‘Stay Strong Hill Country’: One Volunteer’s Perspective on the Devastation in North Carolina After Hurricane Helene
Audrey Streb /
Beside a lonely road in Boone, North Carolina, Styrofoam stood, balanced on cardboard and weighed down by a rock. Scrawled on it in faded black, yellow, and orange markers read the message, “I thank the good Lord for all the people at Samaritan’s Purse.”
Weeks after Hurricane Helene ripped through the area, helicopters circled above, animal carcasses rotted in the roads, and debris decayed, shells of homes and structures bent and torn apart.
The news cycle has now moved its focus away from North Carolina, though the aftereffects remain, and thousands of people still fight to stay strong and recover from Helene.
Many locals expressed their dissatisfaction with the Biden-Harris administration’s response, as foreign aid seems to take priority over these devastated communities within the United States.
Thankfully, since the devastation, hundreds of volunteers have rushed to Boone, N.C. They have come from around the state and country to alleviate as much of the suffering as they could, and many of them registered to volunteer with charities like Samaritan’s Purse.
Over Columbus Day weekend, I was one of those volunteers.
When I heard that a few peers from my church were planning on driving from Washington, D.C., to Boone, N.C., I was intrigued, but far from sold.
Working at The Daily Signal as an intern, I was hearing stories coming out of North Carolina from the newsroom and I knew that this would not be a cushy trip. Yet, logging onto my computer at work one day, images of the ruin personally struck me, and I knew I needed to go and help.
I am a dual citizen of the United States and New Zealand, and during my nearly eight years in New Zealand, I lived in Christchurch, a beautiful city located on the South Island.
Christchurch knows the pain of devastation from natural disasters. Countless hurricanes and aftershocks devastated the city beginning on Sept. 4, 2020. While the seismic activity continues today, it has significantly tapered off. The Feb. 22, 2011, earthquake proved the most ruinous, as it destroyed much of the downtown area and ended 185 lives. As I lived a few blocks away from that area, I witnessed both the personal suffering and structural damage of Christchurch.
Images of the flooding and destruction in North Carolina reminded me of what I had seen in Christchurch all those years ago, which stirred me to go.
While in North Carolina, I met people from all different walks of life—both old and young, local and out of town volunteers, as well as home and business owners, devastated by the hurricane.
The day I volunteered in a Samaritan’s Purse warehouse, a little over a dozen of us collaborated to pack disaster relief materials, which culminated in making warm clothing available for 2,150 people.
“Thank you for your sacrifice,” Ashley Harrington, the volunteer leader, said through tears. “I pray that Jesus fills you with a complete supernatural strength. He has been with us today. We are the hands and feet of Jesus, and I never want to see another box again.”
On Columbus Day, the line of those wanting to volunteer wrapped around the church building that hosted the Samaritan’s Purse volunteer training, and cars with license plates from around the country flooded the roads.
Many church and business signs showed slogans of encouragement. “God is our refuge and strength” read one church sign, and “stay strong hill country” illuminated the signage on a local theater in Boone. Another cardboard sign with chicken scratch merely read “thank you,” near a local gas station.
“The community is slowly creating a new normal, but there is still so much hurt and loss,” One middle-aged homeowner named Kelly said of the small town Banner Elk, even several weeks after Helene had passed through.
One anonymous small business owner in the Valle Crucis community said that he had witnessed whole towns wiped out and had never seen anything like it. After 15 years of business, his doubts about whether he can keep things afloat dominate his days.
When asked what he would say to President Joe Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris right now, he simply asked, “Where are you?”