My beloved city, the magical mountain town of Asheville, North Carolina desperately needs your help.
Hurricane Helene devastated the region of Western North Carolina last week. You’ve probably seen images on the news.
Here are some key points:
- At one point, there were 400 roads closed and there was no way into or out of Asheville.
- There have been biblical proportions of flooding, landslides, sink holes, roads collapsing, house fires, mudslides and more.
- As I write this, I have three friends and their families trapped on a mountain top with about 25 people and they are running out of food, water, and gasoline for the one generator they have to share among them.
- I have another dear friend, a fellow coach and mastermind partner, who’s house literally washed away down the raging river when flood waters rose to 35-40’ higher than usual.
- I know dozens of people with trees through their bedrooms, cars that have been smashed to pieces and businesses that are completely underwater.
- The majority of the city is without power and even more importantly, water. They are saying it will be weeks and maybe months until these things are restored.
- Schools are closed indefinitely.
- 160+ people have died from the storm – more than 70 of them in North Carolina. There are still so many people missing.
I could go on and on, but I won’t. I lived through Hurricane Harvey in Houston in 2017 which was the most terrifying experience I had ever lived through and was the second most costly hurricane in the history of the United States, second only to Hurricane Katrina which hit New Orleans in 2005.
They are saying that Hurricane Helene is Asheville’s Katrina.
It will forever change the face of our beloved city and neighboring towns.
What can you do to help?
DONATE MONEY.
It’s that simple. Right now, this is what is most needed. There are dozens of charities to choose from but here are my four trusted and recommended favorite charities.
I plan to share regular updates on my Facebook page about what’s happening in Asheville, so please be sure to follow me and more importantly SHARE my posts with your communities. The more people that know just how dire the situation is here, the more help we can bring into the region.
Thank you for caring!
Photo credit: Marcia Martin