How To Help With Hurricane Helene Relief

I, Bernie Harberts, did not use generative AI to write or illustrate this article. Spell check and grammar check, yes. AI, no.

Hurricane Helene devastated western North Carolina and folks from across the US and even abroad have been contacting my wife Julia and I about how they can help. I brought a load of hay to Black Mountain yesterday and was devastated. Sometimes you don’t comprehend the damage until you’re staring at it through your windshield. Here are some photos below.

There are two ways. You can help physically or you can help financially. But first, a few photos from a recent trip I took up the mountain to deliver a load of hay to the Black Mountain area.

As with all natural disasters, there are human and non-human victims like dogs, horses, cats and wildlife. Though Julia and I are helping both, we’re focusing on getting aid to animals and pets in the affected area. This weekend, I brought a load of hay to a community outside of Black Mountain. Here are some photos I took through the windshield of our truck. The damage is so in-your-face that it’s hard to imagine all the devastation up the hollers and valleys we’ll never see.

Yes, by now, most of us are overloaded by images of flooded towns, overturned cars and mud-filled homes. But when the damage stares at you through the windshield, it becomes real.

Note, this list will grow as vet organizations we trust will deliver the aid to where it’s needed most.

As with all natural disasters, the folks that help heavily outweigh those that take advantage. Yesterday, when I delivered the hay, I parked our pickup a half a mile from the barn where the hay was going. The road was too washed out to proceed so the landowner and I were going to ride his four-wheeler to his barn to show me. The windows on the pickup were open and my wallet sat on the dash. “I wouldn’t leave that there,” he said. “This is a good area but we’re getting lots of people driving around on 4-wheelers and we’re starting to get reports of stuff getting stolen.”

We got on the four-wheeler and drove toward the man’s house. On the way up, we passed a house with a washed-out driveway. The man gave me a tour of his homestead and then, on the way back, we drove by a new sign next to the driveway to the washed-out house. It said, “Keep Out. Unless you’re with a legit organization, stay away.”

Beware the Scammers

With all the good folks pitching in to help, there are also a few people out there benefiting from people’s losses. Please vet any organizations you support to make sure the aid they’re delivering really goes to the victims of Hurricane Helene.

More about life up Shoe Box Canyon: Around the Homestead.

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