It has been several months since the natural disasters of Hurricane Helene and Milton. With the water level reaching to 30 inches which swollen over rivers and dams: 103 people died along with many more still missing according to the NCDHHS (NC department of Health and Human Resources). Both were strong hurricanes that reached to a category five at some point during the storm. Both hurricanes hit in Florida, but Helene made a more lasting impact, reaching all the way to Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina. The city of Asheville, North Carolina was one of, if not the most, impacted city of Hurricane Helene.
This natural disaster has hit close to home for English teacher Gene Brunak. Brunak’s cousin used to live in Portland but moved to Asheville to teach.
“He’s an instructor there, and he runs a business where he teaches music and does workshops that allow people to get more in touch with nature and be self-sufficient,” Brunak mentioned.
Even though the city of Asheville was alerted that the hurricane was coming, Brunak mentioned the fact that the town has never seen a hurricane that big before. Meaning that it was mostly glossed over and people didn’t take the hurricane seriously until there was no escape.
“So many things got washed out. Roads and bridges got washed out to a point where they couldn’t go anywhere,” Brunak said.
Substitute and special education teacher David Kelley also knows someone in North Carolina that has been affected by Hurricane Helene.
“My ex-wife and my daughter live there, I almost moved to Asheville as well,” Kelley said. “I knew a lot of people there when I worked at a concert venue called Salvage Station, and that’s gone now, totally flooded.”
After Helene hit Asheville, a sense of hope washed away as well. The whole town didn’t know what to do or even where to start according to Brunak. He even mentioned the question of, does the town even want to rebuild?
“He’s a really resilient person, he’s always been self-sufficient. But this is the first time I’ve ever heard him say he has no idea what’s next,” Brunak said. “A lot of the most resilient residents are wondering even if it’s realistic to think about rebuilding.”
Brunak also explained how the impact of this hurricane made on Asheville can be related to how Portland would prepare when it comes to a big natural disaster.
“ I keep selfishly thinking about if and when the big earthquake hits, the same thing is gonna happen. Roads will be taken out, pipes will burst, so we’ll lose water and electricity and we won’t able to move around,” Brunak said.
Both staff members have offered ways to support the community after this devastating storm. Kelly has been collecting phone charging banks from staff and students. He’s been charging and then shipping them out to families in the community of Asheville.
“If you have any extra phone banks, please send them in the office so that we can ship them out,” Kelly said.
Brunak has also been supporting the community by sending money to his cousin so that he can share it across the Asheville community.
“He is a businessman, and he’s also a community activist and organizer, he did a lot of that when he was in Portland,” Brunak said, “So we know when we’re giving him money, he’s actually helping other people, that’s just his nature.”
Kelly is also trying to get the word out about an organization that is sending money to Asheville residents directly.
“I’ve asked [Life skills teacher] Andy Clarkabout getting a couple weeks of donations to Beloved Asheville,” Kelly said.
Hurricane Helene was a storm that devastated and destroyed many communities.
