Andrews – Snowbird Wilderness Outfitters has had boots on the ground in areas of western North Carolina affected by flooding as a result of Hurricane Helene.
Brody Holloway, lead pastor and CEO of Snowbird, has helped lead the charge in getting help to areas hit hard by flooding. He said they have been helping by doing necessary things like home repairs.
“We’ve been working in Clyde with a team of our interns right along the Pigeon River. Houses along the Pigeon River were flooded. So we’ve been working in one trailer park down there, and then a couple of streets where the houses just needed to be gutted. We’ve been getting furniture out of houses, all those houses had a couple inches of mud,” Holloway said.
“If I understand, the Pigeon River right through there was like 26 feet high, and I think that was the most it had ever been. Maybe the last time it flooded there it was up 19 feet. So it was pretty crazy. And in Clyde, you can see where the water went along, and so before Duke could turn power back on to those houses the insulation had to be pulled out of the drywall.
“We have a team there doing that [Monday]. We’ve been doing that every day, just going to house to house. We started because I drove down there the week after the water kind of subsided and just went door to door. No organizations were there yet, so that got the ball rolling.
“The other two places we’re working and doing stuff is Bat Cave and in Henderson County. That has been primarily supply runs where the road is washed out, bridges are washed out and using quads. …
“We focused a lot on the elderly and widows. The crew has removed probably 30-35 trees so far that have fallen on houses or across the roads and driveways. So we’ve been doing tree work down there.
“Then in Yancy County, we’ve been working along the Cane River. There are a lot of people way up in those hollers that needed supplies and things like firewood. So we’ve been running loads of firewood where People that lived along some of the creeks.
“The Cane River in Yancey County, their barn and sheds got washed downstream. We’ve got a 1-ton dump truck, filled with firewood, and I’ll run it up into Yancey. …
“We have a firewood distribution spot. So just dump a load of wood and we’ll move it up and Sending firewood into these little back creeks and hollers. And so that’s kind of the three different things that we’re doing right now.”
Holloway added that, based on the places he has been, any of the areas near a river have been affected the most. Some of the areas he mentioned include Haywood, Madison and Yancy counties, as well as Chimney Rock, Green Mountain and Spruce Pine.
“Of the rivers, what happened was the rivers got so high that anything that was in close proximity to that river got washed. So in Haywood County, everything along the Pigeon River, from Bethel through Canton, through Clyde, got wiped out. In Buncombe County, anything along the French Broad or any of the tributaries, wiped out. Same thing in Yancey County,” he said.
“I’ve been up Jackson Creek and the Cane River. Everything along the river was just wiped out. I haven’t seen one specific community, but all the communities that are along those rivers, that’s what got hit the hardest. So like down in Chimney Rock, Lake Lure, Bat Cave, where you know it caused so much damage was the swelling of the river. … So all the communities along those rivers are what have been hit so hard.”
After seeing it firsthand, Holloway said food and water is not a necessity right now because distribution centers have been set up to get people those supplies. He said the biggest need will be rebuilding and remodeling damaged homes.
“Well, initially the needs were, you know, basic food, water. Some people that needed to get to Their prescriptions and things like that, the elderly, that was a big deal, but all of that’s pretty stabilized. Now what I’m seeing, It doesn’t seem like there’s a need right now for food and water,” he said.
“All the distribution centers that have been set up by people like the N.C. Baptist Relief Organization and Samaritan’s Purse, those organizations, they’ve got large distribution centers They are just loaded with supplies, and they’re doing a good job of distributing and delivering those supplies.
“What we’re doing is today, our team is working just cleaning and tearing material out of homes that were underwater.
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“I think the next thing is going to be the rebuilding process for so many people because of the devastation. Up the Cane River in Henderson County, where we’re running supplies and firewood and things like that the road to get in there’s still large sections of it missing. And so they’re trying to rebuild even just the main road to get to the farthest parts of the county up in Yancey County. And then the power lines. I’ve been all the way up into a community called Green Mountain in Yancey County and the power lines are laying in the river.
“All the way from like down at (U.S.) Highway 19 all the way up to the head of Jacks Creek, all the poles are washed, they’re laying in the river, I think it’ll take months to restore power. But I think the homes that were devastated all along the river bottoms, they’re gonna have to be remodeled, rebuilt and I don’t know if people didn’t have flood insurance.
“They’re going to, I guess, have to do this out of pocket, so I think the biggest need people are going to have moving forward is going to be how do they put their homes and lives back together. The initial triage work of isn’t getting them food and water and supplies. I think that’s pretty stable. Right now, I think there’s a few people yet in places like Bat Cave who are still needing supplies, but there’s a good supply chain to get things to people, but the rebuilding is gonna take, I would imagine, years.”
Holloway added that the ministry plans on working with other churches in the area to help those affected.
“We’re still just trying to help people like those homes in Clyde that we’re working in. ... We’re just trying to get those homes cleaned out right now. Once there’s no more of that to be done, we’ll try to network churches that are in our network,” he said.
“Snowbird works with about 500 churches a year from all over the country. We’ll try to help network churches that can put together work teams that can help you know, remodel and restore some of those houses in the areas hit by the flood.”
Holloway recommends for those wanting to help, that they make donations to groups who will be helping for a long time, not just in the short term.
“I think right now the biggest immediate need would be to look for reputable, trustworthy organizations that you can make financial donations to because there are some organizations that are proven and trustworthy that are going to be in this for the long haul, organizations like Samaritan’s Purse,” he said.
“So that’s immediately, but then I’m going to be watching to see once this initial wave of help and aid is gone, How many people are going to still be investing in those communities to try to help? I think, moving forward, the effort to rebuild homes. There’s going to be a lot of need there.
“So I think the people that I’ve seen that are most involved have been Christian organizations, and that’s brought me a lot of joy and peace knowing that people are really trying to be the hands and feet of Jesus, because the church of Jesus Christ should be leading the charge on something like this, not the government, not a non-government organization. That’s the church, and from what I’ve seen, that’s exactly what’s happening in all of these communities.
“The primary distribution centers for food and water and blankets and supplies have been churches, church parking lots, down in Henderson County at Fruitland Bible Institute and Fruitland Baptist Church. There’s a massive distribution center we’ve been working out of there of The Cove, the Billy Graham Training Center. That’s where Samaritan’s Purse is based. And it’s like that in all the communities we’ve been in – churches are leading the way.
“I’m really encouraged by that. And so I think looking for how to partner with those organizations that are reputable and that are doing the work long term. That’s what I would encourage people to look into.”