Helene

[00:00:01] Hey there. Secrets and lies, listeners. This is Carolyn. I know it's been a minute, but as you know, we are in western North Carolina, and western North Carolina is having a time here. Hurricane Helene, as I am sure you have seen on the news, came through about a week and a half ago and really wreaked havoc here. [00:00:33] Perhaps you're thinking it's a hurricane, you live in the mountains. What's the deal? Well, the problem is that we had a lot of heavy rain in the days before the actual hurricane arrived. So the ground was saturated. And then, as you know, in the mountains, the water is going to run down from the higher elevations through whatever avenues it has to the lower elevations. And if you end up getting 2025 inches of rain in one storm, then that creates quite a problem for those folks who are in the lower elevations and frankly, for folks who are in the way of the path of that water. We have tons of rivers and creeks and waterfalls and beautiful lakes, many of which are created with dams and so on. And all of that was impacted. So there is a lot of flooding, landslides down trees, so on and so on and so on. So my apologies for having been sort of off grid for a bit. I am fortunate in that my house sustained little serious damage. [00:02:14] We were without power and water and connectivity for a good long while. But for the time being at least, I have those three things. Our time here was spent trying to assist members of our community who were not as fortunate. [00:02:35] In my neighborhood specifically, it was mostly a problem with downed trees on top of people's homes. And the trees here are very large, the tallest, largest trees I've ever lived near. And as I said, the ground was quite saturated, so they tipped over very frequently. So roads were blocked and homes were smushed and so on. So trying to come together as a, as a group and help clear the way in and out for people, make sure people had water and food and whatever it is that they needed in order to get through. So that portion of hurricane recovery is coming along. In my specific area, other parts of Hendersonville and its surrounding areas were not as lucky. [00:03:44] Massive mudslides and flooding took out tons of businesses that were in lower lying areas. And as I am sure you have seen on the news, other local areas, such as Batcave and Chimney Rock and Lake Lore and Black Mountain and Swannanoa were hit very hard by just the massive amount of flood water and all of the debris that that floodwater carries. And it washed out roads, cutting off access to residents there, wiped away houses and cars and all manner of things. So it is going to be some time before we are back to 100%. But I have to say that my new community here has been just incredible. A very warm hearted but quite stressed and tired community right now, committed to being there for each other, and I am trying to honor that by being there for my community as well. [00:05:16] I just wanted to throw this note up there for folks to know that we are safe. [00:05:25] The timing is not super great. I had all these awesome things that I wanted to share with you, all that I found that I think that you would very much like prior to Amazon prime days. [00:05:44] And I know Amazon prime days start tomorrow. I will see what I can do about that this afternoon or this evening to get that out for you so you can take advantage of super saving deals there. [00:06:04] But in the meantime, standby. We will be back in a more stable situation coming up shortly. [00:06:20] Anyway, watch the secrets and lies Facebook page for updates, for snippets about fabulous members of the community who are really leaning in and being of assistance to others. [00:06:39] Recommendations on how you can help if you want to. [00:06:46] In the meantime, stay safe out there. I know my Florida friends are dealing with a second storm that is about to go right across central Florida and give them even more rain. [00:07:01] Fortunately, I think most of my folks down there are accustomed to this and know how to prepare and how to be ready. [00:07:11] But still, I'm thinking about you guys. And anyway, watch the Facebook page for updates. [00:07:24] Maybe I'll post some pictures up there as well. And as always, thank you so much for listening, for sharing, for talking about our tiny little podcast with your friends, and I appreciate all of you. Thanks so much. [00:07:45] Bye.