Western NC begins digging out of disaster (09-30-2024--Hour3)

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[00:00:28] [SPEAKER_01]: I looked at the in the emails yesterday and saw that there was a news conference scheduled

[00:00:34] [SPEAKER_01]: for the Department of Emergency Management, North Carolina, that they were going to do

[00:00:42] [SPEAKER_01]: another press conference. But then I saw another email this morning, Governor Cooper's apparently

[00:00:49] [SPEAKER_01]: going to Asheville and he's going to be doing an immediate availability today in the afternoon

[00:00:54] [SPEAKER_01]: to like 3.30 so I don't know because I've got the website pulled up here and they usually

[00:00:59] [SPEAKER_01]: broadcast live for the emergency management press conferences. There's nothing coming

[00:01:07] [SPEAKER_01]: down the feed except the color bars so they may not be having the news conference. If

[00:01:13] [SPEAKER_01]: they do, I will join it in progress or jip. I will jip it as they say in the biz.

[00:01:25] [SPEAKER_01]: This is from... Yeah, okay. So this is on the storms out in or the remnants of the hurricane

[00:01:35] [SPEAKER_01]: Helene turned into a tropical storm just devastated Western North Carolina. You're

[00:01:40] [SPEAKER_01]: seeing the videos now people are finally starting to get an assessment of the damage done.

[00:01:45] [SPEAKER_01]: The area is so widespread. The losses are so great. It's hard to kind of wrap my mind around it

[00:01:59] [SPEAKER_01]: like everywhere that I would ever go when I was working up in the mountains and if we were going

[00:02:05] [SPEAKER_01]: to Spruce Pine that's been devastated. Black Mountain, Swanninola,

[00:02:16] [SPEAKER_01]: all of these... We got Hendersonville I saw underwater the whole downtown area,

[00:02:22] [SPEAKER_01]: Chimney Rock just all those shops and everything just obliterated.

[00:02:27] [SPEAKER_01]: Burnsville, little Switzerland, Boone, Blowing Rock, Barnardsville, Bakersville,

[00:02:36] [SPEAKER_01]: it's just like everywhere. North Carolina Emergency Management says that residents who are affected by

[00:02:48] [SPEAKER_01]: the storm should pay attention to advisories and updates from their local government and emergency

[00:02:53] [SPEAKER_01]: services. If you have storm related issues or questions, the number to call is 211

[00:02:59] [SPEAKER_01]: for assistance and then you press 1. That's assuming of course that

[00:03:04] [SPEAKER_01]: you've got phone service, which has been a challenge. It's not until you actually spend

[00:03:12] [SPEAKER_01]: a good bit of time in the mountains that you realize there are a lot of challenges

[00:03:19] [SPEAKER_01]: due to the topography with getting cell service there. The one that had the best

[00:03:27] [SPEAKER_01]: coverage map when I first... So I got up there in 2012, January of 2012 and

[00:03:37] [SPEAKER_01]: I was on Verizon in Charlotte. Go up there and it was not great. Now this is 12 years ago so

[00:03:48] [SPEAKER_01]: maybe it's improved since then the coverage, the cell tower coverage maybe it's improved.

[00:03:54] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm not trying to knock Verizon. I don't have anything. I'm not trying to disparage any cell providers

[00:04:01] [SPEAKER_01]: but American cellular, or sorry US cellular because the Asheville Civic Center was called

[00:04:08] [SPEAKER_01]: the US Cellular Center and they had the best coverage in that area but then they got bought

[00:04:17] [SPEAKER_01]: by AT&T. So we switched over to AT&T while we were up there because I was having problems

[00:04:25] [SPEAKER_01]: when I first got to town with my GPS because I didn't know where everything was. I was learning

[00:04:29] [SPEAKER_01]: the area and my Verizon would constantly drop out when I would go around the side of a mountain

[00:04:38] [SPEAKER_01]: or something and then I can't get a signal. So we switched carriers

[00:04:45] [SPEAKER_01]: but the service in western North Carolina has always been

[00:04:52] [SPEAKER_01]: kind of spotty. Depending on your carrier, depending on your location, you could lose

[00:04:59] [SPEAKER_01]: service pretty quickly and there are a lot of challenges because of the mountainous

[00:05:07] [SPEAKER_01]: nature of the topography in running wires and telephone poles and just the basics of

[00:05:13] [SPEAKER_01]: infrastructure are it's more difficult because of the land. It's why you could be a mile away

[00:05:25] [SPEAKER_01]: from someplace but it takes you way longer to get there because you can't just go straight.

[00:05:29] [SPEAKER_01]: You got to go that way and then switch back and then switch back again and then go around this

[00:05:34] [SPEAKER_01]: side just to get to the same destination. Same sort of idea here. So now imagine that though with

[00:05:44] [SPEAKER_01]: water and yes roads, cell service, power lines and I said this before there have been people

[00:05:56] [SPEAKER_01]: that are like why weren't they better prepared for this? And as one who is constantly preaching

[00:06:02] [SPEAKER_01]: preparedness, I always tell people to be prepared oh a pizza, prepper and all this.

[00:06:09] [SPEAKER_01]: This is why you don't have to be planning for the end of days or the zombie apocalypse or

[00:06:17] [SPEAKER_01]: Y2K. You don't have to be planning for that. You should have an emergency supply

[00:06:27] [SPEAKER_01]: stash. You should have water, you should have food and you should plan to have enough to sustain

[00:06:34] [SPEAKER_01]: yourself for up to two weeks because here's the dirty secret. I know and again I'm not

[00:06:41] [SPEAKER_01]: disparaging anybody. I'm not taking shots at anybody. We call police, fire, medic. We call

[00:06:48] [SPEAKER_01]: them our first responders and 99% of the time they are. But kind of not. The first responder is you

[00:06:58] [SPEAKER_01]: because you're already there, right? You are already at the scene. You're calling somebody

[00:07:04] [SPEAKER_01]: to come and help. They respond to the scene so in that sense yes they're the first responders

[00:07:09] [SPEAKER_01]: but you are already there and so you have to be prepared in case the responders cannot

[00:07:16] [SPEAKER_01]: literally get to you because the roads are blocked or washed away. They don't even exist anymore

[00:07:24] [SPEAKER_01]: in some of these towns. They're just gone and so that's why you need to have supplies for yourself

[00:07:36] [SPEAKER_01]: and your family and then you can help others that are your neighbors. That's the real first

[00:07:44] [SPEAKER_01]: response and you're seeing and hearing stories about this. I'm always reminded of the Fred Rogers quote

[00:07:52] [SPEAKER_01]: that he attributed to his mom, look for the helpers. In all of these disasters and all of these

[00:08:00] [SPEAKER_01]: terrible catastrophes, man-made or natural, there's always a surplus of heartbreak and

[00:08:11] [SPEAKER_01]: terribleness, right? You're always going to be able to find that stuff and some people it seems

[00:08:16] [SPEAKER_01]: take glee in spreading that stuff and it's demoralizing. It can make you feel hopeless,

[00:08:26] [SPEAKER_01]: put you into bouts of despair and depression and that's why I always try to remind myself

[00:08:32] [SPEAKER_01]: to look for the helpers. You're always going to find them always. They're always there

[00:08:41] [SPEAKER_01]: and as Mr. Rogers said, he said he's always comforted by realizing that there are still

[00:08:49] [SPEAKER_01]: so many helpers, so many caring people in the world and they don't make the headlines every day.

[00:08:56] [SPEAKER_01]: You don't hear about them. You don't even know they exist until some catastrophe happens

[00:09:00] [SPEAKER_01]: and then they go help. Look for them and help them be one of them. That's what people can do

[00:09:09] [SPEAKER_01]: and I know you get it because if you're listening to radio, you know that this is a huge part of

[00:09:15] [SPEAKER_01]: why we do what we do. We talk about all the current events. We talk about all the stuff,

[00:09:20] [SPEAKER_01]: which in and of itself is a kind of preparedness, right? So you understand the world around you

[00:09:25] [SPEAKER_01]: and you can see things and understand things in a better way, more nuanced way and get

[00:09:30] [SPEAKER_01]: details of stories and that's about preparedness. Hey, I'm preparing for the upcoming election.

[00:09:36] [SPEAKER_01]: I want to learn as much as I can about the candidates, right? So be prepared

[00:09:42] [SPEAKER_01]: and there are all sorts of resources available for you to do that, for you to learn how to do that.

[00:09:48] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm not saying you got to go full, you know, prepper living off the grid kind of stuff.

[00:09:52] [SPEAKER_01]: You just start small, start with some food and some water and do you just build off of there?

[00:09:59] [SPEAKER_01]: It's very easy to get started. There's, you can actually go to, believe it or not,

[00:10:04] [SPEAKER_01]: the Department of Homeland Security. They've got a book, it's called Are You Ready? You can find it,

[00:10:09] [SPEAKER_01]: it's downloadable, it's massive and it'll tell you everything you need for all these different

[00:10:15] [SPEAKER_01]: types of situations because you never know if you're going to get stuck. Now, all of that being

[00:10:22] [SPEAKER_01]: said, you could have all of these supplies and you can be prepared for yourself for what you

[00:10:28] [SPEAKER_01]: think is almost no matter what. But when a wall of water 30 feet high comes rushing down a mountain

[00:10:36] [SPEAKER_01]: and rips your home off its foundation and sends it down into the valley,

[00:10:42] [SPEAKER_01]: all the preparation in the world really can't stop that. So I understand people are scared

[00:10:50] [SPEAKER_01]: and they're angry and they're anxious. I get it and I would just advise not to start lashing out at people,

[00:11:04] [SPEAKER_01]: making demands or spreading rumors about stuff, just try to help. That's all for now. We're in

[00:11:14] [SPEAKER_01]: assessment mode and we're in recovery mode. So, like search and recovery. So help the helpers.

[00:12:14] [SPEAKER_01]: That's what your photos and videos are. They are your life told through the eyes of everyone around you

[00:12:20] [SPEAKER_01]: and all who came before you and they will tell others to come who you are. Visit creativevideo.com.

[00:12:27] [SPEAKER_01]: All right, let me go back to the phones here and talk with Ralph. Hello, Ralph. Welcome to the show.

[00:12:32] [SPEAKER_00]: Hey, I have some property right near Fagrisville probably about eight miles. It's Green Mountain

[00:12:41] [SPEAKER_00]: and we're close to the Griffith General Store. We go up past Red Hill Gas Station at Loper Glory,

[00:12:49] [SPEAKER_00]: but finally got a call. I've been calling to check on my properties. New construction that hadn't

[00:12:55] [SPEAKER_00]: even dried, they're ready to drywall, but I finally got a guy, Chris Thumback, called today

[00:13:01] [SPEAKER_00]: from Tennessee. He's on US Cell, you know, and he's got a tobacco field about a mile

[00:13:08] [SPEAKER_00]: from my house. He said it's tobacco that got damaged, but there wasn't that many trees down

[00:13:12] [SPEAKER_00]: and everything. So I'm hoping for the best and all that.

[00:13:18] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, we are too. I hope, yeah, I hope the property does all right.

[00:13:21] [SPEAKER_01]: Are you making any plans to get up there?

[00:13:25] [SPEAKER_00]: Well, and I'm going to try to go this weekend. He said the roads, I guess, the state with

[00:13:32] [SPEAKER_00]: the lack of resources, they haven't done much to get a lot of the trees out of the roads and stuff.

[00:13:42] [SPEAKER_00]: Some of them are still impassable. So I'm hoping by Friday they'll get some relief up there.

[00:13:48] [SPEAKER_00]: I did hear like I live in Lincoln County and Concord Airport and Lincoln Airport

[00:13:57] [SPEAKER_00]: are taking donations. I think the YMCA is doing it for, you know, relief, sending stuff up there,

[00:14:06] [SPEAKER_00]: either air drops or whatever. I think there was one little airport open near Bruce Pines,

[00:14:12] [SPEAKER_00]: but or somewhere in that area. I know Bruce Pines got flooded, but anyway, but yeah, anybody,

[00:14:19] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to try to donate some paper towels, a bowl of paper and stuff like that

[00:14:25] [SPEAKER_01]: and see about getting it up there. All right. Well, if you have a heart and the desire,

[00:14:32] [SPEAKER_01]: you can also donate to an organization that I'm a big fan of. They're called Hearts with Hands.

[00:14:39] [SPEAKER_01]: Heartswithhands.org is the website and excuse me, they need the monetary donations because

[00:14:46] [SPEAKER_01]: they've got suppliers and wholesalers that they deal with direct. They can load trucks up with all

[00:14:52] [SPEAKER_01]: sorts of supplies if they could pay for it and they get a discounted rate. So, and they are a

[00:14:58] [SPEAKER_01]: disaster relief organization based in Swannanoa. So they're already right there and they've got

[00:15:04] [SPEAKER_01]: now their road cleared so they've begun their relief operations. So if you want to,

[00:15:11] [SPEAKER_01]: and you want to make a donation, I appreciate that. Ralph, thanks for the call. Good luck

[00:15:15] [SPEAKER_01]: to you and with the property. There is a, I got a tweet here from Jeremy. It's a Pete tweet.

[00:15:23] [SPEAKER_01]: He says, we don't need people coming to the mountains unless they can sustain themselves.

[00:15:27] [SPEAKER_01]: We are out of gas and water and food is getting scarce and a lot of roads are closed.

[00:15:33] [SPEAKER_01]: We don't need more traffic or mouths to feed. So, yes, if you don't have to go, don't go.

[00:15:42] [SPEAKER_01]: This is not the time to go up there and look around, see the damage.

[00:15:46] [SPEAKER_01]: I know people, I don't know why, but people do that.

[00:15:52] [SPEAKER_01]: Don't. If you can avoid going up there, avoid going up there

[00:16:00] [SPEAKER_01]: because they got dangerous conditions all over the place and you got lack of water,

[00:16:07] [SPEAKER_01]: like literally there's no running water. All of the water treatment facilities have been damaged.

[00:16:17] [SPEAKER_01]: Pipes have been just blown apart because of the pressure. Wash out of roads. So it's one thing

[00:16:24] [SPEAKER_01]: for a road to be blocked with debris, mud, rocks, trees. It's another thing if the road

[00:16:32] [SPEAKER_01]: doesn't even exist anymore. And there's a lot of that. There's a, if you've gone into Asheville

[00:16:39] [SPEAKER_01]: off of I-40 because there are, well, there are many ways to get there, but my main routes

[00:16:46] [SPEAKER_01]: that I would always take, the main one was always I-85 to 321 all the way up to Hickory,

[00:16:54] [SPEAKER_01]: then hang a left, get on to I-40 and go over that way. It was about 10 miles longer

[00:17:02] [SPEAKER_01]: than the run through Shelby going on Highway 74. But if I was going into Asheville proper,

[00:17:12] [SPEAKER_01]: then I would always go I-40 because while it was 10 miles longer, it was faster

[00:17:17] [SPEAKER_01]: because it's interstate, no stop lights. And if you go that route, you then get on to 240.

[00:17:25] [SPEAKER_01]: And you know when you go over 240 as you're approaching the Asheville Mall area,

[00:17:31] [SPEAKER_01]: you ever look down to the right, you see the big U-Haul? They used to have the big U-Haul sign.

[00:17:38] [SPEAKER_01]: It's a massive U-Haul just, what do they call them? Distributors? Not Distributors, franchise.

[00:17:43] [SPEAKER_01]: Right down there, you could see the big U-Haul sign off to the right side of the

[00:17:46] [SPEAKER_01]: interstate over there. And then of course they got into a fight with the city over,

[00:17:52] [SPEAKER_01]: they replaced the sign and the city said you can't do that. And they're like,

[00:17:56] [SPEAKER_01]: we're grandfathered in, they're like yeah but you took your sign down so now you can't

[00:17:59] [SPEAKER_01]: put up another one. So anyway, so the U-Haul sign went away but that franchise was still there.

[00:18:04] [SPEAKER_01]: It's gone now. Like those trucks were swept away. You know think about the amount of water

[00:18:13] [SPEAKER_01]: and the strength and force, the velocity of that river to move a parking lot full of U-Haul trucks.

[00:18:22] [SPEAKER_01]: And that's what it did, it just washed them all out. That's right at the Asheville Mall

[00:18:27] [SPEAKER_01]: which has been a site for distribution of supplies and stuff. So if you don't have to go to the area,

[00:18:34] [SPEAKER_01]: don't go to the area. If you can make donations and do stuff here locally that they will then

[00:18:39] [SPEAKER_01]: convoy up, that's, that is preferred. That being said, the supplies are coming. They are on their

[00:18:49] [SPEAKER_01]: way. Help is coming. People don't, you know the comms went down, people can't see what

[00:18:56] [SPEAKER_01]: they're dealing with. And now it's like, now the word is getting out and the resources and the backup

[00:19:04] [SPEAKER_01]: is coming. The cavalry is on its way. So don't despair. All right, holiday season approaches

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[00:20:23] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm just looking at the man, just the devastation

[00:20:28] [SPEAKER_01]: out of Biltmore Village. It's just all very sad.

[00:20:35] [SPEAKER_01]: President Joe Biden has agreed to provide immediate federal help to 25 Western North

[00:20:40] [SPEAKER_01]: Carolina counties battered by Helene. The major disaster declaration approved at Governor Roy

[00:20:48] [SPEAKER_01]: Cooper's request means that FEMA will be able to provide quicker additional help to those who need

[00:20:53] [SPEAKER_01]: it. The federal government says it will also reimburse local governments, state agencies,

[00:20:58] [SPEAKER_01]: and nonprofits for repairing facilities, roads, and other infrastructure. The counties in the

[00:21:03] [SPEAKER_01]: declaration are as follows Alexander Allegheny, Ash, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Cattaba,

[00:21:12] [SPEAKER_01]: Clay, Cleveland, Gaston, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Lincoln, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell,

[00:21:22] [SPEAKER_01]: Polk, Rutherford, Transylvania, Watauga, Wilkes and Yancey counties. The eastern band of

[00:21:30] [SPEAKER_01]: Indians is also included in that declaration. Cooper had requested a disaster declaration for 38

[00:21:37] [SPEAKER_01]: North Carolina counties. According to the Charlotte Observer, it's not immediately clear why 13 of those

[00:21:42] [SPEAKER_01]: counties were not included, but Cooper's office said that more may be added. I suspect they

[00:21:48] [SPEAKER_01]: probably will be. The observer goes on to report that many in western North Carolina remained

[00:21:54] [SPEAKER_01]: without freshwater, internet or cell service. Seven water plants in Avery, Burke, Haywood, Jackson,

[00:22:03] [SPEAKER_01]: Rutherford, Watauga and Yancey counties are closed. Water plants closed. That's affecting

[00:22:13] [SPEAKER_01]: about 70,000 households. More than 50 water plants have no power. Those who rely on water from 93

[00:22:23] [SPEAKER_01]: other systems have been advised to boil their water before using it. People are taking water from the

[00:22:34] [SPEAKER_01]: neighborhood swimming pools, right? Or if they're in an apartment complex or something, they've got

[00:22:39] [SPEAKER_01]: a swimming pool, so they're taking that water to use it to flush toilets with, which by the way,

[00:22:43] [SPEAKER_01]: in case you aren't unaware, you can flush your toilets even if you don't have running water.

[00:22:48] [SPEAKER_01]: You just have to take the lid off the back of that tank, fill the tank with water and then it'll

[00:22:55] [SPEAKER_01]: flush. People don't know these things, so I'm just letting you know. From the city of Asheville,

[00:23:04] [SPEAKER_01]: they put out a statement urging people to conserve fuel and stay off the roads. This will

[00:23:11] [SPEAKER_01]: allow emergency response vehicles the quickest access to do their jobs. And by the way,

[00:23:16] [SPEAKER_01]: all of this stuff, all of these notices and stuff and all of the advice like telling people

[00:23:21] [SPEAKER_01]: don't come up here, don't travel up here if you don't have to, these recommendations and warnings,

[00:23:31] [SPEAKER_01]: they will shift over time. But right now, that's the thing. People, I don't know why people do

[00:23:39] [SPEAKER_01]: this, but it's this constant looking ahead like, well, what will be? What's going to be? Right now,

[00:23:48] [SPEAKER_01]: we're looking at the right now in a disaster situation. You fix the thing that's in front of

[00:23:56] [SPEAKER_01]: you. And once that's done, then you move to the next thing and when you come across the

[00:23:59] [SPEAKER_01]: next thing, then you fix that thing that's in front of you. And this one of the issues,

[00:24:02] [SPEAKER_01]: we had a caller in the first hour or second hour I guess, his name was David, he was a

[00:24:06] [SPEAKER_01]: lineman, working to restore power and those guys are putting in 16, 17, 18 hour days. No showers,

[00:24:14] [SPEAKER_01]: no change of clothes. And they can only do so much if you've got, they're working on a line

[00:24:24] [SPEAKER_01]: that's down the line from a substation, down the line from the main power generator.

[00:24:32] [SPEAKER_01]: They can only do what they can do at their spot. And so people think, oh, they're going past me,

[00:24:36] [SPEAKER_01]: you need to come over here and fix mine. And I understand where that comes from,

[00:24:41] [SPEAKER_01]: especially if you've got people that are reliant on an oxygen tank or something.

[00:24:46] [SPEAKER_01]: You've got people that are reliant on medicine that has to be refrigerated.

[00:24:51] [SPEAKER_01]: Like this stuff is life or death, but they may not be able to fix your line,

[00:24:57] [SPEAKER_01]: your part of the line because the part that is damaged is further up. They got to get that first.

[00:25:05] [SPEAKER_01]: Otherwise, there's no point in fixing yours. And yours may not even be so damaged that if they

[00:25:12] [SPEAKER_01]: fix the one up the line, then it may get the juice flowing to you. So that's what I mean.

[00:25:20] [SPEAKER_01]: Patience, people have to be patient. And I know it's easy for me to say,

[00:25:24] [SPEAKER_01]: I totally get it. It's easy for me to say that. But all of this stuff, people are coming.

[00:25:32] [SPEAKER_01]: They're already there. Emergency crews have arrived. You've got National Guard on scene. You've got

[00:25:40] [SPEAKER_01]: volunteer associations, organizations from all over the country that have come in.

[00:25:44] [SPEAKER_01]: Florida sent its power crews and some of its, what was the thing that they started up? The

[00:25:52] [SPEAKER_01]: Florida militia, where the state militia, whatever it was. They got those guys coming up. The Cajun

[00:25:57] [SPEAKER_01]: Navy is in town. So all of these relief efforts are on their way. They're all coming.

[00:26:05] [SPEAKER_01]: So you just got to hold on. Water and food have been ordered. We'll be coming into the area,

[00:26:10] [SPEAKER_01]: according to the city of Asheville. Distribution sites will be identified when the supplies

[00:26:15] [SPEAKER_01]: are on site. Some of this stuff has already been distributed. I can say that like water

[00:26:20] [SPEAKER_01]: tank trucks have rolled into various towns and they've been distributing water,

[00:26:25] [SPEAKER_01]: limit one gallon per person kind of thing. The water system in Asheville has been severely damaged.

[00:26:35] [SPEAKER_01]: Extensive repairs are required to treatment facilities, underground water pipes,

[00:26:40] [SPEAKER_01]: aboveground water pipes as well as roads that have washed away, which prevent the water

[00:26:45] [SPEAKER_01]: personnel from accessing parts of the system. And there is a curfew from 7.30 pm until 7.30 am.

[00:26:55] [SPEAKER_01]: There is a curfew in the city of Asheville. So be aware of that. Only use bottled,

[00:27:03] [SPEAKER_01]: boiled or treated water for drinking, for cooking and for personal hygiene.

[00:27:12] [SPEAKER_01]: More than 200 people were rescued from floodwaters, according to Governor Cooper's office.

[00:27:18] [SPEAKER_01]: Charlotte Observer says, quote, the governor has deployed the North Carolina National Guard with

[00:27:23] [SPEAKER_01]: about 550 troops, more than 100 vehicles and 11 aircraft to help with rescues, transport patients

[00:27:29] [SPEAKER_01]: to medical care and deliver personnel and equipment to where they are needed.

[00:27:35] [SPEAKER_01]: Another thing to keep in mind here is the sheer size of the impact area

[00:27:41] [SPEAKER_01]: and the rugged nature of the terrain. And look, people know this, it's the thing

[00:27:49] [SPEAKER_01]: the thing that makes Western North Carolina so beautiful, right,

[00:27:56] [SPEAKER_01]: is masked by the beauty, the danger behind it is hidden. Like unless you live there and you

[00:28:05] [SPEAKER_01]: hang out there a lot, go hiking and stuff, like it's all beautiful to look at.

[00:28:09] [SPEAKER_01]: But it is a dangerous place. The topography is dangerous. In times like this, being in the

[00:28:16] [SPEAKER_01]: valley is dangerous because all the water comes down. And when the snows, then the danger is up

[00:28:24] [SPEAKER_01]: the mountain, right? There's just constant danger based on the terrain. And people who live there

[00:28:30] [SPEAKER_01]: know that. I think that's why they are how they are. They are self-sufficient. They,

[00:28:41] [SPEAKER_01]: like, they're tough. Sometimes stubborn to a fault. But that's, you have to be.

[00:28:50] [SPEAKER_01]: Because while you love the mountains, you're also kind of like fighting them the whole time,

[00:28:54] [SPEAKER_01]: you know? 24 shelters with room for 1,000 people have also opened information about

[00:29:01] [SPEAKER_01]: shelters, road conditions, power outages and evacuation routes can be found at the state's

[00:29:08] [SPEAKER_01]: website, readync.gov. Readync.gov. So when I was a kid, my grandpa died with Alzheimer's and before

[00:29:16] [SPEAKER_01]: he died, my mom and my dad and all of us really helped take care of him as he got progressively worse.

[00:29:21] [SPEAKER_01]: 40 years ago there were no treatments and not much support for caregivers and family.

[00:29:27] [SPEAKER_01]: Things are different today because of the work of so many people including the Alzheimer's

[00:29:30] [SPEAKER_01]: Association of Western North Carolina. It's a great organization with awesome people.

[00:29:35] [SPEAKER_01]: They've got huge hearts. I've been a supporter for like 25 years. This cause means a lot to me.

[00:29:41] [SPEAKER_01]: I participate in the annual Walk to End Alzheimer's and I am leading a Charlotte team this year.

[00:29:46] [SPEAKER_01]: It's called Pete's Pack. You can sign up and join the team and walk with me. It's on October 19th

[00:29:52] [SPEAKER_01]: at Truist Field in Uptown. Sign up at alz.org.com and then just look for my team,

[00:29:58] [SPEAKER_01]: Pete's Pack. And there's also a link in the podcast description here. Also,

[00:30:02] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to be emceeing the Gastonia Walk on October 5th, so make a team and join us

[00:30:07] [SPEAKER_01]: or make a donation to help me hit my goal. I would really appreciate it. There are a bunch of other

[00:30:12] [SPEAKER_01]: walks around the Carolinas and you can go to alz.org for all of the dates and locations.

[00:30:18] [SPEAKER_01]: We are closer than ever to stopping Alzheimer's and if you can help us get there we would

[00:30:24] [SPEAKER_01]: really appreciate it. Will you come walk with me for a different future, for families,

[00:30:28] [SPEAKER_01]: for more time, for treatments. This is why I walk. And if you're listening on the podcast and you are

[00:30:36] [SPEAKER_01]: in western North Carolina, our prayers are with you guys. We are trying to help and you're not

[00:30:46] [SPEAKER_01]: forgotten. You're not alone and we wish you all the strength and comfort that you need.

[00:30:54] [SPEAKER_01]: Let me go over to the phones and get Mark on. Hello, Mark. Welcome to the show.

[00:30:59] [SPEAKER_02]: Hey, Pete. Hey, Mark.

[00:31:00] [SPEAKER_02]: You're going great down here. I hope you're okay.

[00:31:02] [SPEAKER_01]: I am okay. You doing all right?

[00:31:05] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah. Yeah. We were only out of power about 60 hours. That was good news. Bad news was when

[00:31:11] [SPEAKER_02]: they flipped the switch to turn it back on, the power line that came down across the front

[00:31:15] [SPEAKER_02]: of the property got hot and started a fire. Oh no. But the firemen saw a crew from Duke.

[00:31:21] [SPEAKER_02]: While they were on the way here, they stopped and said, Hey, there's a line on fire.

[00:31:26] [SPEAKER_02]: They were only about a quarter of a mile away. So it all had a happy ending.

[00:31:32] [SPEAKER_01]: So that's interesting. So what caught fire? The pole or the transformer or something?

[00:31:38] [SPEAKER_02]: No, it was the line was down and laying across the land across the property.

[00:31:43] [SPEAKER_02]: And it basically burned up the grass and took out the big tree limb that had brought down

[00:31:48] [SPEAKER_02]: the line to begin with. Oh.

[00:31:50] [SPEAKER_02]: I mean, it was heading back towards the pole that it came from too.

[00:31:54] [SPEAKER_02]: Right.

[00:31:56] [SPEAKER_02]: But it was no big deal. These guys showed up in an internal combustion engine vehicle

[00:32:03] [SPEAKER_02]: and they rebuilt the infrastructure for modern civilization in about a half an hour.

[00:32:08] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it is amazing.

[00:32:09] [SPEAKER_02]: This is the kind of people we need. Okay.

[00:32:12] [SPEAKER_02]: So, I love internal combustion engine vehicles.

[00:32:14] [SPEAKER_01]: I know you do, Mark.

[00:32:15] [SPEAKER_01]: I know you.

[00:32:16] Okay.

[00:32:18] [SPEAKER_02]: Can I tell you, prayers for everybody out in the western part of the state because we have

[00:32:22] [SPEAKER_02]: some friends up there like you do.

[00:32:25] [SPEAKER_02]: And like you always say, the sun's trying to kill us.

[00:32:28] [SPEAKER_02]: Well, the planet is too if we don't have this modern civilization and even sometimes if we do.

[00:32:33] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. That's it, Mark. I do appreciate the call. I'm glad to hear you're okay, man.

[00:32:37] [SPEAKER_01]: All right, God bless.

[00:32:38] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, yeah. Bye.

[00:32:38] [SPEAKER_01]: All right, take care.

[00:32:40] [SPEAKER_01]: Let me see here. I got an email. I keep meaning to read and I keep forgetting it.

[00:32:45] [SPEAKER_01]: Came from John who's up in New Jersey. He listens to us up in Jersey and he said during

[00:32:52] [SPEAKER_01]: Hurricane Sandy, Superstorm Sandy, we had no power for 11 days.

[00:33:01] [SPEAKER_01]: We were last on the list for restoration just because of population size.

[00:33:06] [SPEAKER_01]: So I guess he's in a small part of the state.

[00:33:09] [SPEAKER_01]: When the exhausted workers finally arrived, I still had plenty of propane

[00:33:15] [SPEAKER_01]: and I could at least make coffee for them. It costs nothing to be kind.

[00:33:21] [SPEAKER_01]: And that is true.

[00:33:25] [SPEAKER_01]: Ann says we just got back from Deals Orchard in Taylorsville.

[00:33:29] [SPEAKER_01]: They are out of power, but they are selling apples for cash.

[00:33:35] [SPEAKER_01]: You're seeing a lot of that people doing. I got a message also that people had

[00:33:39] [SPEAKER_01]: opened up. They did like a potluck. It was a friend of mine and he said

[00:33:43] [SPEAKER_01]: they and the neighbors, they got an outdoor barbecue grill and

[00:33:50] [SPEAKER_01]: they just started potluck for the whole block because you got all this food in the

[00:33:57] [SPEAKER_01]: freezers and fridges and it's all going bad. So you better cook it.

[00:34:02] [SPEAKER_01]: And so they just cooked all the food so everybody's got as much food as possible.

[00:34:07] [SPEAKER_01]: It's all you can do and then you just distribute it out because otherwise it

[00:34:11] [SPEAKER_01]: goes bad. Let me see here. Mike says, oh my goodness.

[00:34:21] [SPEAKER_01]: Mike says I know you're not a big fan of baby Jesus, but this just came out and he does provide

[00:34:28] [SPEAKER_01]: good straightforward information to his constituents. This is not a campaign

[00:34:31] [SPEAKER_01]: plug. Just some news about all the things currently going on on the ground you may want

[00:34:36] [SPEAKER_01]: to share. So this is from Congressman Jeff Jackson. He's got a list of

[00:34:46] [SPEAKER_01]: search and rescue teams on the ground. So this is just stuff that is water is a top priority.

[00:34:52] [SPEAKER_01]: Sorry, I'm just reading this as it's coming as I've not seen this before.

[00:34:56] [SPEAKER_01]: Water is a top priority. The damage to treatment plants was severe. We're talking

[00:35:07] [SPEAKER_01]: by the way, I mentioned a little bit of this earlier. The Asheville water system has been a wreck

[00:35:13] [SPEAKER_01]: for a century. For decades, the city of Asheville siphoned money out of its water

[00:35:22] [SPEAKER_01]: funds to use for general operating. So they deferred maintenance and upgrades and improvements

[00:35:31] [SPEAKER_01]: and stuff for a very long time. And so they've been in fights because they provide water

[00:35:40] [SPEAKER_01]: for the surrounding areas. And so the water fights are legendary. They have been fighting

[00:35:49] [SPEAKER_01]: these various governmental agencies and stuff. In fact, a couple of years ago when I was up

[00:35:53] [SPEAKER_01]: there, the state tried to create a multi-jurisdictional regional water authority. And the city of

[00:36:00] [SPEAKER_01]: Asheville sued and blocked it so they would not lose control over the water system rather than

[00:36:07] [SPEAKER_01]: make it a regional resource, which of course it is. In fact, they cut a deal with the neighboring

[00:36:13] [SPEAKER_01]: county, Henderson County, to get access to the reservoir. And then after the

[00:36:21] [SPEAKER_01]: like the term of there's like a 15-year agreement or something, the interlocal agreement,

[00:36:25] [SPEAKER_01]: when it expired, then they were like, yeah, no, we're out now. So that's why the state tried to

[00:36:33] [SPEAKER_01]: get involved because you guys are unable to play nice with each other. So need to create some sort

[00:36:39] [SPEAKER_01]: of regional authority, take it out of the politicians hands basically. They were unsuccessful in

[00:36:44] [SPEAKER_01]: doing it. But that being said, the water system itself, we heard from Mark from WWNC

[00:36:50] [SPEAKER_01]: in the first hour talking about some of these pipes. He said that they found pipes that

[00:36:54] [SPEAKER_01]: were wooden. That's how old the system is and hasn't been repaired. So it's a problem. It's going

[00:37:01] [SPEAKER_01]: to be a problem for a while. So if you can help, please do so. I've given a list in the last

[00:37:07] [SPEAKER_01]: hour. I went through a list of various entities. Samaritan's Purse is a good one. I know that

[00:37:13] [SPEAKER_01]: they're running supplies up there. Hearts with Hands is a good one. I know them.

[00:37:17] [SPEAKER_01]: They're requesting monetary donations because they've got connections

[00:37:21] [SPEAKER_01]: with the wholesalers so they can get lots of supplies for very cheap and then they can run their trucks

[00:37:29] [SPEAKER_01]: and the Red Cross. Those are the big ones in my mind, for me. If you have another one,

[00:37:35] [SPEAKER_01]: you prefer by all means help. But if you can help, please do so. All right, that'll do it for this

[00:37:40] [SPEAKER_01]: episode. Thank you so much for listening. I could not do the show without your support

[00:37:44] [SPEAKER_01]: and the support of the businesses that advertise on the podcast. So if you'd like,

[00:37:48] [SPEAKER_01]: please support them too and tell them you heard it here. You can also become a patron

[00:37:51] [SPEAKER_01]: at my Patreon page or go to thepcalinershow.com. Again, thank you so much for listening and

[00:37:58] [SPEAKER_01]: don't break anything while I'm gone.