Quakers Organize Support for Survivors of Hurricane Helene

As of October 10, at least 232 people have died due to Hurricane Helene, CNN reports. The category 4 hurricane came ashore in Florida on September 26, according to The New York Times. An unknown number of people are unaccounted for. The storm destroyed roads, bridges, and communications infrastructure, which impeded search efforts.

Representatives of Quaker meetings, schools, and camps in the Southeastern United States reported that no Friends had died in the hurricane and that all were accounted for. Not all Quakers contacted by Friends Journal responded as of October 10, presumably due to communications outages. This article will be updated as FJ hears from more survivors.

A Friend from Asheville (N.C.) Meeting, who requested anonymity, collected text messages from members and attenders and shared them, with permission, with FJ. Friends from Asheville Meeting have kept in touch with each other as well as other area Quakers via text and video calls, as much as the damaged communication infrastructure would allow. The flooded French Broad River in Asheville rose to a record high 24.67 feet, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

Asheville Meeting members and attenders are alive and have not been hurt. Their homes have sustained relatively minor damage. Some are staying with loved ones out of town. Others are coping with outages of electricity, water, phone, and Internet.

“We are overcome with the tragedy we see all around us but also inspired by how our regional community is coming together and uplifting one another as well as deeply touched by the outpouring of help coming from all over,” one Friend wrote.

Friends from the meeting as well as non-Quakers have been looking in on each other. It is important for survivors’ morale to find ways to be useful. Friends have donated and distributed supplies in addition to attending to their own and others’ fundamental needs.

Outside of Burnsville, N.C., Celo Meeting members and attenders are alive and uninjured. The Celo Meetinghouse, located along the South Toe River, is not damaged. Over a period of 13.5 hours, river waters rose from about 4 feet to over 12 feet high in some places, according to water data from the USGS website, which also reported that the water monitoring station was damaged in the storm and stopped working.

An alum of Arthur Morgan School stated that members of the Celo Community have worked together to repair a road that was damaged in the storm. While the meetinghouse is not damaged, it lacks utility service. Friends worshiped there after the storm.

Christina Tyler, administrative director at Camp Celo, located about a half mile upriver from Celo Meeting, stated that one camper’s family lost their home in the storm.

Houses and small businesses were washed away by the flooded river near Celo, according to an email update written by Jennifer Dickie, clerk of Southern Appalachian Yearly Meeting and Association (SAYMA), shared with FJ by Michelle Downey, clerk of Fayetteville (N.C.) Meeting. Friends have assisted each other by organizing work parties, hosting potlucks, and sharing provisions. Camp Celo and Arthur Morgan School have intact gardens and surviving livestock and are sharing food with other storm survivors. People who have solar power and satellite communication have allowed others to use their utilities.

In a quote Tyler shared, Friend Mari Ohta said, “Every day there is progress. Every day is a test of resilience. Every day is a chance to love and help each other.”

Swannanoa Valley Friends in Black Mountain, N.C., are all alive and accounted for. Some homes have endured structural damage. The Swannanoa Valley Meetinghouse was extremely damaged, possibly beyond repair. The mud at the meetinghouse was two feet high and the water reached the top of the foundation, according to the texts from the anonymous Asheville Friend. Utility workers removed the meter to reduce the risk of fire.

The clerk of Swannanoa Valley Meeting, Pat Meehan, wrote: “it is [unclear] yet whether our meetinghouse is salvageable. Several buildings next door [are not]. It may be weeks before we really know what we need and could benefit from.” Meehan’s message was quoted in the email from Dickie, of SAYMA, which was shared with Friends Journal by Downey, of Fayetteville Meeting.

In Black Mountain, where Swannanoa Valley Meeting is located, the only electricity is in the center of town and in some care facilities. The only available power is from generators.

In East Tennessee, Andy Stanton-Henry, who with his wife, Ashlyn Stanton-Henry, is a co-pastor of Lost Creek Friends Church in New Market, Tenn., reported that two families from the church were trapped in Newport, Tenn., when the flooded French Broad River and Pigeon River surrounded them. Damage to the nearby water treatment center contaminated the water around them and prevented them from escaping. They had no drinking water and only a tiny supply of food in their refrigerator. Neighbors provided milk for the baby of one family.

When one of the stranded families from Newport could finally evacuate, they went to stay with another family from the church. When they went home, a couple from the church, who wished to remain anonymous, gave them 85 gallons of drinking water, according to Stanton-Henry.

Most Friends from the church lost power temporarily. Forty roads in Jefferson County, Tenn., where Stanton-Henry lives, were closed.

Friends from Wilmington Yearly Meeting offered money for disaster relief, even though Lost Creek Church is not part of a yearly meeting.

“Keep praying and holding folks in the Light; it is going to be a long rebuilding project. It is a good reminder of the importance of building relationships with neighbors, practicing emergency preparedness in our meetings, and being ready to share the resources and relationships of the meeting for mutual aid and community care,” Stanton-Henry said.

Friends from outside the most devastated region have organized assistance for those hardest hit by the hurricane. Paul Routh, a member of Centre Meeting near Greensboro, N.C., said the congregation collected enough supplies to fill a cargo trailer, which they sent to friends in Old Fort, N.C. They also collected provisions to be sent to Asheville.

An attender from Atlanta (Ga.) Meeting is organizing a caravan of supplies, according to the meeting’s office coordinator, Nina Gooch.

Staff, students, parents, and guardians at Carolina Friends School outside of Durham, N.C., have organized a supply drive and are partnering with other organizations to send provisions to regional collection centers, according to Ida Trisolini, staff clerk and Peaceful Schools NC program coordinator at the school.

“We are feeling truly grateful for and comforted by the many ways we have seen individuals and the community as a whole rise to the need for action. We anticipate the collection effort will be ongoing, as the needs are so great,” Trisolini said.