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EST 2/13/2011
This space appears each weekend with links to news and opinion from Asheville and Western North Carolina, and the floor is open for comment and discussion. Wishing all a good day from this still beautiful part of the world.
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It’s hard to believe we are only starting our fifth month of recovery. It seems like years sometimes when you drive past devastation that has barely been touched. We have so far to go.
In the hours and days following Tropical Storm Helene, without cell and internet service, sisters Beth Trigg and Mary Etheridge-Trigg weren’t sure just how bad the damage was across the region. They were focused on helping their immediate neighbors near Warren Wilson College, half of whom had lost their homes in the Sept. 27 storm.
Once everyone’s basic needs were met, at least temporarily, the sisters, who live less than a mile apart, began working their way out of the neighborhood to see who else needed assistance.
“How do I get out of here with all the roads blocked? How do I get access to fuel? All of those things everybody in all these different pockets was figuring out in their own family systems or small neighborhoods,” Etheridge-Trigg reflects.
Etheridge-Trigg’s husband, John Etheridge, went on a search for fuel across state lines to power people’s generators and cars, navigating back roads however he could to get through. Meanwhile, Trigg hosted displaced neighbors at her house and began collecting and redistributing supplies as they became available. Before long, the two sisters felt as if they had a system in place that could work. So they expanded their efforts, doing wellness checks throughout the community.
The pair has since launched Swannanoa Communities Together (SCT), a grassroots organization focused on rebuilding efforts. But they are not alone. Following the storm, several other ad hoc organizations have formed in Swannanoa — one of the areas hardest hit by Helene.
Kira Bursky "So, it's been a mixture of really beautiful to connect with people, but then also it's been very heavy, because I'm receiving these stories that are tragic - people losing their homes, losing friends, losing their art, just a lot of loss."
A local artist has been receiving positive attention for her evocative Tropical Storm Helene-inspired art installment.
Kira Bursky, 28, grew up in Asheville and is currently based in Greenville, South Carolina. Bursky's parents, also artists, live in Asheville.
A few days after the storm, Bursky said she came to pick up her parents, who did not have gas in their vehicles, and bring them to Greenville.
"So I came in, and then I saw firsthand the River Arts District," Bursky said. "My parents live closer to the South Slope area. I saw that stuff in person, but then also online through my friends sharing what they'd gone through, but then also through Facebook groups and seeing this flood of unfathomable tragedy.
"I had a lot of friends who had spaces in the River Arts District, so they were all posting about their life's work, their studios, their equipment. Everything that they had was just gone. It was a lot of my friends who had that same experience."
So, in order to start to emotionally process the devastation of her hometown, she did what she does best — made art.
Public officials are holding news briefings Wednesdays at 11 a.m. The briefings are streamed live on the Buncombe County Facebook Page.
Information about the recovery effort
Water Services Recovery
The city’s water system has suffered catastrophic damage. Keep up with our recovery efforts.
Thanks for stopping by.
“Be safe out there” Lamont Cranston
