North Carolina is known for “First in Flight, “First in Freedom,” and “First in Forestry.” A lumber enterprise on the Vanderbilt property was the first in the country to give thought to long-term conservation. America’s first forestry school was Biltmore Forestry School. Foresty is science and art—a complete ecological unit. A community of living plants, animals, and microbes interact with each other and their non-living environment, including climate, soil, air, and water. Interconnected through food webs and nutrient cycles, they all need each other for survival.
This past September, Western North Carolina, the birthplace of American Forestry, was recently uprooted, twisted, traumatized, and in some areas destroyed by Hurricane Helene. Belmont, my home, is a little over an hour away from some of the most damaged parts of Western North Carolina. Asheville, one of the hardest hit towns, sits at the foothills of our Blue Ridge Mountains at the T-section of the French Broad and Swannanoa River, along with many other small towns. In our area, two-thirds of homes lost power, and shelters were set up for families near the river who were warned they could be affected. Our county did an incredible job at watching water dam levels and gaining all the knowledge they could to protect our community and others.
My business lost power for one day. I remember going to work and recognizing the power was out in the building. I sat on the loveseat in pitch darkness to reschedule clients. One client with a prayer closet wrote back, “Sitting in a dark room can be healing/relaxing at times. At least you have the light of your phone. A thought popped into my mind…no matter how dark it gets, the Holy Spirit’s light guides us. Your phone is just the physical, tangible expression of what the Holy Spirit does for us.”
They were right.
After rescheduling, I was the only one in the building (it was recommended not to leave your home), but I sat there in total darkness, and there was peace. I was grateful my home never lost power, and neither did my parents. Knowing how my dad’s Parkinson’s affects him with limited mobility and how he needs assistance on regular days, I was filled with gratitude. I thought of how much care my seven-month-old grandchild needs and was again grateful for light and power.
But we were fortunate compared to others. I could hardly process what I was reading in the news, seeing in pictures, and hearing from others: days of heavy rain, life-threatening flooding, and catastrophic landslides. A crisis can cause the body to go into hyperarousal, contributing to the inability to process what is happening cognitively. And I felt all of it.
Many Western Carolina Towns were decimated. I graduated from Western Carolina University and knew many places and areas caught in the wrath of Hurricane Helene. I watched friends/parents post they have not heard from and cannot get a hold of their children in different colleges throughout the area. Social media showed pictures of I-40, the interstate that connects NC and TN, saying it was impassable due to collapse. I know most of our small, beautiful towns are one way in and one way out. This year (2024), I visited Biltmore Estate, Black Mountain, Chimney Rock, Lake Lure, and West Jefferson. In the days that followed the storm, I read that Lake Lure and Chimney Rock were gone. Only accessible by helicopter.
Gone? What do you mean gone? It’s been there forever? I was just there.
Pictures of businesses I had recently visited but were now gone popped into my news feed. Entire homes, boat docks, and vehicles were seen floating down rivers. There were increasing reports of some rescue departments who were unresponsive and missing. Our rescuers now needed rescue. There were images and reports of people on their roofs, 100 people stuck on Black Mountain, a lady giving birth, and families who were running out of food. All were followed by a frantic “Please help.”
Onlookers can experience psychological trauma hearing and seeing this while feeling powerless to help. Or feeling immensely guilty because they have power and food and do not know how to help those who don’t.
The God Winks, as I call them, were watching regular citizens step up and assist with organizing and managing news feeds during the chaos. People respond to people’s pleas to the best of their ability. I found legitimate sites to donate money to and prayed constantly for those struggling because of this natural disaster. Almost every single Western Carolina Mountain town was destroyed or severely damaged.
Days later, we learned that Hurricane Helene was one of the deadliest hurricanes to strike the US in the last fifty years. Talking to someone from their area a couple of weeks later, they shared how they watched some of their neighbors’ homes wash away, saved an older couple from the water, and had to dig for bottled water under mud in a demolished store. Something they never thought they would do. Seeing bodies float earlier in front of them made them deeply aware of survival for themselves and others. While digging for bottled water, they said a lady came in and asked, “Which way is the wine aisle?” That made me smile, knowing Jesus made wine out of water.
Trauma doesn’t make people strong; it makes them traumatized—hypervigilance, intrusive thoughts, flashbacks, nightmares, cognitive problems, physical and mental health issues. I must admit that seeing posts later like “Mountain people are strong, and they will get through this” infuriated me. Being a small business owner, knowing how difficult it has been at different times and watching some lose everything they worked for was heartbreaking. Some of those mountain citizens were already living without many basic needs. Resilience will continue to come through knowing the actual needs, good organization and management, problem-solving, and knowledge from past decimated areas that overcame. I would bet it looks somewhat like the Bride of Christ.
Everyone uses their unique skill for the benefit of Humanity and God’s Glory—growth in the spirit after one of the darkest times in the birthplace of forestry.
Melissa McDaniel is a National Certified Counselor, Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor, life coach, and speaker who has spent nearly two decades helping people transform their lives. She is also the author of a 1# in New Releases book, Loved Just As I Am.
Loved Just As I Am shares her thirty-year journey of learning from her pain and shame, letting go of judgment and control, and never losing sight of the knowledge that God loved her unconditionally. McDaniel now uses her complete understanding of compassion to help alleviate the suffering of another.
This book is available on Amazon, Kindle, and the author’s website.
