Go visit Asheville and help their economy! 😊
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I mean people absolutely went on Katrina tours...there are boat tours heading to Gaza from Israel. People are gross. It's definitely a real thing that happens, but again, I obviously do not know if it's happening in Asheville.
Would it surprise me? Absolutely not.
I feel like there is a localized version of this. When two tornados hit my local i went and saw where it where it went.It has a Wiki so I assume it's a real thing that happens, if it's happening down there I have no idea.
Disaster tourism - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
However actually traveling to see something like this, seems weird
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This gave me a chuckle!
When we went cross country post-college, we stopped at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco. I may or may not have a picture of me behind the wheel of a burnt out bus on the property. Admittedly, this was not in the midst of the standoff. So hardly the same. But we did all find an odd fascination with it.
I don't think the desire to see carnage like this first-hand is odd at all. It's fascinating and mind-blowing. Would I drive to it and make myself a nuisance? No, not at all. But I totally understand the fascination with seeing a highway that just...disappears mid-pavement.
BPaze
Well-Known Member
After Sandy people traveled from all over the east coast to come offer to repair homes as contractors and just bounce with down payments.
it happened to my family although not as bad as 1000's of others. Its something FEMA typically warns you about and why they try to control who can enter the areas.
People are horrible and see opportunity in tragedy.
Ian F
Well-Known Member
I have family in western NC. I haven't heard anything about them, but they also aren't the most communicative people I've known. Fortunately, from what I've read online it looks like the town they live in (Sylva - about 30 miles SW of Asheville) didn't get much damage.
Edit: They talked to my mother a couple of days ago. Everyone is safe, but no cell phone or internet. Thus everything is cash only. Except ATMs are down. Good reason to keep some emergency cash in a safe place if one is able to.
Edit: They talked to my mother a couple of days ago. Everyone is safe, but no cell phone or internet. Thus everything is cash only. Except ATMs are down. Good reason to keep some emergency cash in a safe place if one is able to.
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Cash has been a problem. Everyone opened up cash only and once you do groceries and get gas you can easily be out of money. I paid for groceries and drinks and food at a bar the other day with checks. Kind of weird to be at a bar paying with a check. Lowes was doing IOUs right after the storm.
Asking for cash from family/friends coming into the area is common. We have a friend who's boyfriend brought in 5 figures in cash to disperse to people.
Luckily where I am is up and going mostly for credit cards now.
Crazily too one of the popular credit unions merged with another one, Oct 1 was the transition day. Starting last week people didn't have access to their accounts, debit cards not working, etc. They finally opened up the branch today with huge lines, basically every customer coming to get cash and they're limiting to $250
There's no longer gas lines HERE but we're in a weird bubble. I think enough people have power that the need to fill generators isn't as big of a deal as it was. I personally only know two couples still without power, most got it back by yesterday. Lowes has plenty of generators.
Rocks & Water
Active Member
My family is in Taylors it's bad but nothing like more north of them. Like they say technology is great when it is working.
Ian F
Well-Known Member
One of my long time riding friends was in an area of PA hit hard when Ira came through a few years ago. Completely filled her 2300 sqr ft basement with water. $100K in damages. She said an odd side effect is moderate PTSD and she now sort of obsesses over following similar disasters in other areas. It pisses her off the amount of disinformation getting spread around. Personally, I haven't seen a lack of coverage on the news outlets I follow. But a lot is going on in the world right now; two wars, a tight election race, general economic weirdness... just because a particular news outlet isn't covering something the moment you happen to look at it doesn't mean they haven't been covering it.
After our ride today, we ran into a couple of guys from the Brevard area who are originally from PA. Where they live didn't get damaged, but no internet and no water - so since they have family in PA, they decided to get away from the area until things get back to normal. He said it's a weird catch-22: the area needs the tourism money, but right now they don't really have the resources to support tourists. He said FEMA has a lot of temporary housing he saw set up for those who lost their homes. Despite what might be reported, things are happening down there. It's just never as much or as fast as everyone would like it to be.
One thing to remember about disaster relief is being prepared to react quickly is NOT cheap (just ask any prepper what they spend). You need to pay people to basically sit around and do nothing besides train/practice until they are needed. You need vast stores of supplies that often have an expiration date and will need to be refreshed at regular intervals. You need vehicles that need to be purchased, stored and maintained. All of this costs money. A fvck-load of money. And in this era of ever tightening budgets and inflation (which affects Govt purchases as well), disaster preparedness budgets often get reallocated...
After our ride today, we ran into a couple of guys from the Brevard area who are originally from PA. Where they live didn't get damaged, but no internet and no water - so since they have family in PA, they decided to get away from the area until things get back to normal. He said it's a weird catch-22: the area needs the tourism money, but right now they don't really have the resources to support tourists. He said FEMA has a lot of temporary housing he saw set up for those who lost their homes. Despite what might be reported, things are happening down there. It's just never as much or as fast as everyone would like it to be.
One thing to remember about disaster relief is being prepared to react quickly is NOT cheap (just ask any prepper what they spend). You need to pay people to basically sit around and do nothing besides train/practice until they are needed. You need vast stores of supplies that often have an expiration date and will need to be refreshed at regular intervals. You need vehicles that need to be purchased, stored and maintained. All of this costs money. A fvck-load of money. And in this era of ever tightening budgets and inflation (which affects Govt purchases as well), disaster preparedness budgets often get reallocated...
Things are definitely happening down here. Tons of volunteers coming in to help clear people's houses of trees, get small roads function enough to get people to houses, etc. Tons of donations coming in and being organized and out to people in need. Two friends of mine volunteered all day at a church to process the donated goods and the amount of goods coming in, being organized and being sent out seems crazy. And it's tons of churches in all the towns that are functional. It's a well oiled machine that has only been in operation for a week.
I can't speak to housing at all as far as what is really available through FEMA etc, no first hand knowledge. I know there's tons of people who have left the area *if* they have the means. Lots of people in Asheville have left since they're saying no water for a month. Biggest issue is you don't have the means to just get out for awhile and are trapped financially. We have a bunch of friends who live just outside Brevard and still don't power or recently got it back, some of them have been staying with family in Raleigh & Greenville because that's an option for them.
I do remember reading from prior storms that there's always a delay for FEMA to get on the ground and it needs to be that way. You can't have people/goods too close to the area because you aren't 100% sure which specific areas will need it, nor do you want your resources destroyed from the same weather event.
I can't speak to housing at all as far as what is really available through FEMA etc, no first hand knowledge. I know there's tons of people who have left the area *if* they have the means. Lots of people in Asheville have left since they're saying no water for a month. Biggest issue is you don't have the means to just get out for awhile and are trapped financially. We have a bunch of friends who live just outside Brevard and still don't power or recently got it back, some of them have been staying with family in Raleigh & Greenville because that's an option for them.
I do remember reading from prior storms that there's always a delay for FEMA to get on the ground and it needs to be that way. You can't have people/goods too close to the area because you aren't 100% sure which specific areas will need it, nor do you want your resources destroyed from the same weather event.
I have two friends, one trooper and one professional firefighter, who are a part of NJ Task Force 1 and were deployed to NC. The trooper was at Ground Zero and the FF was at Katrina. They both say NC is at least as bad as those from a search and rescue perspective because of the remoteness, terrain, lack of access, etc. Coming from these two guys, that's saying something.
www.njtf1.org
Home | NJ-TF1
www.njtf1.org
I'm going to throw this out there.
If you are inclined to donate to a person that is doing something tangible, please consider Zach, and my cousin Michaela.
Venmo is @zmfab95 phone 7807 last 4
Let them know what you'd like the money to go to. She is an equestrian, and did support feeding animals, along with supplies for workers, and both consumable and durables for those in need.
They have my full trust.
If you are inclined to donate to a person that is doing something tangible, please consider Zach, and my cousin Michaela.
Venmo is @zmfab95 phone 7807 last 4
Let them know what you'd like the money to go to. She is an equestrian, and did support feeding animals, along with supplies for workers, and both consumable and durables for those in need.
They have my full trust.
To go back to the original post:
Local semi-secret trails in town opened this week.
Kanuga opening the 14th.
Ride Rock Creek opening the 18th.
I was registered for a race in Dupont that was supposed to be during the storm, yesterday officially rescheduled with the park for Nov 16th so clearly Dupont expects to open soon.
I was told today the road through Pisgah opened up yesterday.
Local semi-secret trails in town opened this week.
Kanuga opening the 14th.
Ride Rock Creek opening the 18th.
I was registered for a race in Dupont that was supposed to be during the storm, yesterday officially rescheduled with the park for Nov 16th so clearly Dupont expects to open soon.
I was told today the road through Pisgah opened up yesterday.
Apparently the word is out Pisgah Ranger District is opening Friday. It's going to be a hilarious madhouse with everyone riding there this weekend in sure.
Apparently Lower Black is cleared and OK. Maybe Middle Black too. Avery recon and cleanup is Saturday, assuming it's not already cleared.
Drips of info getting out, apparently they brought in help from other National Forests and let in the big non-profit to do trail work. Since the Forest got a ton of rain but less than the previous big storm in 2021 the damage sounds like mostly trees coming down.
We're all assuming most of the good destination trails are actually in good condition.
No word on Dupont.
Apparently Lower Black is cleared and OK. Maybe Middle Black too. Avery recon and cleanup is Saturday, assuming it's not already cleared.
Drips of info getting out, apparently they brought in help from other National Forests and let in the big non-profit to do trail work. Since the Forest got a ton of rain but less than the previous big storm in 2021 the damage sounds like mostly trees coming down.
We're all assuming most of the good destination trails are actually in good condition.
No word on Dupont.