A Personal Appeal To Help WNC Storm Victims

Dear Friends,

I am writing to you today to encourage you to assist with the relief efforts for victims of Hurricane Helene and other storms in Western North Carolina.

The amount of rain that fell across the southern United States last week is practically impossible for the human mind to comprehend, with an estimated 40 trillion gallons of water falling from the sky. Asheville and surrounding areas absorbed a lethal amount of this precipitation. While the official measurement at Asheville Regional Airport was 14 inches, nearby areas reported as much as 31 inches. Rivers and streams in the area clearly could not handle this volume, and the result was widespread flooding that claimed the lives of dozens of people in North Carolina. The damage to property and infrastructure can truly be described as Biblical, with entire villages and communities having been washed away by forces not witnessed in this region in generations.

In addition to having friends and clients in the affected area, I have numerous personal ties to the area. My family has many relatives in Waynesville, in adjacent Haywood County, where we maintain a small home. Our house was spared, but the damage in and around Waynesville and Haywood County is extensive.

My great uncle, my grandfather’s brother, was the pharmacist at Biltmore Pharmacy in Biltmore Village for many years. As you have probably seen, Biltmore Village was wiped out by the Swannanoa River. Yards away, the French Broad consumed the entire River Arts District.? I enjoyed a meal there with friends and colleagues just three weeks ago.

It has been humbling and heartwarming to see the response from members of our community who wish to help. Donations of food, diapers, water, bug spray, and other items are surely welcomed by the thousands of storm victims, many of whom do not have power or running water and may not for weeks, and there are numerous options for those who wish to send these items via ground transportation in the coming days to our WNC neighbors. However, I would like to encourage everyone to consider making monetary gifts in the coming weeks and even months to relief organizations that are in position to provide targeted, boots-on-the-ground relief to those who need assistance after the storm surge of benevolence inevitably begins to subside.

Blue Ridge Public Radio has published the following list of WNC relief organizations, and I believe they are continuing to add and curate the list as circumstances develop:

List: Ways to donate and help flood victims in Western North Carolina after Hurricane Helene (bpr.org)

Please take a moment to review the list and perhaps find an organization whose mission aligns with your interest in giving.

It is during times like these, watching the groundswell of positive response, when I am truly proud to live in the Old North State.? Thank you to everyone. Please forward to whomever may have an interest.

Esse Quam Videri.

Sincerely,

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Burke Koonce

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