Heartbreaking Impact: Troy Native Shares Her Experience After Hurricane Helene in NC!
It’s been almost three weeks since Hurricane Helene hit the Southeast, but many areas, including North Carolina, are still recovering. A Troy native who recently moved to North Carolina has been forced out of her home and is uncertain when she can return.
Jenn Fisher, living in Swannanoa, North Carolina, described the morning of Friday, Sept. 27, as “heartbreaking.” She and her neighbors didn’t expect the storm to be so severe.
“I woke up to crackling and loud noises around 5:30 a.m. on Friday,” Jenn said. “Huge trees were all over my yard, barely missing my house and my daughter’s bedroom by just a foot. If the tree had fallen even a bit closer, it would have caused major damage.”
The floods destroyed homes, schools, parks, and roads. Jenn mentioned that the evacuation notice didn’t arrive until around 6 a.m., and by that time, it was too late for many.
“We couldn’t leave because trees blocked the roads, and active power lines were down,” Jenn explained. “Many of our highways are still closed.”
Jenn and her neighbors drove through the town, feeling overwhelmed by the devastation.
“We weren’t ready for what we saw; it was heartbreaking. We saw bodies in trees because the river had risen so high, and some homes were being washed away,” she shared.
According to Jenn, it took five to six days before the government provided aid—a delay she believes caused more harm. New York’s Swift Water Rescue team recently returned from helping in North Carolina. Forest rangers reported seeing damage beyond what they had imagined.
“It was the worst devastation I’ve ever seen, with damage to infrastructure and lives, and it spread over such a large area,” said Scott Sabo, a Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Forest Ranger in Essex County.
Some rescue team members initially thought everything was fine when they arrived because there were no emergency calls. However, John Makin, a fire protection specialist from Buffalo, revealed what they later discovered.
“The reason we weren’t getting calls was because the 911 system had gone down, the cell system was out, and the roads were washed away,” Makin explained. “Every piece of critical infrastructure was wiped out in just a few hours.”
Jenn’s home still stands, but she doesn’t know when life will return to normal. Many families remain displaced as crews work continuously to rebuild the area.
“They’re calling it a ‘thousand-year flood’ in our area because none of us have seen anything like this before,” Jenn noted. “They’re literally rebuilding the entire infrastructure from scratch; everything was destroyed.”
Despite everything, Jenn feels proud of her community for sticking together. Her main priority is getting her daughter back to school.
Read More:
Hudson Valley Drivers Notice Increasing Bus Stop Wait Times with New Trend!
SNAP Update 2024: Everything New Yorkers Need to Know About Benefits Changes!
“I want my child to go back to school, be with her friends, and socialize again,” Jenn expressed. “We know it will take time, but I hope we can get there sooner.”