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While visiting my family for Christmas a few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to partner with a local church and deliver Christmas gifts and supplies to families in my home state of less than 20,000 residents, located on the border between North Carolina and Tennessee. .
This experience gave me the opportunity to listen to the stories of my neighbors, many of whom I have known all my life.
One story stood out to me. A multi-generational household of six people living in a fifth-wheel trailer. They had lost their home and everything they cherished – except their faith.
HURRICANE HELENE: ‘BACKBACK OF AMERICA’ HELPS SOUTHEAST FARMERS WHO LOST BILLIONS IN CROPS AND LAND
Sadly, their story is all too familiar in the small mountain communities of Southern Appalachia.
It’s been almost five months now Hurricane Helene forever reshaping the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina.
In the months since, we have seen the true nature of humanity.
Our community is united. Companies help each other clean up and rebuild. Churches still deliver warm clothing and hot meals on foot and on horseback. Nonprofit organizations from across the Southeast are providing necessary supplies such as diapers, blankets and baby food.
It was Elon Musk, with the help of private citizens like former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle and the Cajun Navy, who created the Starlink routers to every crevice of Western North Carolina, connecting us to the outside world.
Western North Carolina and Southern Appalachia are rebuilding on their own.
The federal government has been slow to respond and help, despite the incredible efforts of leaders like Congressman Chuck Edwards and Senators Thom Tillis and Ted Budd.
Party politics has slowed down relief effortswith many in Raleigh and Washington putting party over people.
With temperatures plummeting and inches of snow falling each week, many North Carolina residents are still without homes and relying on tents for shelter.
FEMA has been delivering trailers to the region, but failed to efficiently approve those who applied to obtain them nearly five months ago.
The shining light through this storm is Appalachia’s resilience. Even as instigators on both sides try to use this disaster for their own political gain, our communities have come together and helped each other.
Cities like Marshall, North Carolina, plan to reopen in the coming months, despite more than half of the city being destroyed by flooding.
In the more than 25 years that I have called Western North Carolina home, we are stronger than I have ever seen before.
However, the strength and resilience of our community can only sustain our perception of normalcy for a limited time.
Western North Carolina is in despair.
Leaders on both sides of the aisle must be accountable to the government bureaucracy that defies the needs of our communities.
Winter has only just begun. As temperatures dip into the single digits and wind chills dip into the negative single digits, churches and nonprofits are stepping up to fill the ever-present void left by inefficient red tape.
The time to take action was five months ago, but late action is better than no action.
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Our community urgently needs investment in affordable housing and infrastructure to stimulate our local economies and give families the resources they need to get back on their feet.
Insurance companies redefine flood zones; many families are priced out of their homes and properties. The Small Business Administration is running out of money, slowing recovery in regions desperately in need of economic opportunity. And provincial and municipal governments are relying on the slow distribution of disaster relief funds to get critical agencies back online.
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This is not a political issue and should not be controversial. For over 100 years, Appalachia has been left behind by our federal government. Now when we need them most, they still can’t be bothered to act urgently.
Appalachia is not defined by Helene; it will be determined by the overwhelming response of the people who call these mountains home.
