Photo by: Matthew Broderick
When Hurricane Helene hit, it decimated the small town of Swannanoa. Marcus Laws says things are still really bad.
[Nat sound: Door opens and bell rings]
Laws: It’s pretty horrific. Looks like a bomb went off. There’s still multiple bridges and roads that have not been repaired, multiple businesses that were wiped away and that are in disrepair. It’s not a big town but for the small things that they had, most of it got wiped away.
Laws works for a Veterans Restoration Quarters, which houses veterans and provides them the opportunity to get back on their feet. These quarters were very helpful for housing homeless people during Hurricane Helene.
Laws: Because we knew the storm was coming, we had chosen to house some civilians there. So we moved those civilians into the main building. And as the morning progressed, we started being told that we needed to evacuate.
When I asked about Swannanoa, Laws pointed me in the direction of a music venue/bar called Silverado’s which he had heard was acting as a part time distribution center.
[Nat sound: buzzsaw]
Alexander: My name is Richard Alexander, my nickname is Richie, that’s what everyone calls me here. My wife and I came from Chattanooga, Tennessee for four days back on October 7th.
Little did Alexander know, four days would turn into four months.
Alexander: We came in our RV, we came here and stayed here on site, and just over the course of time I ended up being the manager slash volunteer coordinator.
What started as a small distribution center inside of someone’s living room, had blossomed into a hub for people impacted by Hurricane Helene to get any sort of supplies they might need.
Alexander: It just kind of grew daily, for all through November, and I’m going to say by mid December, we pretty much had it set up like this.
Maintaining that setup certainly was not easy for Alexander.
Alexander: There’s times where we had to have six people out there directing traffic. Those days are gone. But back then, our average was two to 250, maybe even 275 on a Saturday.
That’s not 275 people. That’s 275 cars. And it isn’t just Alexander who helps organize the chaos.
[Nat sound: volunteers communicate through walkie talkies]
McClure: We normally work on stage and we come up every weekend and we’re just going to be here until it ends.
That’s Kay McClure, who volunteers at the Silverado’s distribution center with her best friend since high school, Wendy Brignull.
Brignull: We started at Savage Freedoms with the helicopters. We are both in the medical field, so we were helping set up the medical clinic. Then, once things changed over at Savage Freedoms, we shifted here because our needs were not there anymore.
Brignull says there’s an inspiring sense of community in Swannanoa.
Brignull: The people that have lost everything, they’re still showing up here volunteering and working right alongside of us every day that we’re here. So, that says a lot about this community. And to me, if it wasn’t for the people showing up, I don’t know where they would be at this point.
Unfortunately, Silverado’s has decided to close its music venue due to the damage caused by Hurricane Helene. But the bar itself reopened on March 14th and hopefully things can get back to the way they were. I’m Matthew Broderick, reporting.
[TRT 3:18]
