Tag: Eric Church

#OnThisDay: 2nd Anniversary of Hurricane Helene Status Report

Since western North Carolina was so severely damaged by Hurricane Helene beginning on September 26, 2024, I am blogging about it today. I don’t want people to forget, and I want people to know that the people in the region are still recovering from the storm.

Trouble came on a scale no one could have predicted.

You can find thousands of photographs from the disaster online. I just did not have permission to post any of them.

Summary of Hurricane Helene Damages in North Carolina (Data gathered from various online sources, some not in agreement, of course. This is my best effort as a regular citizen.)

Lives lost: 106

Total estimated damages: Nearly $60 billion

Federal funds received to date: $14.4 billion

Highest recorded rainfall, September 25-27, 2024: 30.78 inches in Busick, a community near Mount Mitchell in Yancey County

Landslides: More than 2,000

Dams that failed or were severely damaged: 40

Tornadoes spawned: 8

Housing units destroyed or severely damaged: 3,800

Housing units damaged: 125,000

Timberland damaged: 822,000 acres

Trees downed in national forests in NC: Millions

State-maintained roads destroyed or heavily damaged: 5,000 miles

State-maintained bridges destroyed or damaged: 700

State-maintained culverts destroyed or damaged: 700

Privately-owned roads, bridges, and culverts severely damaged: 7,000

Water and sewer systems damaged: More than 160

Jobs lost in western NC in the month after the hurricane: 19,000

Examples of Assistance western NC has received:

Search and Rescue members sent from California: 151

Starlink internet terminals sent from a Kentucky storm chaser: 30

Starlink internet terminals contributed by SpaceX: 500

Line crews sent from T&T Line Construction of Hornwell, New Brunswick, Canada: 11

Additional line crews from Quebec, Canada: several

Line crews from across the US: multiple

Helicopters sent in to transport and set power poles: Duke Energy

Disaster relief assistance: 1st Battalion of the 169th Aviation Regiment of the Connecticut Army National Guard

Volunteer private helicopters in rescue efforts: Operation AirDrop and the Carolina Emergency Response Team

Meals provided by World Central Kitchen: More than 64,000

Affordable microhomes built by Beloved Asheville: 12 so far, with another village planned in nearby Swannanoa

New housing units built by Blue Haven, Inc. (a 501(c)(3) organization which is part of singer Eric Church and his wife, Katherine’s Chief Cares Foundation: 37 (Please visit https://chiefcares.org/ and https://wataugaonline.com/eric-churchs-chief-cares-expanding-in-western-nc/ to learn how this endeavor works and is being expanded.)

Value of pizzas donated to Asheville residents by Mellow Mushroom: $5,000

Liters of water distributed by FEMA: 6.5 million

Meals distributed by FEMA: 7.1 million

Cajun Navy arrived from Louisiana immediately with search-and-rescue teams. They stayed for weeks, if not months.

Heavy equipment work donated by Precision Grading of Tryon, NC (a small excavating and grading company that now includes a 501(c)(3) division to handle donations whose name is now Precision Grading & Disaster Relief.) Basically, their disaster relief work is free-of-charge, but individuals receiving insurance benefits for damages are requested to pay the company for work done.): More than 500 days of very hard work and counting. Visit https://myfox8.com/video/north-carolina-nonprofit-owner-worked-500-days-straight-helping-hurricane-helene-victims-rebuild/12197331/ for a recent report.

Mountain Mule Packers Ranch’s nonprofit Mission Mules (in Mount Ulla, NC) carried tons of food, water, insulin, building supplies to areas inaccessible by other means in North Carolina.

Books collected and distributed by 21st Century Packhorse Librarian: 9,000

PVC pipes cleaned out of the French Broad River due to the flooding of the IPEX plastics manufacturing plant in Woodfin, NC by volunteers from the environmental nonprofit MountainTrue: 6 million pounds. (IPEX has agreed to pay MountainTrue $500,000 for their efforts.)

Amish people from Pennsylvania and Ohio came and built tiny homes for people who had lost their home to the hurricane, but I could not find the exact number.

Rebuilding projects completed or underway in Yancey and Mitchell counties by Rebuilding Hollers, a 501(c)(3) organization: 585 (Visit https://rebuildinghollers.org/Projects for more details.)

Looking to the Future

Landslides:  The State of North Carolina is remapping western NC using new LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) scans that show the actual damage and waterway channel shifts as a result of Hurricane Helene. That data will continue to be processed for updated flood-hazard maps. That information will be shared with FEMA.

Information I found indicates that FEMA flood zone maps concentrate on rivers and coastal storm surge. Western NC is 300 to 400 miles from the coast. The steep terrain and 30-inch rainfall associated with the hurricane turned tiny streams into raging rivers that were not accounted for on FEMA flood maps. Therefore, fewer than 3% of the properties in western NC that were most damaged by Hurricane Helene are included in FEMA’s mapped flood zone areas.

LiDAR scans that have been superimposed over older maps that predicted potential landslide locations have lined up very well and have identified many additional landslide-prone locations. This information will be used to restrict future development.

Water, Wastewater, and Sewer Systems:  Water, wastewater, and sewer systems receiving State funds for repairs and reconstruction are required to repair/reconstruct to a higher, storm-resilient standard and not merely rebuilding to the pre-Helene standards. The NC Department of Environmental Quality has awarded grants totaling more than $1 billion for water and wastewater infrastructure in western NC counties. Another $750 million is needed.

Dam Repair/Reconstruction:  After not having a state budget for a couple of years, the NC General Assembly finally adopted a budget this summer. It includes $20 million toward the repairing and reconstruction of failing dams. Government officials and environmentalists will hopefully work together to implement work to be done. Reports indicate that some of the dams were constructed to supply water to textile mills that no longer exist and those dams – at least one of which dates back to 1905 – were not built for flood control. This, no doubt, will be a contentious issue over the coming years as removal of a dam is not a simple undertaking.

Brother Wolf Animal Rescue

If you’ve been following my blog for the last two years, you will remember that I have written a number of times about Brother Wolf Animal Rescue in Asheville, North Carolina. Staff and others did an amazing job of evacuating all the animals before the facility was wiped out by Helene’s flood waters.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Asheville stepped up and provided temporary quarters for Brother Wolf, and a campaign was held to raise money for a land and building(s) in a less vulnerable location. Having temporary space provided by the local ASPCA made it possible for Brother Wolf to find homes for more than 900 animals in 2025 and many more were given medical care.

In 2026, the ASPCA awarded Brother Wolf a $1 million grant toward its rebuilding!

Brother Wolf Animal Rescue is a registered 501(c)(3) organization. For more information, visit https://www.bwar.org/.

Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina

If you follow my blog, you know that the Blue Ridge Parkway is near and dear to my heart. Portions of the parkway are still closed, but it is predicted to be fully-reopened in NC by the end of 2026; however, not all hiking trails, picnic areas, or other recreation areas will be fully restored by then.

Please visit https://www.nps.gov/blri/planyourvisit/roadclosures.htm if you want more information or are planning a trip. That website is updated weekly.

Keep in mind that the North Carolina portion of the parkway runs from Milepost 216.9 at the Virginia state line to its terminus at Milepost 469.1, so most of the parkway is open now. Motorists just need to check maps of the parkway and plan accordingly.

If you’re planning a trip to enjoy the beautiful fall foliage in the Blue Ridge Mountains, be sure to get off the parkway occasionally to support restaurants and small businesses because they took a big hit in multiple ways since September 26, 2024.

Interstate 40 in Pigeon River Gorge

For months after the hurricane, I gave updates from the North Carolina Department of Transportation on I-40, US highways, state highways, and state roads as they were reopened – and in many cases – rebuilt. That story continues two years later and will not soon end.

I invite you to watch a two-minute video at https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/2026/2026-09-02-i-40-reconstruction-update.aspx, which is part of a September 2, 2026 update from the NC DOT. (Note the size of the Pigeon River under normal times in the right portion of the photo.) The numbers are staggering and the ultimate estimated completion date for the 5.5 miles of I-40 that were destroyed or severely damaged by the hurricane is now the end of 2029.

As is indicated in the referenced video, the state hopes to have three lanes open by the end of 2028. Currently, only two lanes (one eastbound and one westbound) are open with a 35 mile-per-hour speed limit.

US-176 in North Pacolet River Gorge

A 1.1-mile stretch of this federal highway between Tryon and Saluda, NC has been closed since Hurricane Helene. It has received little publicity, and I’m afraid I have failed to mention it in my earlier hurricane recovery blog posts.

A month ago, Blythe Construction of Charlotte was awarded the contract for this $32 million highway reconstruction project. The work is projected to be completed late in 2029. The project faces many of the same challenges as the reconstruction of I-40, as the highway is/was wedged between a river and steep terrain.

The flooding of the North Pacolet River during the hurricane washed out portions of the highway and all the soil underneath it. Some of the slopes where the highway was now drop as much as 60 feet down to the river.

Engineering for such a reconstruction project usually takes five to seven years but was fast-tracked and completed in less than two years. For more details, visit https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/2026/2026-08-17-us-176-helene-contract-awarded.aspx.

In Closing

I look forward to the day I don’t need to give Hurricane Helene updates! Perhaps on the storm’s fifth anniversary, Brother Wolf Animal Rescue will be settled in its new facility, the Blue Ridge Parkway will be fully restored to its former glory, I-40 will almost be rebuilt through the Pigeon River Gorge, and US-176 through the North Pacolet River Gorge between Tryon and Saluda will almost be rebuilt.

I apologize to the countless individuals, organization, and companies that I have failed to name that have and will continue to work tirelessly to help the residents of western NC recover from Hurricane Helene.

Janet

All history is local, but no history is just local.

The Importance of Marbury v. Madison Today

This is a timely anniversary date that landed in my lap!

The US Supreme Court heard the arguments for the Marbury v. Madison case on February 11, 1803, and handed down its decision 222 years ago today on February 24, 1803. That’s a quick turn around compared to today’s Supreme Court!

A photo of the US Supreme Court building.
The US Supreme Court Building.
(Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash.)

It isn’t often that one hears a reference made to this US Supreme Court case, but a news commentator on TV mentioned it just 11 days ago and another one mentioned it four or five days ago. I chose Marbury v. Madison for today’s blog post when I created my 2025 editorial calendar last year. Talk about serendipity! Little did I know last fall what a place we would be politically today.

In a nutshell, Marbury v. Madison established the right of the courts to determine constitutionality of the actions of the Executive and Legislative branches of government in the United States.

The three branches of the federal government are equal; however, the Judicial branch has the authority to rein in the other two branches when they take actions deemed to be in conflict with the United States Constitution.

Photo of a top spinning in perfect balance.
And image of what balance looks like. (Photo by Christophe Hautier
on Unsplash.)

Until January 20, 2025, I took Marbury v. Madison for granted. I will never take it for granted again.

When I started writing today’s post a week ago, I copied what the National Archives website said about Marbury v. Madison and saved it as a Word document in case the National Archives website disappeared. (The USAID website disappeared for a while before being moved to the US State Department website. Incidentally, as I wrote this paragraph on Friday afternoon, a judge ruled that the Trump Administration can proceed to dismantle USAID.) Trump fired the National Archivist about 10 days ago. We historians fear that he or Elon will torch the National Archives. That’s one way to erase history, but I digress. (It is a real fear, though.)

Back to Marbury v. Madison

Quoting the National Archives website (https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/marbury-v-madison) because I cannot state the case’s background any better: “In 1801, outgoing President John Adams had issued William Marbury a commission as justice of the peace — but the new Secretary of State, James Madison, refused to deliver it. Marbury then sued to obtain it. With his decision in Marbury v. Madison, Chief Justice John Marshall established the principle of judicial review, an important addition to the system of “checks and balances” created to prevent any one branch of the Federal Government from becoming too powerful.”

Photo of the National Archives building in Washington, DC
US National Archives, Washington, DC. (Photo by Juliana Uribbe on Unsplash.)

Also, quoting from the National Archives website: “‘A Law repugnant to the Constitution is void.’ With these words written by Chief Justice Marshall, the Supreme Court for the first time declared unconstitutional a law passed by Congress and signed by the President.”

I think some folks living and working on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. need to read up on this. We now have a US President who wrote on social media nine days ago, “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law.” It’s up for debate whether he is doing anything to save our country, but the frightening thing is that he has put in writing that he is above the law.

He also said that when it comes to agencies of the Executive Branch only he and the US Attorney General can interpret laws. That might be in conflict with the principle established by Marbury v. Madison.

It is the US Supreme Court that will ultimately decide if the US President does anything that is unconstitutional.

The US Constitution gave the President the power to veto an act of Congress and appoint federal judges with the advice and consent of the US Senate, and it gave Congress the power to impeach the President or a judge. The powers of the Supreme Court were not spelled out in such detail. When Marbury v. Madison came along in 1803, Chief Justice Marshall – who strongly believed that the Supreme Court was equal in power to the Executive and Legislative branches – led the court in seizing the opportunity to establish the principle of Judicial Review.

The US Supreme Court’s authority to declare federal or state laws unconstitutional has never been seriously challenged. I hope that will still be true in 2029.

In case you’re wondering what happened to William Marbury…

With the decision made in the Marbury v. Madison case, the Secretary of State was directed to deliver to William Marbury his commission as a justice of the peace for the county of Washington, in the District of Columbia.

In the big scheme of things, I wonder if the parties involved in this case had any idea going into it that it was destined to be a landmark decision.

In conclusion

I still have freedom of speech and I will continue to use my blog as a platform to share my opinions and my research into the US. Constitution. Those of you who have been reading my blog for more than 10 years know that is nothing new. I just feel more compelled now to blog about the US Constitution.

The words of the preamble to the US Constitution with a slightly blurred image of the American flag in the background.
Preamble to the Constitution of the United States of America

My college major was political science, and I regret that I only took one Constitutional Law course. In fact, I was so intimidated by the subject that I procrastinated taking the required course until my final quarter. (The university was on the quarter system then instead of the semester system.)

As it turned out, the course was fascinating and I wished I’d taken it earlier so I would have had time to take more constitutional law courses. I readily admit that one constitutional law course does not a constitutional law expert make, but I’m trying to shine a light on the document.

Hurricane Helene Update

As of Friday, 155 roads in North Carolina are still closed due to Hurricane Helene, including Interstate 40 near the Tennessee line. That is a decrease of 14 in the last week, inspite of snow and some sub-zero wind chills. This week’s count consists of 1 interstate highway (I-40), 11 US highways, 17 state highways, and 126 state roads. (To give some perspective, it has now been five months since the hurricane.)

I failed to report in last Monday’s blog post that Eric Church’s foundation, Chief
Cares, has purchased land in Avery County, NC and hopes to place 40 modular homes to house families that lost their homes due to Hurricane Helene. A road must be built and water and sewer lines installed. Church and his foundation hope to secure land in adjoining counties so they can provide more housing for hurricane victims. Church and fellow-country music singer Luke Combs organized and spearheaded a concert at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte last October to raise money for hurricane relief.

The work of Brother Wolf Animal Rescue and The 21st Century Packhorse Librarian continue and will appreciate your support for the foreseeable future.

Jake Jarvis of Precision Grading in Saluda continues to work in the area every day free-of-charge with his heavy earth-moving equipment. He has built bridges, reconstructed driveways and private roads, and excavated places for homes to be rebuilt. The last couple of weeks have been challenging due to ice, snow, and high winds.

Until my next blog post

I hope you have a good book to read. Next Monday I plan to blog about the books I’ve read in February.

Value your freedoms, family, and friends.

Remember the people of Ukraine and western North Carolina.

Janet