09/10/2024
First of all, thank you to everyone that has donated money and/or supplies!
On Tuesday Oct 8th, we were able to deliver a load of supplies to the Bald Mountain and Little Creek area outside of Burnsville, NC. THESE AREAS STILL DO NOT HAVE POWER, WATER, and NO COMMUNICATION (except for Starlink at a couple of sites).
We were able to deliver a generator, a Starlink, a lot of bottled waters, clothes (that we had sorted, labeled, and bundled), diapers, trashbags, brooms, cleaning supplies and more.
The road to Bald Mountain was passable although a little tough in spots -the road is still washed out in places. The volunteers at the drop-off were super nice, helpful and thankful. The Tennessee National Guard also flew in while we were there. They were friendly but they didn't have much of a plan yet but were asking if anyone needed help and were willing to fly in if we knew people that were in dire need.
After dropping off in Bald Mountain we continued down to the Cane River where the destruction is massive, it is worse than you can imagine and pictures cannot capture the scale of the disaster. We took a dirt road where the original road had been to Little Creek Rd (which has been inaccessible up until a couple of days ago). This dirt road has been created by the locals and is treacherous with the rock mountain on one side and a steep drop-off to the river on the other side. But if this road had not been created there would be no access to Little Creek in or out. Once on Little Creek we visited a site where supplies are being staged and locals can get basic supplies - most people are still trapped because the road out is so dangerous.
We are planning to return within the next week. Supply needs are changing. They have enough bottled water for now. But they will need warm clothes that are already washed, labeled, and bundled by size (ideally placed in clear bags with labels) - they do not have the volunteers to do this. And they will need damp-rid, fans, dehumidifiers, kerosene heaters, kerosene, batteries, lanterns, canned meats, and more generators.
We are continuing to purchase supplies with the funds from this GoFundMe for these things that we have not already had directly donated.
Thank you everyone for your donations! These people need it! And will continue to need help for some time. Thank you!
We are raising money to help our friends and family in Wester… Tom and Pennie Dahlberg needs your support for Support Western North Carolina Hurricane Helene Relief
