Hurricane Helene NC, Things Are Bad

[JohnyMac]

As many of you know I am in Newland, NC offering rescue to the local area. Thanks to Elon Musk we have a portable Starlink antenna hence here is a quick down and dirty SITREP.

Our convoy left Thursday and due to some trailer issues we arrived Friday around 1200E hrs. Our AO is an elementary school in the town that is temporarily closed. All told there is about 36 volunteers here.

Friday we emptied trailers and once that was accomplished I set up the comms tent and checked into the local repeater on Mitchel Mountain. HF will have to wait.

Saturday I was assigned to drive supplies to different area's and pick up other supplies to be delivered elsewhere. Here is a partial list of things that were delivered...

> 150 Body bags,
> Baby diapers & formula,
> Medical supplies,
> a lot of Grp 27 marine batteries,
> O2 tanks,
> Warm weather cloths,
> Sleeping bags,
> Chain saws,
> 50:1 and bar oil,
> Etc Etc ETC

Left at 0900E and got back to camp at 2000E hrs. We got back to camp just as a second convoy of PA Preppers arrived.

Sunday, finally got up the ham antenna and made some comments. FINALLY!
Had some interesting folks that showed up casing out the AO. We now have armed security (us) walking around taking watches.

During the day, we have 4x4's and side by sides going out and doing wellness checks on folks in the hollers and on mountain tops. We are also make emergency stops when asked. The repeater system here is outstanding and we receive many of our calls through that.

One of my stops on Saturday was an area called "Bat Cave". It is part of the Ashville area in Henderson County. Well in short, it is now a 3rd world country. We had to get up one mountain using a goat trail in my brand new F-150. Can you say 'scratched up". Just wait till MrsMac seeing it. 

GPS is on/off for the area so making out way out of the area was a challenge in the dwindling light. Any way as already mentioned, we did make it home.

Tomorrow, my assignment is to deliver supplies again all over Western NC while the guys here are running their ATV's into the deep mountains to stranded citizens. In two cases, running medicine into old closed in elderly people. They are afraid to leave their homes due to theft and where will they go.

Pulling a 4-hr security stint tonight. Just going over the details now.

I spoke last night with a NC State Trooper at length. He was stoked that people came down south of the Mason Dixon line to help out. We are OK with the donated products today however it will eventually run out and then there will be nothing. Then do to short memories we will all forget the citizens of Western NC. and at the worst time of year...Winter.

Currently, it is getting down to around 32 at night and mid 60's during the day. No participation as yet. I asked a local preacher what is the major thing people can help with and he said, "cold weather camping equipment and money to buy cold weather camping equipment.

If anybody is interested in donating I will get specifics form the Group leader.

More info to come.

PS, We are expecting snow on Wednesday. 

[DMCakhunter]

Thanks for posting JM.
Appreciate you doing this.
Let me know how I can help

[Jackalope]

Thanks for the report, Johny. Our local MAG has made multiple trips over to eastern Tennessee to bring over various necessities. There?s going to be many more deaths with the unseasonably cold weather that is settling in this week.  Stay safe and stay armed.   

[Felix]

Thank you for the report.   Will share the gist where ears are judged open.
And method/target of donating will be appreciated/used.
Wishing I could be there.   This is a time for all to consider what they are capable of and willing to do.

[JohnyMac]

Interesting. Next to the school we are at there is a fancy gym that the Red Cross is using. I was told that was the head for our group. Just went in to take a leak after 12-hrs driving supplies around and was questioned upon leaving after using the facilities as to who I was and why was I there.

Okay, I shrugged my shoulders and I explained that I was the comms guy for the mission and I was told that if I had to take a piss or dump to go in here. Well the head Red Cross gentleman told me that the porti potties outside was for us along with the shower trailer.

I have absolutely no issues with being questioned...It is a good thing. I just thought it was strange to point out that the porti poties were for us while the warmth in the Red Cross facility was for them. It goes down to freezing here each night. I am sleeping an operating the comms in an unheated tent. It is currently windy with 15-20 mph gusts. We offer security for the Red Cross facility. They eat food out of our kitchen, yet it is off to the porti potties for you peons.

Well there you go. Red Cross is way to big for their britches not unlike FEMA. Boy O' boy I am learning a lot.

73

[pkveazey]

JohnyMac: I'm glad you are down there making a difference. As for Bat cave, it is about 1 mile west of Chimney Rock and Chimney Rock is completely wiped out. I've been there many times, and I saw some pix of what it looks like now. It's completely destroyed. As for the RED CROSS...... Screw them. They just take in money and take credit for everyone else's work. They come into a disaster and act like they own the place and its, "My way or the Highway". They kicked you out of the bathrooms, so kick them out of your kitchen. I'd tell them that they are not in charge, they are just another "Also ran".

[Felix]

Perhaps the Red Cross would like to take their meals from you kitchen after apologizing for the roughshod segregation?

[Searchboss]

JohnnyMac,

I am glad you have volunteered. I wish more people were willing to do that.

Many years ago I was a volunteer Red Cross Disaster responder. Then I became an instructor for the Red Cross teaching most of the courses they had at the time for First Aid & CPR through Disaster Response & Shelter Management. I enjoyed that for a couple of years, and then they had a change of management at the Federal, State, and Local levels. It was well publicized and most of us (volunteers) paid it little attention. Over the next year or so they slowly replaced the local volunteer leaders at each Red Cross office with a paid regional overseer that was responsible for several counties. After that, it became nearly impossible to contact the overseer or get supplies, books, mannequins, etc. to teach courses, and they started to charge the volunteers a fee to use equipment or space in the local Red Cross building that had been free up until then. Needless to say, here in middle Georgia ALL of the volunteers quit. I have not had much use for the Red Cross since.

I have also deployed with an organization called Team Rubicon. You may see them working in some of the areas you are working in. They typically do things like muck-outs, which is cleaning all the mud and ruined stuff from houses to get them ready for refurbishment. They also have chain-saw crews, and do other things like tarping roofs, depending upon the local need. In my experience, they are well-funded and very well-organized. They take care of their volunteers providing organization, shelter, food, tools, and transportation so their volunteers can concentrate on helping the community that they are working in. On one deployment in West Virginia, one of the things TR did, at the request of the local Agency in charge, was to coordinate the responses of other volunteer groups. Imagine that. A volunteer organization was asked to coordinate the responses of other volunteer organizations. Surprisingly enough, it made the local responses more efficient and reduced the duplicate efforts and frustration that were happening. Another story for another time...

I tell you this because I have also deployed with a private group as you are doing where the individual volunteers were responsible for everything for themselves and the group from providing your own shelter, sanitary facilities, feeding, and security, not to mention whatever is needed to help the local community. There is a huge difference. Sadly, I also ran into a similar situation where the more well-connected and funded organizations acted brutish. The Red Cross was/is at the top of this list along with FEMA. My experience was that they publicly talked a good line about volunteers, but in actual practice, they did not seem to want to have anything to do with them.

Keep up the good work and keep us posted about your experiences.

[Sir John Honeybucket]

Post 9/11 was a wake-up call for me regarding Red Cross.  And it's not all that new, either. My ex-father in law fought in WW II ( India - China airlift campaign ) and he mentioned that Red Cross charged his fellow GIs for everything, right down to the last dougnut. Now, Salvation Army he loved, because GIs had no money, and Salvation Army didn't charge GIs for the small things like snacks and a cup of coffee &etc. Just a taste of home for the average soldier who is, 8,000 miles away from home.

[JohnyMac]

Thx Searchboss and Sir John for your experiences.

My father was a naturalized citizen. His birth country was Scotland and he came over in 1952 on a church mission and never left. After 6 months in the USA with his green card, he got drafted. 

Anyway, my dad grew during the blitz and on several occasions his home was damaged by German bombs. He disliked the Red Cross immensely do in part to what Sir John wrote about.

Thx gents.

[Sir John Honeybucket]

Oh yeah, drafting new immigrants.  Had an instructor who escaped from communist  Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, made his way to the United States, had not been here long at all, when his draft letter arrived.  Like he told us, I really didn't understand English; only a few words. Could NOT understand all the fast, military commands and ended-up carrying a rifle in Viet Nam, fighting communists. I KNEW that if captured, when they learned that I escaped from the communist country, I'd be in even worse trouble. 

Interesting fellow.

[Felix]

"Vaccine Impact News" is carrying a report that "10,000 body bags were not enough" (for NC relief)
This, presented by:
Sophia Media, LLC
201 Hunters Crossing Blvd.
Suite 10 - 149
Bastrop, TX 78602
USA

featuring statements from:
https://westerncarolinaemergencynetwork.org/

Manipulation, madness, or just plain...mercantile mendaciousness???

[JohnyMac]

Interesting stuff folks.