Good Morning, Friends,

For those who haven’t followed my previous posts, we live in a rural mountain community in Swannanoa, NC, and were hit hard by the unprecedented destruction caused by Hurricane (later Tropical Storm) Helene. I’ve been sharing regular updates to chronicle our recovery efforts and, naturally, to highlight the vital role amateur radio has played throughout.

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As I mentioned in my last update, now that we have a road open to all vehicular traffic and our community has been reconnected to the grid, we’re all looking toward the future—our new “normal”—focusing on returning to work (those of us who have work to return to), repairing our property, and helping those in our community who are still in need.

The Vast Impact of Helene in WNC

Over the past three days, we’ve ventured further from home, and we’ve seen the broader impact of the storm in our county.

Many local businesses we relied on are simply gone. Grocery stores are still struggling to replenish refrigerated and frozen items, which means we must drive 35-40 minutes (one way) to find these essentials. Due to damaged or wiped-out bridges and road closures, the trip is longer than it used to be. All traffic is now concentrated on the functional roads, so driving times are extended even more.

Two local grocery stores, our pharmacy, post office, hardware store, produce store, and numerous restaurants were all flooded. Some have announced they will not re-open.

A woodworking shop my wife and I visited the day before Helene—where they were making a sign for us—was completely washed away. Only part of their cinder block walls remain.

The tire shop where we bought tires the day before the storm was severely damaged by flooding, as were the dozens of shops and stores nearby, including two grocery stores. Even our local Lowe’s in east Asheville was severely damaged by floodwaters. See photos here.

On Friday, I took my car to the dealership for a safety inspection follow-up and alignment. They were also flooded by about two feet of water, but were able to continue most operations. Their building had been stripped from the floor up to two feet for future repairs.

Unfortunately, they couldn’t perform the alignment because that machine was damaged. Fortunately, the general manager moved their entire inventory of cars to higher ground.

While driving through north Asheville a few days ago, I saw numerous historic homes split in half by large, old-growth trees.

The storm was selective. Areas within a 500-year floodplain were devastated. Some communities, like ours, faced tornadoes and high winds that downed many trees. Yet just a few miles away, there might be little sign of wind damage. Isolated communities along rivers—Chimney Rock, for example—were completely wiped out. Simply erased from the face of the planet.

Everyone I know has friends or family who lost their homes or businesses. Some even know those who lost their lives. The stories are heartbreaking and hard to process.

Despite everything, the community here is strong and resilient. I haven’t spoken to anyone who plans to leave permanently. Frankly, there are few places where you can be sure you’ll never face a natural disaster. Meteorologists believe big storm systems like Helene will become more frequent.

Back to (Some) Normalcy

At home, my daughters will return to their community college classes (they’re dual-enrolled as high school seniors) next Monday. It will have been a full month since they’ve been in class. One of my daughters’ Shakespeare classes resumed rehearsals last Friday after ensuring everyone could travel to the venue safely.

A few friends have pointed out that I’m starting to relax a bit, noting that I wrote an email that was all about radio. A good sign.

POTA and SOTA Plans?

This weekend, I told my wife, “You know? Maybe I could fit in a POTA activation this week. I think I’m ready.”

Of course, she fully endorses the idea.

There’s a small issue, though: to activate a POTA park, I’ll need to drive at least an hour away.

I checked this weekend, and all my local POTA sites are temporarily closed. This includes national parks, state parks, and historic sites. Even some trails I often activate, like the Mountains to Sea Trail, are only accessible via the Blue Ridge Parkway, which is also closed.

Pisgah National Forest is vast—tens of thousands of acres—so I might be able to find an accessible spot that isn’t barricaded. But I’m hesitant to activate a site that’s technically closed due to Helene–no matter how accessible.

One possibility is to combine a POTA activation with visiting my father in Hickory, NC. Most of the parks east of Hickory are open, as storm damage was minimal in those areas.

Someone recently suggested I take this time for a little SOTA, but that’s even more complicated than POTA. Many of the local summits I enjoy activating are either accessed via the closed Blue Ridge Parkway or trailheads on rural roads that have been damaged.

Even if I could reach a trailhead, most trails are likely littered with blowdowns, making the trek slow. Later this year, I hope to help with trail clean-up crews once more trailheads are accessible and my right shoulder has fully-recovered.

That said, I can reach some of the smaller summits in the foothills of NC when visiting my father. While there will likely be some blowdowns, I expect fewer than in the high country. If timing works out, I might be able to hit one!

If all goes well, I plan to make a video this week regardless—perhaps something from my property as I hunt stations. Who knows?

One thing’s for sure: I could use some proper radio therapy. Although I’ve been using radio heavily these past three weeks, it’s been all about emcomm and community organization. It’ll be nice to play radio just for the fun of it again!

Four Words…

Thank you so much!

As always, we are deeply grateful for the kindness and support we’ve received. If I haven’t had a chance to respond to your emails or comments, please know it’s because I’ve been focused on helping my family and neighbors during this challenging time.

A huge thank you to Vince (VE6LK) and all the fantastic contributors on QRPer.com! I’ve read every comment and message, though I haven’t had the time to respond to each one.

I’ve been thoroughly enjoying all of the guest field reports! What a wonderful escape! Thank you!

You are an amazing community and support network. Thank you so much!

Wishing you all the very best this week!

Cheers & 72,

Thomas (K4SWL)

Good Saturday Morning, Friends,

For those who haven’t followed my previous posts, we live in a rural mountain community in Swannanoa, NC, and were hit hard by the unprecedented destruction caused by Hurricane (later Tropical Storm) Helene. I’ve been sharing regular updates to chronicle our recovery efforts and, naturally, to highlight the vital role amateur radio has played throughout.

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Let me say that it’s a comforting feeling to no longer have a tree leaning against and pinned to the roof of our home. It’s nice not to hear the creaking sounds of it rubbing against the metal roof every time the wind blows.

I’m incredibly grateful to the arborist crew that removed the trees from our vacation rental house and QTH. I mentioned that earlier this week the original arborist team we’d scheduled had informed us that they couldn’t remove the tree because they couldn’t bring a crane up our dodgy road.

Our new crew worked without a crane— which, of course, took more time— but they skillfully removed the tree using ropes, pulleys, and a solid understanding of physics. True pros!

We’re so thankful for their efforts.

This same crew ended up removing trees from several other homes on our road. They’re doing incredible work.

More Road Improvements

Our two-mile-long, steep, and curvy road has been getting a lot of attention from the Kentucky Department of Transportation this week. Even though Kentucky is two states away, crews from all over the country have come to help. This particular road crew has been amazing.

The road is now mostly two lanes again. While it’s not paved— and likely won’t be anytime soon— it’s passable by nearly any vehicle. We are all so grateful, and it looks like these improvements might even hold up against future weather challenges.

Improvements and Challenges

Now that our mountain community has electricity (and water), a stable and safer road, and access to every home (except one with a particularly long and mud slide-damaged driveway), life is beginning to normalize.

We’re feeling stable enough here to plan a visit to my father in Hickory this weekend. We’ve postponed visiting him for three weeks because of how unstable things were here, and we’ve kept all our travel within half an hour of the QTH.

After speaking with many neighbors, I feel like their experiences are reflective of everyone in WNC right now. Some are back to work, especially those who can work from home with satellite internet. Some want to work, but their employers— many in the tourism industry— were hit hard by Helene. One friend who works as a solar installer said that literally all of his company’s inventory was destroyed in the flooding along the Swannanoa River.

Tourism, the biggest industry in the mountains, has ground to a halt. A friend mentioned that many people he knows under 30 are now unemployed. For instance, the Grove Park Inn, one of our largest resorts, laid off all of its employees. They hope to reopen soon, but I imagine many guests have canceled for the rest of the year.

Helene couldn’t have come at a worse time, as the fall leaf-peeping season is upon us. Many businesses (including our vacation rental)  make the bulk of their income during this period.

While some WNC counties are still open for business, others— like Buncombe County— are discouraging tourism. I can’t imagine tourists descending on the area right now, as they would only get in the way of recovery.

A Neighborhood Radio Network

In the background, I’ve been exploring the idea of creating a robust off-grid radio communications network for our rural, remote community.

As mentioned in previous posts, we’ve been using amateur radio (VHF) to communicate within our community. While most operators aren’t licensed amateurs, in times of emergency, that’s not an issue.

As things return to normal and our mobile phone network is fully restored, I want to find a long-term, off-grid communications solution.

In an upcoming episode of the Ham Radio Workbench Podcast, I’ll be discussing this in more detail.

I recently spoke with my friend George (KJ6VU), who has gone through this process in his own neighborhood. He provided insight based on experience and I’m most grateful.

While I’d love for everyone in my community to become licensed hams, I know that’s not realistic. That said, I think we’ll gain a couple of new hams after my evangelizing! For now, we need off-grid communication options that are more accessible and use something more akin to channelized radios. Here are some options I’m considering:

• FRS (Family Radio Service): These radios are surprisingly effective but have low power output, and you can’t replace the built-in antenna. This won’t work across our entire two-mile road, especially with the 900-1,000 foot elevation change. This is really the option of last resort for us.
• GMRS (General Mobile Radio Service): This is a more viable option. GMRS radios are more robust, you can replace the antennas, and there are even 50-watt mobile/base options. The downside is that each family would need to apply for an FCC license ($35) and use the same family callsign. There’s also a lot of GMRS traffic, so even if we standardize on tone and channel settings, interference could be an issue. We could install a repeater for better coverage.
• PLMRS (Private Land Mobile Radio Service): This option would require more paperwork and upfront costs, but it has benefits. A frequency coordinator would find unused frequencies for our region, and if enough households sign up, the cost per household would drop. We could standardize on channelized DMR units, and interference from outside users would be minimal. Households wouldn’t need individual callsigns, and we could opt for a repeater if necessary.

I’ll be sorting through these options in the coming weeks and reaching out to neighbors to gauge interest. There are already enough people interested to make this a reality—it’s just a matter of deciding which service to use. At this point, I’m leaning toward PLMRS. If you have any experience or advice, feel free to comment!

Thank You

As always, we are deeply grateful for the kindness and support we’ve received. If I haven’t had a chance to respond to your emails or comments, please know it’s because I’ve been focused on helping my family and neighbors during this challenging time.

A huge thank you to Vince (VE6LK) and all the fantastic contributors on QRPer.com! I’ve read every comment and message but haven’t had the time to respond to each one. My time on the internet is limited, as most of my energy is going into normalizing life.

You are an amazing community and support network. Thank you so much!

Wishing you all the very best!

Cheers & 72,

Thomas (K4SWL)

Good Morning, Friends,

For those who haven’t followed my previous posts, we live in a rural mountain community in Swannanoa, NC, and were hit hard by the unprecedented destruction caused by Hurricane (later Tropical Storm) Helene. I’ve been sharing regular updates to chronicle our recovery efforts and, naturally, to highlight the vital role amateur radio has played throughout.

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Late Sunday afternoon, as my wife and I were reviewing our financials and plans on the porch, we suddenly heard a group of neighbors down the road cheer, “Woo hoo!”

We exchanged a knowing look.

Power had been restored to our road.

What a moment! A dedicated power line crew from Indiana had spent several long days installing new poles and running new lines along our two-mile stretch.

As I’ve mentioned before, we installed a solar power system with battery backup (read all the details here), so the only way I could confirm grid power had returned was by checking the app that monitors our system.

This news was a tremendous morale boost for everyone. With grid power restored, neighbors no longer need to worry about propane deliveries or managing generator runtimes. They can now fully rely on their refrigerators again.

Late Sunday evening, I stepped outside into the front yard, and for the first time in weeks, the valley was quiet—no more generator hum.

Simply amazing. We’re deeply grateful to the line crews who traveled from across the U.S. and Canada to restore service.

Estimates

While I doubt Duke Energy is reading my posts, I do plan to reach out and thank them for their hard work. I also want to offer a suggestion about providing power restoration estimates to customers, particularly after such a major event like Helene.

During smaller outages (the kind that happen when a tree falls on a line), Duke’s website and app typically provide an estimated restoration time. More often than not, power is restored a bit earlier than the estimate. I think this is a good practice, as it gives customers a realistic, “worst-case” time frame.

However, during this event, Duke understandably refrained from providing detailed estimates. We were told that 90% of the county would have power by Sunday, but there were no specific estimates for harder-to-reach areas like ours.

I assume that some Duke field engineers were instructed to err on the side of caution when giving estimates to customers they encountered. In our case, a Duke employee told us last Thursday that we should prepare to be without grid power until Christmas.

This information reached us just before our community meeting that day, leading many of us to adjust plans and purchase supplies for a long-term outage.

Then, on Saturday, we spoke with a power line worker contracted by Duke who had been dispatched to our neighborhood. He informed us that power would be restored in a matter of days and that new poles had already been set on the lower part of our road. He estimated we’d have power by Monday, maybe even Sunday.

Sure enough, by Sunday evening, the lights were back on.

While we were overjoyed, the earlier estimate of “Christmas” was more than a little stressful. Many of us made decisions and spent money based on that initial forecast. Perhaps the Duke employee felt he was managing our expectations, but the result was unnecessary stress and over-preparation.

I thought this might be an isolated incident, but a ham radio friend in Fairview shared a similar experience. His community was told to expect months without power, only to have it restored within days.

I’m not here to complain. My point is simply that being straightforward and realistic in assessments is far better than offering a doomsday scenario.

Disrupted Services

While power restoration is a huge victory, we’re still facing some longer-term challenges.

For one, unless people have recently signed up for Starlink (and I’m certain this disaster has led to a massive surge in subscriptions), there’s no internet on our road, and it’s unlikely to return anytime soon. AT&T is our only service provider, and their lines were in poor condition even before Helene hit. Earlier this year, we switched to HughesNet satellite internet because our AT&T DSL was unreliable and painfully slow.

There’s been talk that AT&T might replace the old copper line with fiber, but I have my doubts. Rural communities like ours often get overlooked because we don’t have the subscriber density of urban areas.

We’re also still without mobile phone data service. My 4G hotspot, which we rely on to supplement bandwidth for our daughters’ online classes, hasn’t worked since September 27th.

Our road, too, remains a challenge. The Kentucky DOT crew did an excellent job patching up two rough areas on flat parts of the road, but it’s still not easily passable by vehicles with low ground clearance. Our road will stay one-lane until the NC DOT can step in and fully repair it to their standards and add guard rails at some point int he future. NCDOT has never faced destruction on the scale of Helene before, so it’s going to take time to address all the damaged roads and bridges that were compromised or wiped out by flooding and debris flows.

Even simple things like grocery shopping take longer now. Ingles, the dominant grocery chain in western North Carolina, was hit hard by Helene.

Our local store was flooded (see photo above), and many locations remain closed. Their massive distribution center in Swannanoa/Black Mountain was also damaged. In the Asheville area, we have other options, but Ingles is the only grocery store in some of the rural towns in WNC. Hopefully, they’ll get back on their feet soon.

Our favorite local produce shop was almost certainly damaged beyond repair. The owner, Mr. Ledford, is a family friend and a valued member of the community. We always tried to shop locally and relied on his store for fresh produce.

It’s heartbreaking to see how many local businesses in Swannanoa were affected by the storm. This disaster is going to change the business landscape here for years to come.

Some school services are expected to resume by October 28, provided water restoration in Asheville stays on track. Our daughters will have missed a full month of their senior fall term. Since they’re dual-enrolled at the community college, all of their classes will go on their college transcripts. If there’s a silver lining, it’s that this break has given them time to focus on university applications and scholarship opportunities.

Proud Papa: I must say, I couldn’t be prouder of my daughters (K4GRL and K4TLI). They’ve been doing an incredible job helping both at home and within our community. Both have taken on net control duties for our local simplex frequency and have been passing traffic on the N2GE (Mount Mitchell) repeater. Their dedication and skill have been vital to our recovery efforts and the broader communications network in the area. Thank you, ladies!

Arborists Update

Yesterday morning, the arborists we hired to remove the trees from our property called to let us know they wouldn’t be able to bring their cranes up our tricky road. There are two sections that are too steep and rough.

That news was a bit of a blow, as we’d spent days finding an arborist with an opening in their schedule and who could make it to our area.

But within an hour, a neighbor called on the radio to tell us that a family friend from Ohio, who owns a tree service, was on the way to help—free of charge. They’d traveled overnight to Western North Carolina just to lend a hand.

When the arborist saw our rental house, he said, “You don’t need a crane if you can use mechanical advantage. Let’s get this done.” Using ropes and pulleys, he and his crew made quick work of the tree.

They’re coming back this morning to help with the tree our residence as well.

Their generosity has been overwhelming, and although they’ve offered to do this for free, we will pay them to help pay it forward—so they can continue helping others who might not be able to afford tree services and perhaps keep them in the community a bit longer.

As I’ve said before, this disaster has truly brought out the best in humanity, and we feel fortunate to be surrounded by such kindness.

In summary

Things are certainly improving, and we are incredibly grateful for all the progress made so far. Rather than expressing concerns, I hope this message offers a constructive perspective from those of us navigating life in a post-disaster environment, with the intention of highlighting opportunities for improving communication in the future.

Thank you

Once again, we are deeply grateful for the kindness and support we’ve received. If I haven’t had a chance to respond to your emails or comments, please know it’s because I’ve been focused on helping my family and neighbors through this challenging time.

A huge thank you to Vince (VE6LK) and all the fantastic contributors submitting articles on QRPer.com!

Vince has been an absolute lifesaver, stepping in to handle the formatting and posting of field reports and articles. It’s been such a pleasure to read all the incredible reports and witness QRPer.com truly flourishing while my attention is focused on recovery at home.

On that note, I’ve been reading every comment and message, but simply don’t have the time to reply back to everyone. My time on the internet is very limited these days because I’m still outside working most of the day.

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

Wishing you the very best!

Cheers & 72,

Thomas (K4SWL)