Hurricane Helene: Kindness in Chaos

During this extremely difficult time, I want to thank the many supporters who posted online, wondering if I was safe, offering support, and donating to help those in need in my beautiful region of the Blue Ridge Mountains. My family, my home, and I are safe. We still do not have internet so I appreciate your patience in being slow to report and respond to so many. Your kindness is what kept me connected to our community and out of drowning in despair.

What has happened to North Carolina, East Tennessee, and surrounding areas is shocking. According to the local morning news report, 25 areas just in North Carolina have been deemed emergency zones. Many are being fully evacuated. My beloved city of Asheville, 20 minutes from my home, has areas of the city that are completely destroyed.

The Marquee, art and antique gallery, Asheville,NC.

The RAD or River Arts District, my favorite place to take friends who visit me, go for a date night, or just unwind by myself to admire gorgeous and diverse art, was decimated. A recycling plant building in the RAD, made of corrugated steel, was crushed like an accordion against a neighboring brick building. Most of the red brick old factories that have been converted into art studio structures have walls and roofs that have caved in. Gaping holes in the wildly colored mural walls made my heart physically ache. To me, the artists in a city, the painters, sculptures, and musicians are the heartbeat of a community. I imagine the millions of dollars of water-soaked, moldy, destroyed art, the millions of hours these artists put into their work, and the hopes for being successful here, are for the immediate future, all crushed. My dreams of taking my dear friends to these places I loved were also crushed. There is grief and mourning that must be felt when one's beloved city and home are forever altered.

The impact of the hurricane is untold. The amount of rain, 41 trillion gallons that fell in a matter of hours, could have filled the Dallas Cowboys stadium 51,000 times. The winds topped 140 miles an hour. No matter whether a neighborhood was populated with multi-million dollar homes, like Biltmore Village or mobile homes, thousands of trees have fallen like toothpicks, blocking roads for days and now, weeks. In comparison to Hurricane Katrina, which was about 400 miles wide, Hurricane Helene was over 800 miles wide. No one expected the hurricane to be this impactful. Most were not told to evacuate. The death toll and count of the missing are still highly contested and devastating.

We are traumatized here by Hurricane Helene’s wake and that is a normal response to what has happened. What does not seem normal to us is the lack of response to recovery efforts from the US government. While almost none in these parts are likely to be waiting around for the government for anything, (we are a self-sufficient bunch in the mountains), we are appalled by the lack of funding and action. Many areas in our region saw no FEMA rescuers for over a week, and no road or line workers until 10 days later. Initially, only two million dollars were allotted to the rescue and recovery efforts of Hurricane Helene by the Biden Administration, a laughable amount compared to the 106 billion that has been sent to Ukraine.

An immediate offering of $750 per household through FEMA was upsetting to us - that amount cannot pay rent, utilities, and buy groceries for a month. How are our community members supposed to be able to survive? Finally, October 3rd, an announcement of 20 million in upfront funding was made, with statements of $210 million being promised.

Many of us are still spitting mad. Whilst it is needed, we cannot eat money. Money cannot get our grandmothers down off the mountain out of her crushed house and blocked roadways. Numerous reports of FEMA not only failing to respond but interfering with recovery efforts are peppering the airwaves and social media. Locals are so upset with the lack of response, arrogance, and frivolity of some of the rules. For example: no showers without flip-flops - who the heck has flip-flops when they don’t have a house? We think we’ll take the risk of athlete’s foot after 6 days with no shower. Step aside FEMA, and let these hard-working folks through! We are not sure whether the lack of response was due to ill intention or total incompetence. Either way, the government could be doing far, far better.

It was only the generosity and hard work of our neighbors, both in and out of state, that got us through the first week. One of MAA’s long-standing board members, Natalie Paffrath, sent me a video of 13 airplanes in Greenville, SC taking off to bring aid to Asheville. A Children’s Health Defense military chapter member, Brad Miller, hand-delivered propane and toilet paper to my family at a time when none were available in any stores near us. Homesteaders Louise and Ryan Milleman brought us (and many other locations) gas, pasture-raised meat, and food. Friends and strangers donated money from near and far all across the country. Bear’s Smokehouse restaurant owners Cheryl and Jamie, who knew and loved my brother Tao LaBossiere ( artist for the interior of their restaurant) set up base camp for World Central Kitchen on Coxe Street in Asheville. Without knowing how they were going to survive for weeks without selling food, they made their location available to serve over 30,000 meals a day. One weeps with joy when we realize the true generosity of humanity.

Moms Across America is committed to creating healthy communities. This includes resilient, connected, compassionate communities. This is why we initiated the Neighborhood Food Network. In our ideal future, all neighborhoods would have gardens not just in their community but on their front and back yards and on rooftops and balconies. We would be growing food and sharing it so that in times of celebration or chaos, we are healthy, secure, safe, and connected. We hope you will continue to look for opportunities in which you can create a healthy community in your neighborhood. We hope you will donate, if you can, to the below organizations and continue to support the work of Moms Across America as well.

Do you know what the five necessary elements are for survival - you would be correct to immediately guess air, water, food, and shelter...but the fifth?
Hope.

Hope is needed to survive. Without hope, we give up our will to live. Over the past nearly two weeks, I have seen a tremendous amount of generosity, action, ingenuity, courage, and kindness—and all of these things give me hope, especially kindness.

For example, a neighbor who once shunned me after learning my political views ( for health and freedom) saw me after the hurricane and generously offered me food and water. The hurricane has done something amazing. In addition to sweeping up trees and buildings, it is clearing out the division, fear, and politics. Hurricane Helene flooded us with water, and we are now flooding the Carolinas with kindness.

If there is one thing that this disaster has taught me, it is that kindness in chaos is what makes us strong. Thank you, citizens of America. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.

With Love and Gratitude,
Zen Honeycutt

P.S.
Roses, covered in mud, still blooming in the River Arts District.