10/05/2024
A colleague (and friend I adore) posted this from Asheville, NC following the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene. If you are in a position to donate, please choose a reputable charity that is helping in western NC, like the Red Cross. You can find charities and their ratings here: https://www.charitynavigator.org/discover-charities/where-to-give/hurricane-helene-2024/
I just got the news: a former client who has been missing since the hurricane flooding tore up and carried his house down the Swannanoa River 8 days ago has been found, drowned. His dog, a yellow lab mix, who was last seen on the porch of the house with his owner in the torrent, is still missing, presumed also dead. I am so afraid that this won't be the only sad story with a personal connection.
Folks, it is BAD in Western North Carolina.. what you've seen on the news doesn't compare with the actual conditions here.
Saturday will mark 9 days without running water at home. Trying to survive on 1 gallon per person per day emergency relief water. That has to last for all your needs; drinking, bathing, cooking, washing dishes, and nothing left to flush the toilet. Cooking with a propane camp stove, no internet. Destruction all around. Pictures and stories of loss and devastation. It all real.
Yesterday i got my first shower in over a week at the YMCA after waiting in line for 45 minutes beginning at 11 AM. That was ALMOST the highlight of my day.
As I was leaving the Y, a produce truck pulled up and set up a free market of fresh fruit and vegetables. I was able to get enough to cook for 3 friends also without power, water or access to food. It felt like Thanksgiving. We were blessed. One friend said that it was the best meal he has eaten all year.
Being able to cook for friends and host a hot meal to cheer them up was THE highlight. Not only of the day, but of the entire week. My love language is providing acts of kindness. I live for making others feel better. To laugh. To forget that stress for just one minute. I promise you that if I have ever made you forget your worries for even a minute, that has brought me joy for hours.
9 days now without power, water, or internet at the office. If I had power, i could work and use the water from my garden pond to flush the toilet. No income coming in, yet employees dealing with storm damage and food and water insecurity at home still expecting a paycheck. I know you can empathize with my level of stress.
No FEMA relief for businesses, just your insurance and the prospects of SBA Disaster Recovery loans. Many of us are still paying our EIDL loans from 4 years ago. We don't need another monthly bill.
No way to contact clients. No way for most who aren't personal friends to cotact me. A victim of the need for technology. No idea how many clients have immediate survival needs that I would want to help with. If I only had the strength.
I have spent many hours over the last week in lines to get my 1 gallon per day drinking water, a free meal here and there from the Red Cross and various volunteer organizations, and accepting MRE rations. You don't know how it pains me to have to be on the receiving end of aid instead of the giving end. When I have been given more food than I need, I have shared with friends and neighbors. I grew up with food insecurity. I never want others to know how that feels.
Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs says that water and food and safe shelter come way before getting your tax return done. We're all still in survival mode here. Hoping tomorrow will be a better day. Praying it will be. Crying at the kindness of strangers.
Today I stopped at an Asian market which was offering a free hot meal. I asked for two, one for myself and one for a friend who is staying at my house because his home is in much worse shape after the storm. They said they could only provide one if the person was in line, they had so many in line behind me to feed. I stated that my friend was disabled and at home. They said that they were sorry but he needed to be in line . I replied that I understood and would share my meal with my friend. The next server handed me a second meal discreetly. I almost broke down in tears right then, thanking her silently.
Please, if you are in a position to help financially, donate to the American Red Cross for NC, a hurricane relief organization, or a charity of your choice helping those affected by the horrible storms. I am not asking for anything personally. I am asking for my community.
Thank you and bless you, for reading this post , and doing what you can. I love my tax friends. We chose this profession because we want to help others.
In Asheville NC.
Highly rated charities providing relief and recovery to those impacted by Hurricane Helene.
