How to help people and volunteer in NC in Hurricane Helene aftermath
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Hurricane Helene Aftermath
Hurricane Helene swept across the Southeast, causing major flooding and destruction throughout North Carolina. Here is ongoing coverage from The News & Observer and The Charlotte Observer about Hurricane Helene and the aftermath, particularly in Western North Carolina.
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In Western North Carolina, many are dead, missing and cut off from the outside world — and help — in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.
The Category 4 hurricane made landfall in northern Florida and was still a raging tropical storm when it passed over the Carolinas. The storm flooded North Carolina towns, wiped neighborhoods away and killed at least 11 across the state.
President Joe Biden Saturday approved Gov. Roy Cooper’s request for FEMA help in 25 counties, and federal aid flocked to Asheville and Charlotte Sunday. Crews set up base camps, waiting for some of the 280 closed roads to reopen, as Red Cross planes and helicopters searched for people stranded in the towns near the Appalachian Mountains, said American Red Cross Vice President of Disaster Response Jennifer Pipa Sunday.
Floods severed towns from nearby roads, and emergency services struggled to reach those suffering without using aircraft.
How to help people affected by Helene
If your organization would like to be added to this list, please email news@charlotteobserver.com with the subject line “How to Help NC.”
“Cash is best,” according to FEMA’s website. It’s the most effective, flexible way to aid organizations. FEMA recommends donating to verified organizations directing money to on-the-ground groups that know what communities need. A list of organizations can be found on the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster website. Those same organizations accept volunteers, too.
FEMA cautions people to not self deploy to affected areas — especially any still-flooded areas.
How to volunteer to help
You can find more information about volunteer opportunities with VolunteerNC and meal assistance with local food banks.
Hurricane Helene GoFundMe
GoFundMe, a crowdfunding platform that allows individuals to create their own fundraisers, launched a Hurricane Helene Relief page with verified fundraisers Friday. As of Sunday, it had nearly 400 fundraisers on the verified landing page.
In Charlotte, a tree struck down during Helene fell onto a Hoskins home and killed a man inside. That man, according to a GoFundMe page set up by his nephew, was Anthony “Tony” Taylor. His wife and four children survived, but he did not.
Neighbors said half the tree fell onto another home months before. It should have been cut down already, they said.
“For some time, we had been trying to get the tree removed, but since it wasn’t on our property, there was little we could do,” wrote Taylor’s nephew, Stephen Taylor, in the post.
Also in Charlotte, a group of pilots is asking for money to help air-drop supplies to those in communities surrounded now by water instead of roads.
“We believe that small aircraft can deploy resources faster because we don’t need to wait for roads to be cleared. We’ll use funds to purchase supplies like nonperishable foods, hygiene items, and baby supplies,” wrote Benjamin Spells.
In Swannanoa, host to some of the state’s worst flood scenes, a couple and their children — ages 2 and 7 — took refuge in their attic as orange floodwaters moved sludge and debris through their neighborhood. The Zara Family last frantically called family at 11 a.m. Friday, after hours without contact. A neighbor with a kayak rescued them and their home was destroyed.
Jessica Allred, the wife’s sister, is asking for funds to help The Zara Family. Hundreds of more families with harrowing stories are listed on GoFundMe.
More ways to help
We’ve put together more ways to help and send donations in this story.
This story was originally published September 29, 2024 at 4:39 PM.
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