Good Morning, Friends,

If you haven’t read my previous posts, here’s the situation in a nutshell: we live in a rural mountain community in Swannanoa, NC, where the bridge connecting us to the outside world was swept away during the 1 in 1,000-year flood event caused by Tropical Storm Helene.

Recovery Period

Since my last update, I’ve had to take a break from chainsawing and heavy lifting due to an old mountain biking injury that flared up, causing significant pain in my right shoulder. I’m currently on medication prescribed by my doctor and focusing on giving that arm a rest.

Fortunately, one of our amazing neighbors is a physical therapist and gave me an evaluation on Friday. She has me on a treatment plan that seems to be working, and she taped my shoulder with therapeutic tape to help stabilize it. I’m incredibly grateful for her help.

In many ways, I’m my own worst enemy. Like my grandpa, I have a hard time stepping back when there’s work to be done or someone who needs help. If my mom were still around, I’m sure she’d be quick to point this out! But I realize I need to take it easy for now to heal properly so I can help later.

Amateur Radio’s Vital Role

Over the past 17 days, the N2GE (Mount Mitchell) repeater has shifted from being the primary source for gathering real-time information and conducting wellness checks to now serving as a liaison between aid groups and those needing assistance. If you’ve been monitoring, you’ll hear it’s as busy as ever.

This week, I’ve been focused on connecting aid groups with the parts of Western North Carolina most in need. I can’t overstate the importance of amateur radio in facilitating these connections.

Government resources and private aid groups often operate on different communication networks, making coordination challenging. This has led to some areas being overlooked while others are inundated with supplies they can’t manage. For example, one local church in north Asheville has become a relief hub due to social media posts but is now overwhelmed with donations and lacks the logistical infrastructure to manage them. It’s a bit crippling for an all-volunteer group.

I’ve been attempting to: 1) gather information on resource hubs, 2) compile a list of communities in need along with their specific requests, and 3) link the two and arrange deliveries. So far, I’ve made good progress, especially with some amazing resources here in central Buncombe County willing to drive supplies to more remote areas in Yancey, Mitchell, and Avery counties.

Aid Coordination

On that note, yesterday, my wife and I headed into town to connect with one of the largest aid resources in Swannanoa: a coalition of churches and private individuals from various states that have taken over a large facility near I-40. They’re as organized as a private aid agency can be.

We met with one of their logistics managers and set up direct communication, so I can provide them with specific community needs. We also informed them about a local church that needed heavy equipment like skid steers (with forks) to manage palletized donations.

Their site was buzzing with activity, with trucks coming and going, and volunteers lining up for tasks ranging from chainsaw work to laundry services. It was incredible to witness the coordination.

We also checked in with the Swannanoa Fire Department to relay the status of our community and see if they needed anything. They’ve been a critical hub for both government and private relief efforts.

On our way home, we couldn’t leave without accepting meals prepared by the Swannanoa First Baptist Church—such loving persistence! Their generosity was deeply appreciated.

At the post office, we helped out a bit too.

They were open on Saturday to accommodate those in the community collecting mail and packages

They’re based in a brilliant temporary mobile post office and have an additional shipping container (that lacks lighting) to manage larger  packages and parcels.

Our amazing postal workers and friends were pretty busy, so Heather and I helped set up some battery-powered lanterns and headlamps they’d just acquired so they could locate packages more easily in that dark shipping container.

I may have mentioned that our local post office was flooded, so this mobile setup could be in place for a long while. We love our hardworking postal workers–they’re such valuable members of our community.

A Few Photos

Heather took some photos as we drove around town. Many of these appear blurry mainly because everything (and I do mean everything) is covered in fine silt that was left over from the flood. When the wind blows in town, it looks like a dust bowl. The town is even spraying down the roads with water just to keep it somewhat at bay.

Tree Removal

As I mentioned in the last post, we’ve contracted arborists to remove the trees from our houses. They’re scheduled to come today, but it’s unclear if they’ll make it. The crane they need may not be able to handle the dips and dodgy conditions on our patched-up road. The crane operator was supposed to assess the situation this weekend, but I haven’t heard back yet. Two other homes on our road are also awaiting tree removal, so we’ll see how things unfold.

In addition, the Kentucky DOT is continuing to patch our road. We’ve confirmed they’re bringing it up to DOT standards, just adding more stability. We certainly welcome any repairs. The road is still our biggest concern, aside from power restoration.

We’ll roll with the punches. Removing the trees is a priority, especially before the weather turns. While we’ve been blessed with dry days, our vacation rental has no protection from rain pouring through the ceiling where a tree came down.

Power Restoration?

I mentioned previously that a Duke Energy employee estimated we might not have power restored before Christmas. While our community accepted this as reality, a crew from Indiana working on our lines gave us more optimistic news yesterday. Barring any unforeseen complications, power could be restored this week. Possibly in a couple of days! This doesn’t mean everyone will get power immediately—some homes with slab-mounted transformers have additional damage—but it’s a positive development.

At our community meeting, though, we all agreed: “We’ll believe it when we see it.”

Again, we’ve been incredibly fortunate to have solar power throughout this ordeal. Still, restored power will be a huge relief for our neighbors, and we’re hopeful it’ll happen soon!

Thank You So Much!

Once again, we’re overwhelmed by the kindness and support we’ve received. I apologize if I haven’t been able to reply to emails and comments—I’ve been spending most of my energy helping my family and neighbors through this challenging time.

Also, a HUGE shout-out to the amazing Vince (VE6LK) and all of the contributors here on QRPer.com! THANK YOU!

Vince has completely taken over formatting and posting field reports and articles to QRPer.com. It’s been so fun reading through all of the brilliant field reports and see QRPer.com in full-swing.

What an amazing community you are! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Here’s wishing you a wonderful week ahead!

Best & 72,
Thomas (K4SWL)

PS: I’ve tagged all of my Post-Helene updates so that you can bookmark this url to read all of them in one collection. Each new update will be included.