got snagged off a floating log, chip scanned by the local vet thinking it was a local cat. Nope. Wandering fuzzball is going to be picked up this weekend, is now getting checked over.

    Other fuzz is still MIA. Reports of spotting something like it are around, though, so maybe she’s still hiding. That un was always a shy one, liking to sneak away and ambush your ankles in the dark.

    Old dog next door is recovering still. Hear him howling at the bucket trucks fixing the lines up the way last night. He’s old, so we forgive him. One of the houses up that way burned to the foundation. No clue if it was the meth heads or not.

    Overall, sore, tired, aching, but alive. Will get back to work soon. Job ain’t done yet, so neither am I. They can put me in the ground where I fall, should it be my time yet. Till then, I’ll keep working where I am.

    Y’all keep straight out there. Chin up. We bury our dead, wipe our brows, and back to it we go. The honored dead would understand. Forward is the only path worth taking, respecting the past and an eye to the future. May Himself bless and keep each and every one of you and yours. Long as we’re living, we carry on.

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  34. We had flooding in our basement the other day, but not from the hurricane – it was from a new washing machine that the appliance service guy didn’t install properly :-( Anyway, I was sorting through a box of newspaper clippings that had gotten only slightly wet, and found a story from 2006 about a tornado that hit my hometown in 2004…. and the story was all about how disappointed the residents were with FEMA! One of my parents neighbors was quoted as saying “If you see FEMA, run!” She added that while watching TV coverage of Katrina in 2005, she yelled at the TV “Tell them (FEMA) to go home!” The more things change…

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  35. Should clarify that we’re in central Illinois and we got just some clouds and drizzle from what was left of Helene

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  36. Nowhere near the hurricane Helene track, but recovering from triple bypass heart surgery a week ago. I’m glad I don’t have to deal with flooding and devastation on top of the problems I do have.

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      1. Fall chores have been disrupted. I’ll have help for some things and some things will be put off. Hoping to be more mobile by the time winter really hits

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  38. We’re nowhere near, although I’m cleaning like crazy in case the buddy who’s still out of power finally decides to accept the invite to bring his family over where there’s AC and showers.

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    1. So true. We live in Southeastern Connecticut, and the town my parents were in had CLP, now Eversource, as their electricity provider. After Irene came through on Sunday, on the Wednesday a CLP soon-to-be-ex VP was on TV bragging about what a great job they were doing getting everyone back up, and the reporter, looking at the map showing 2% outages for the west half of the state and 99% for us asked the VP about SE CT, and the guy said “Oh, we’ll get to them eventually”.

      That did not go down well.

      The parents got power back after 8 days. We live in Groton, one town over, but have a town power company. My area was the last one they got back up, and we were only out for 36 hours.

      CLP wouldn’t even let Groton Utilities help by tagging downed lines so the road crews could come into the Mystic part of Groton served by CLP and clear trees so roads were passable.

      Sandy was as bad from a power company point of view. Which is why my parents got a whole house generator which runs off the gas tanks for their stove and stove-style “fireplace”. (They had a well, so no power, no fresh water.) Its also why most of us call Eversource, Neversource.

      Eastern CT is our poorer rural part of the state, and Hartford would be thrilled if we vanished.

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  48. We were on our way to Hendersonville, NC for a volunteer project, stopped halfway and started hearing the news. we wound up heading for home after a day waiting for news.

    Our home area got rain and wind, but no damage.

    I have a cousin outside Asheville. At last count they had just gotten power and phone service back, but not water. OTOH, a neighbor has a well and a pump and her daughter living nearby also has a well and a pump. So on the whole they’re OK.

    Got word today that a fiber festival near Fletcher, NC has been canceled. Not surprised at all, a bit disappointed both for myself and the 150 or so vendors and instructors who just lost income. The Western NC Ag Center, where the event was being held, is across the street from the Asheville Regional Airport (around 25 miles southwest of Asheville on I-26). It’s currently beng used as a staging area and refugee center. Which suggests the area is at least somewhat accessible.

    The Lake Junaluska Retreat Center near Waynesville is also setting up as a center for relief work and emergency services. As the chief of maintenance told us, “It’s bad, but we’re all alive.” Would not be surprised if they opened their dorms/hotels and dining halls for workers and refugees. Lake Junauska is in a relatively upscale area, but the maintenance chief is not prone to exxageration. We were working there a month or so ago and know the area pretty well.

    So we’re fine, but upset at what we’re hearing.

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    1. Sorry about the lost income Dorothy. I’m not certain I could be so blase’ about categorizing the loss of income as “just”. For some folks, even one less sales opportunity could put them under.

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      1. I would have been improving the vendors’ income. I wasn’t trying to minimize the loss – a lot of farms bring their yearly produce (spinning fiber, yarn, other products) and SAFF probably brought in at least 1000 customers. I’m concerned for them.

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  49. I’m on the other side of the world from Helene, as many of you know, so it didn’t affect me or my family. I almost didn’t post, but someone might be looking for usernames/avatars and worry if they didn’t see mine, so… If you were wondering, I’m fine.

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  50. We have a regime that treats the entirety of taxpayers’ money as a giant slush fund. Period.

    Of course that is nothing unusual with governments.

    Add the level of incompetency (when its not outright malice” that prompted Ronaldus Magnus to note that “the scariest words in the English language are ‘I am from the government and I am here to help”, it should surprise no-one that the government has already spent the money that was earmarked for storm victims and that they are doing an utterly lousy job at assisting.

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  52. Aside from lots of rain as I was planning to do yard work and camper exterior work and take my daughter to the park to play, all was well for me.

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  53. The only thing wrong with my situation is my sense of humor.

    Seriously.

    I do not think it should be difficult to come up with a flippant, bizarre, and nonsensical response; yet here I am, without one ready to hand.

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  55. No weather problems here in Kansas City Missouri, but still slugging through trying to rebuild our house after the arson fire in August. Just learned what legal/code hoops we have to jump through to be able to gain temporary occupancy certificate. Hopefully we can afford the fees and fixes required to get into the house in 2 weeks instead of two months from now .

    The guy that mentioned being 12 with Agnes, I was 6, and l lived in the hills of Caton, just south of Corning. Valley level was 900 feet above sea level, and our hollow was 1300 with the peaks of the hills at 1700.
    I remember my dad using the bobcat skid loader to draw a furrow in our dirt road to turn the creek back into its bed and abate the water coming across our trailer’s carport. Next morning we went down to the foot of the hills and looked across the valley, where all 100 of dad’s acres and the 100 he rented were underwater, corn gone. The trailer park at the edge of the valley was built on a two foot rise, or it would have been flooded. The one house just beyond that rise still stood but was surrounded by water. My childhood memory has someone peering out the front window of that house, washing dishes.

    Dad didn’t plant corn there for 3 years. The flood had scooped out his top soil and he grew alfalfa for the cows to regenerate top soil. Our picky Jerseys stuck their noses up at that alfalfa. I tried alfalfa sprouts once and thoroughly agree with them.

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  56. late to the party (as usual)

    Ohio. We had some winds and heavy rain, lots of power outages. My house never lost power or commercial comms.

    Assisted t he Hurricane Watch Net on amateur radio relay damage reports from FL

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  57. Being in Utah I’m OK for now. Sadly the a lot of the leadership of the company I’m contracting for are in Florida and North Carolina and somewhat (but not critically) impacted by Helene.

    Emotionally I’m beyond frustrated by the stories of Federal and State disaster groups prohibiting help / confiscating gear. It’s like I’m listening to discussions of the Myanmar warlords confiscating US donations and handing them out…

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  58. Another one from Utah. Been a while since we’ve had a wildfire, and we’re long overdue for a major earthquake. On the natural disaster front, we’re ok.

    It’s been the third day since my wife left for a family reunion (supposed to be for cousins, but from the sounds of things, mostly just my wife’s siblings expected to show up). Haven’t heard from her, but then, at the Ranch in Southern Utah mountains, that’s normal.

    We’re barely holding on. Haven’t yet burned down the house, no one seriously injured yet, but we undoubtedly need helicopter (and maybe a tank or two) support!

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  59. We are about 100 miles east of Raleigh — so no real impacts thankfully.

    Somewhat torn up thinking about the places we have spent time in the mountains and wondering if anything is left. There was a great wood fired pizza place in the Arts district of Asheville that is almost certainly gone. My daughter went to App State in Boone. Know that area pretty well.

    Can’t imagine what so many are experiencing.

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  60. We are about 100 miles west of Raleigh, 145 miles east of Asheville, still well outside the path of destruction.

    We are also looking at the destruction of places that provided people their livelihood (and we enjoyed), and realizing that’s just a tiny sample of the destruction.

    Our local gunshop, Atlas Firearms, is collecting supplies for the civilian volunteer helicopter airlift corps.

    Jim_R

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