Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton have made devastating impacts on Florida citizens and surrounding states, as they have had to evacuate their homes knowing they would most likely come home to a pile of rubble.
Hurricane Helene was a Category 4 storm that started on Tuesday, September 24, 2024, and lasted until Sunday, September 29. More than 220 people died from the impacts of the hurricane, and citizens lost their homes and/or became isolated in their communities.
As Florida was still recovering, they discovered yet another hurricane coming around the corner: Hurricane Milton. This “storm of the century” was a Category 5 hurricane. They placed a mandatory evacuation for 11 Florida counties, consisting of a total population of 5.9 million people scrambling to find shelter. Many had nowhere to go because of the overload of people evacuating and had to fend for themselves when Milton hit.
Now that both hurricanes are over with, citizens are trying to piece together the communities they had before. Ms. Hannah McCaig is a special education evaluator for HCPS and one of the many people who is helping with the recovery, specifically in the North Carolina areas.
Ms. McCaig has family and friends scattered through Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Tennessee. She grew up going to Western North Carolina areas to go camping and hiking, “so seeing those trails, that downtown area washed away one week [after she had visited was] incredibly surreal,” she says.
Ms. McCaig reached out to the FHS community, asking for donations of winter clothing, blankets, cleaning supplies, flashlights, batteries, and more. She then drove down to North Carolina to personally deliver the supplies and help in any additional way that she could. The result from students and staff was extraordinary and for that, citizens of Haywood County, North Carolina are grateful.
The donations people gave were going to be transported to “donation shopping centers throughout the area set up for people to come in and get the supplies that they need,” Ms. McCaig explained. “There is also a system of pack mules that are being used to get supplies and donations to areas that are still inaccessible by road due to the roads being washed out.”
The Shady Grove United Methodist Church, The Pigeon Multicultural Community Center, and First United Methodist of Waynesville have been some of the contributors that Ms. McCaig connected with in order to help these communities. According to Ms. McCaig, there were “125 families who experienced TOTAL loss as a result of Hurricane Helene” just in Haywood County.
“My dad, sister, and I also got to work with The Friendship House, run by First United Methodist of Waynesville, to stock and organize their community pantry, serve a hot breakfast to community members, and hear their stories,” Ms. McCaig shared. “There are so many stories of devastating loss that are incredibly heart wrenching, but the one thing that everyone has in common is that they still have hope. They see people helping [others], within their community and as far away as Fallston, MD. They believe that there are better days to come because of the response and support that has come in the last few weeks.”
Ms. McCaig explains how their focus right now is “working with families to navigate applying for FEMA aid, find temporary housing, and get supplies that they need to live day to day. The communities in Western North Carolina have made progress in the three weeks since Helene hit, but there is so much left for them to overcome, especially those who have experienced loss of livelihood, homes, and in many cases, family members.”
Fallston’s contribution was incredible, but these communities still have a long way to go to get back to where they were before. If you would like to continue helping in any way, Common Cause North Carolina is a website providing several links and descriptions on how you can support these areas.
Ms. McCaig says that there are “numerous other sites similar to this and Facebook pages of the county government offices that provide additional information, resources, and donation options.” We continue to keep North Carolina, Florida, and any other affected areas in our thoughts!
