Hurricane Helene hit hard in mountainous areas in western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee, with unimaginable devastation. Although not getting as much attention in the aftermath, there are still people whose lives were upended, and those who remain unaccounted for. Several volunteer aid organizations are working nonstop to help in the affected areas. TPR’s Jerry Clayton spoke with Matthew Clark, who is logistics chief for the nonprofit Ground Force Humanitarian Aid. He's currently in the town of Spruce Pine, North Carolina.
Clayton: What is happening on the ground there now?
Clark: I got here a little over three weeks ago. A majority of the search and rescue has already pretty much expired. If somebody is still missing, the chances of them being discovered alive are really, really slim. There's still cadaver dogs out. They're still getting hits. A lot of these hits now are just dead animals.
In this county, there's still one person missing, but that's just this one county. A lot of trees were still on the roads. A lot of the roads are impassable from landslides. And the lodge that we're being graciously housed here in Little Switzerland, a lot of the roads around us are washed out, so you really have to be selective and know where you're going just to get anywhere.
And as for logistics for our agency, it's been very, very tricky. We've been relying heavily on people we're working remotely, doing mapping for us.
Clayton: What is the most impactful thing that you've seen that has affected you the most?
Clark: The human resilience. These folks have been up here in these mountains for generations. And I don't mean like, three, four. One of the women, she's a rancher, and she's 10th generation on these mountains. There are people that live up in these mountains that have never been out of these mountains, they're so steeped in tradition and pride that some of them, if you don't speak the same language, and I don't mean just English, I mean if you don't speak their language, they will not have you. They will not tolerate you.
And it's very difficult for some of these disaster recovery agencies, or disaster response agencies to get to these people, to get them the help that they need. And that's been very frightening to me, but at the same time, I guess I get it. I mean, they're not used to outsiders being up here.
Clayton: What's needed the most right now?
Clark: The things that are needed the most right now are generators and cold weather supplies, blankets, because when it gets cold up here, it gets really cold. For example, a week and a half ago, it was 98 degrees in San Antonio, and that same day here it snowed. The livestock has really been negatively affected.
There are true stories that I have heard from ranchers and friends of these ranchers, that their livestock are being put down because they don't have enough feed. They don't have enough hay. There is hay production here, but a lot of the hay production areas are eroded. So, you can't do anything with it. It's not level. It has to be leveled. Western Carolinas and parts of Tennessee will never be the same again. And that really strikes me. You just can't get over that. These folks need help. In every way.
Clayton: How does someone who wants to help out contact your organization?
Clark: Donations would be the best way at this time, groundforcehumanitarianaid.org, or you can also go to GoCajunNavy.org
