Robert Wright, a former Newtown resident who has lived in Asheville, North Carolina, for over two decades, was there when Hurricane Helene struck the city and the surrounding western area of the state on September 27.

Wright drove up toward New York City on October 8, where he and his family temporarily stayed with friends after the storm. By the time he and his family came back down to Asheville on October 16, Wright said that it was one of their first chances to see how the storm affected other towns and cities in the state.

“We came back down through [this town called] Erwin, off where the Nolichucky River ran down, and I mean, the devastation is just so overwhelming,” Wright told The Newtown Bee over the phone on October 19. “I don’t even know if you could capture it. You can’t understand it until you see it and if you knew what it was before.”

Wright said that Asheville, while it certainly suffered from Hurricane Helene, was not hit nearly as hard as small nearby communities such as Hot Springs or Lake Lure.

Coming back home, Wright said that he and his family saw plastic and other debris like garbage cans up in the trees overhead. The power of the storm’s water was so phenomenal, he added, that it cleared out “entire swaths of things” like older warehouses and businesses.

People who saw these areas before, who got to hike down their trails or were a part of that community, have a totally separate experience from others who only know these areas after the storm. Wright said that “nothing conveys the gravity of standing there knowing what was there just the day before.”

Hurricane Helene first made landfall along Florida’s Gulf Coast on September 26 as a Category 4 hurricane, and moved up through the southeastern region of the United States. By the time it hit western North Carolina the next morning, Hurricane Helene devastated the region with historic levels of rainfall and intense winds.

An October 23 Hurricane Helene Recovery Recommendations report from the North Carolina Office of State Budget and Management stated that millions in the state “lost access to critical services like water and sewer, electricity, telecommunications, and healthcare facilities.”

With the widespread damage caused by Hurricane Helene, the report states that preliminary estimates of damage and needs approach $53.6 billion across the state.

Just the day before Hurricane Helene hit western North Carolina, Wright said that a cold front came through the area that caused enough heavy rainfall to already start flooding nearby rivers.

“It was just this heavy cold front that dumped a tremendous amount of rain,” Wright said. “I don’t have the actual rainfall numbers, but we have a creek next to us, which usually runs about six inches. And it surged to probably six feet within like, four hours.”

Wright said that he already lost one car to a flood in that river a few years ago, so he moved his vehicles to higher ground in case of flooding. When the hurricane hit, Wright said that he was cooped up in the third floor of the apartment building he lives in.

“From there, we just watched it unfold, and we could watch from the windows as the waters rose,” Wright said. “We were watching it slowly start coming across and rise towards us.”

Wright added that they were never in doubt that their building would be safe because the water was ponding — not rushing — by where they were. With no force against the building, only the low side of the apartment’s first floor had some intruding water.

Supporting Those In Need

While Wright stayed in Asheville up until October 8, his son and partner got on a flight to New York on October 1. Their goal, Wright said, was to get them onto a flight as soon as possible so that they did not have to deal with no water, no flushing toilets, limited food, and so on.

“That was always the plan,” Wright said. “I mean, there was no potable water. We didn’t know what was going on at first. There was no electricity. It was just a safer environment for them if they flew up there.”

In the meantime, Wright stayed for an extra week to keep an eye on things back home and help others in the community.

From the very start of the storm, Wright said that the people were brought together and worked to help each other. He said that his varied background helped him get really good at doing a lot of different things, and that he used those skills to try to be there for neighbors.

“I was bringing stuff to people because I had a vehicle,” Wright said. “You know, I was bringing water, food, and other supplies for some neighbors that didn’t have the option of getting out. And I was certainly not the only one. It was just generally what everyone was doing for each other.”

Wright also said that he has seen numerous trailers providing resources to those in need, whether it was food, water, showers, and more. He added, “I can’t say from day one, because we didn’t venture out until the water started receding … but people were out there.”

The first people Wright said that he saw out there were organizations such as churches to individuals from other towns, bringing in food, water, and whatever they could from stores.

He continued by saying that these disaster situations are tragedies, but they at the very least bring people together.

“You check on your neighbors, you check on the people that are less capable of taking care of themselves. You make sure they’re okay,” Wright said. “You help people because they’re people, because we’re all going through something terrible.”

Wright also said that it was hard for him to hear people believe that the area was being ignored and not receiving aid from FEMA and other disaster relief agencies. He had been so busy dealing with the aftermath of the hurricane and getting his family someplace safer that he did not even hear those rumors until he left Asheville on October 8. One persistent rumor was that only $750 was available to disaster victims, when that was just initial aid for short-term needs like food, water, and medicine. Far more assistance is available to applicants.

“I don’t want people to put an obviously untrue negative spin on this disaster,” Wright said.

If anything, he said that the region has an issue of not having enough room for supplies as is. As of October 18, Wright said that potable water is widely available at many different distribution points. A bunch of other places, he added, are handing out meals ready-to-eat (MREs).

Food trucks are spread out and trying to serve food to residents, with some set up by local organizations and others by larger organizations dedicated to disaster relief.

From Homeland Security and police officers across the region to government officials and FEMA, Wright said that the Asheville area is actively being supported and is not being ignored.

For people who want to find a way to support the affected communities who still do need support, Wright encourages them to reach out to reputable resources that have a proven track record of serving people in need.

He encourages people who do not have professional training to not create conflict with the people who are already managing local resources.

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Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.