ecospirit

EPOCHAL FLOOD: Nominally, my occasional annual letter, but in the larger scheme of things, this is more like the anniversary of the Great Year.  Our flood, a result of several days of heavy rain followed by the stalling of Hurricane Helene over the Black Mountains across the valley from us, is the largest since the last ice age 10,000 years ago (per a geologist friend here, who studies the sediments). On September 27, flood waters crested locally at 27 feet above flood level, causing massive damage across western NC. Our landscape will not be the same, and may well not recover during human history, probably well short of another 10,000 years. Every creekside hollow, and many small towns and hamlets were washed away, including nearby Micaville.  Millions of trees went down, and the Blue Ridge Parkway suffered numerous landslides, as did Highway 80, our link to the East.  The latter is probably unrecoverable.  On the other side of our Blacks, Pensacola suffered extreme damage, with large portions of the road washed out, along with many houses.  Most of the Yancey County deaths were there, along with seven here in the South Toe Valley. The overall death toll of 110 across the affected mountain region sounds like an undercount.  

  Here at 300 Dharma Way, we were virtually unaffected, other than communication systems.  Although several large trees were uprooted by wet soil and high winds, only a couple of small trees fell across our road, which was deeply rutted. We lost our landline and internet in the storm, and communications were difficult until we set up a temporary Starlink system, courtesy of Elon Musk. Several homes in Celo Community suffered flood damage.  The most severe was the Celo Inn, where the innkeepers lost their home and livelihood. Many roads and highways were impassable for days and weeks afterwards.  Fortunately, local men with heavy machinery were able to restore the road at both ends of the bridge into the community on Seven Mile Ridge Road, so we were able to travel out within 48 hours.  These routes varied daily, depending upon road repairs, and for awhile some 2 hour journeys lengthened to 7.  Interstate 40 to Tennessee remains closed, three and a half months later. 

RESPONSE: The good news is that Celo Community and the South Toe Volunteer Fire Department led an exemplary effort at rapid response, and the community hosted daily briefings for several weeks after the Flood.  Work-crews sprang up, and their work continues into the new year.  This response has been a healing balm.  A fine article highlighting CCI’s leadership was published in Sierra magazine.  But as I noted during Celo Friends Meeting worship, these efforts are happening all over the mountains, mostly led by local churches.  

As I write, the unsightly debris piles are disappearing, though scars will be visible for a long time. The course of the South Toe River (and many others) has altered dramatically.  The Camp Celo swimming hole is now a pile of rock covered with 15 inches of river flow. FEMA was ineffective in the immediate emergency, but has worked steadily to help folks during the months since.  Several independent groups have raised relief funds, which are being carefully administered.  A donor gave Celo Friends Meeting $100,000 for flood relief.  Geeta served on the committee to quickly disburse the money, now totaling another 10 or 15 thousand, in small amounts not more than $2500. Camp Celo has been donated sufficient funds to hire a contractor to oversee repairs in anticipation of camp opening this summer.  However, “Fairyland”, the portion of camp marked by idyllic forested riverbank, has been devastated, and will need to be totally reimagined.

# posted by Robert McGahey @ 5:46 PM