Crisis Chronicles: Hurricane Helene Aftermath Proved Adage "Together, We are Stronger than the Storm"
By Tim Curry on November 02, 2024 from Crisis Chronicles
It was around September 25 that Hurricane Helene started gathering enough intensity to gain a significant amount of attention. On September 24, the National Hurricane Center officially upgraded Helene to a hurricane and began predicting major impacts to the United
States.
States.
Early in the morning on September 26, she made landfall near Perry, Florida. The storm moved rapidly until it encountered a large frontal system over the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee, causing it to stall.
By the time the storm dissipated on September 29, four states had experienced record-breaking rainfall, and the destruction was unimaginable.
The confirmed death toll as of this writing stands at 225, with nearly 100 people still missing.
Early damage estimates exceed $200 billion, making it the deadliest storm to hit the United States since Katrina in 2005.
On Sunday, September 29, urgent calls and emails began pouring in, requesting help, supplies, and equipment. In the following week, the citizens of our area responded heroically.
The volume of donations was truly unbelievable. In just over two days and 12 hours of collecting, residents of Harrison and Marion Counties donated so many supplies that we literally had nowhere to put it all.
Initially, we thought we might fill one U-Haul-sized truck; in the end, we filled two U-Hauls and three 53-foot full-sized tractor-trailers.
There are far too many people to thank individually, but below is a list of businesses that were incredibly generous during this process of assisting others.:
-
U-Haul Moving and Storage of Bridgeport – Donated trucks to haul supplies.
- East of Chicago Pizza – Donated lunch.
- Karst Sports – Donated pallets to pack supplies.
- Prospect Valley Transport – Donated two tractor-trailers and drivers to deliver supplies.
- Sunbelt Rentals – Donated a forklift.
- FBI CJIS Division – Division public outreach director, Megan Currey, and her team donated an entire evening to help with palletizing supplies for shipment.
- Bridgeport Fire and Bridgeport Police Departments – Managed donation sites.
- Shinnston Fire Department and Marion County Rescue Squad – Hosted additional donation sites.
In a world often sharply divided, it was incredibly refreshing to see so many people come together for a common cause. The devastation in Tennessee and North Carolina is unfathomable, and recovery will likely take years, but even just days after the disaster, we saw people uniting to help and care for each other. The message written on a donated shovel sums it all up: "Together, we are stronger than the storm."
Editor's Note: Local individuals, including Tim Curry, forefront kneeling, are shown with part of the haul, in the top photo, while the next image shows some of the devastation locals encountered taking supplies down. Third photo shows supplies arriving on the scene. Photo belows some supplies being taken by helicopter to assist those hit hardest by the hurricane.
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