Sometimes an event
happens that is so catastrophic, so tragic, that normal activities seem even
abnormal.
I’m talking about the flooding and devastation last week in
upper East Tennessee and western North Carolina. By now, you’ve probably seen
all the media reports on how horrible it is.
Last week, we got about 8 inches of rain at my house, which
is an extraordinary amount for such a short period of time. Yet, in Asheville,
they got over two feet! All the rain that hit the mountains quickly traveled
down into the valleys below, creating floods at never-heard-of levels.
I knew that Erwin and Newport were hit hard but it really
hit home when I saw a video of helicopters evacuating patients from the rooftop
of the Unicoi County Hospital. I had heard about it and sort of assumed it was
an orderly removal of patients from a helicopter pad.
It wasn’t. It wasn’t an orderly evacuation. It was a rescue.
It hit home about how important our hospitals are, even
small, community hospitals in maybe remote regions. Those hospitals serve an important purpose
and are an essential asset to their communities.
It also hits home that not everyone has access to quality
health care. That there are doctors and nurses and physical therapists working
in places that don’t have the amenities found in bigger cities. Health care
professionals that choose to live in underserved and rural communities.
I saw videos of entire homes being swept away by raging
floodwaters. Nasty, churning, brown water that is powerful beyond our
imagination. Trailers are particularly susceptible but I saw entire homes swept
off their foundations and quickly broken apart.
Homes where the contents will be so scattered that the
families that lived in them will never find any evidence of what they left
behind in. In one particularly macabre scene, I saw a video of a casket
floating down the river.
I saw bridges that you might think could hold up to most
anything crumble as though they were made of Tinker Toys. Can you imagine how
long it will take Interstate 40 through the Smokies to be fully restored?
I saw a map of access to Asheville. All roads in and out
were closed. No power. No cell service.
I read one story of a fellow who hiked 11 miles to check on his parents,
finding stranded folks all along the way as roads were either destroyed or
impassible.
I heard about the Tennessee National Guard rescuing people
and dropping massive loads of supplies off in places where only helicopters
could reach. It’s often been said that in the event of a crisis, look for the
people running toward the problem. There
seems to have been plenty of those.
I’ve seen a bunch of local folks and businesses gathering
supplies and arranging for transportation to areas without water, power, food,
or shelter. This won’t be a one-time, short-term thing. These folks are going
to need a lot of help for a long time.
I would ask that you open your hearts, your wallets, and
maybe even your homes to those that so desperately need help right now.
