CharlesU Farley
Well-known member
This is going to be the hardest thing I’ve ever written/posted in my almost 70 years of existence. I have not posted here on ICM in over 2 months because Harley and I survived a fucking _hurricane_ in the mountains of Western North Carolina. Unfortunately, my growing companion for the last 5.5 years years, Star The Doberman, did not survive. She did not die as a result of the hurricane; she died as a result of hemangiosarcoma:
I buried my Dobergirl the day before Hurricane Helene hit the mountains.
She appeared totally normal a week before but stopped eating, which was highly uncharacteristic for her. Waited a couple of days, contacted our outstanding vet who came up here on the mountain ‘cause Star was a Covid-Girl and didn’t socialize well. She said something was fucked and wanted to take her off the mountain.
Long, brutal story much shorter… after four days, the vet knew she wouldn’t survive more than a week and she knew how important euthanizing our animals at home was to me. The vet wanted to bring her back up her on the mountain so she could die with us.
We put her down on September 26, the hurricane hit the next day.
I’m getting ready to post more personal information than I ever had online and IDGAF (I don’t give a fuck). I live in Western North Carolina and the closest city to me in Asheville but that is over an hour away, in a very mountainous region, on the Blue Ridge Escarpment. Google that, it’s where the mountains meet the Low Country. There’s a 2000-foot cliff less than ¼ mile from my house, I’m at 3k feet and the mountain behind us is 4k. Excess water from mountain rainfall flows into valleys, and is _concentrated_ in those valleys.
The week _before_ the hurricane hit the mountains, while Star was in the process of dying, we had almost 12 inches of rain in what is known as a predecessor rain event (PRE). Digging Star’s grave was quite challenging in this environment, as the deeper I dug, the more the water filled the hole. With the Sheryl Crow tune from the 9/11 tribute Till Your Safe and Sound echoing as I dig, I continue to dig. Elton John’s Come Down In Time, Eddie Vedder singing Wish You Were Here and Fleetwood Mac’s Landslide reverberate as my dinosaur body continues to dig the grave.
My beautiful Star The Doberman is buried and the physical hurricane hits the next day, September 27.
I haven’t mentioned yet that September 27 was Harley and I’s 35th wedding anniversary, we had flights scheduled and paid for, including reservations at the 4 Seasons in Las Vegas. We lost power and Internet service the night I buried Star and power was not restored for over two weeks. Since our water is supplied by a spring, when the power goes out, we lose water as well. Here’s a couple of pics of our driveway, which was impassible, as it was for three weeks:
Would not have mattered if I could get down the driveway, all three roads that provide the only access off the mountain were washed out. Our Internet fiber connection was out for 2 months. Luckily, the house did not sustain any damage, it had to have been the geographical karma of our particular spot on this mountain because the closest town to us was almost completely destroyed. All of the rain that fell was essentially channeled down into the valleys and just washed a whole fucking town away. Here is pic of the rain totals I measured and keep in mind, the week before these were measured, we had already received a _foot_ (30.5cm) of rain:
I’ve always had a hard on for self-reliance/sufficiency since the early 80’s when I thought Ronnie Raygun was gonna get us all killed with the Russkies. Not one of those crazy fucking Preppers/Survivalists but smart enough to know that preparing for loss of power, water, comms, ect was important. I still have this book and it’s one of the major reasons why I chose the mountains of WNC when I bailed from Miami after the riots:
Long story short, Harley and I were prepared for this kind of event.
The _only_ form of communication we had with the outside world was with a 30 year old AM/FM/SW receiver powered by AA batteries. A country music station, WWNC, was fucking _instrumental_ in keeping all of us informed of what was going on and I absolutely _hate_ country music. But they did not play any music or political bullshit, which is very rare here in the mountains. Beyond the scope of this post to discuss preps for no power but I’ve got 200 watts of solar panels connected to a deep cycle battery that kept all of our tablets, laptops and phones fully powered/functional through this whole event. We live in an area that does not receive reliable cell coverage. One bar is the standard, if we’re lucky.
In order to communicate to the outside world, I had to hike up to the point of our property to “get a bar” so I could at least text the kids the let them know we were alright and had them cancel our flights and hotel. Voice communication was not possible, for over a month.
I cannot effectively describe the devastation that has taken place in the mountains of Western North Carolina. As we used to say about LSD back in the 60’s… words tend to be inadequate. I could no doubt post hundreds of videos that are now available online that document the utter destruction that has happened to us but I just can’t look at ‘em anymore. Do a search on YouTube for Biltmore Village, Chimney Rock, Swannanoa, Lake Lure, Hot Springs, Marshall, Spruce Pine… for videos of the utter devastation.
For those of us who live here, it's the new reality.
What those videos _won’t_ show is the thousands and _thousands_ of people who are now left _homeless_ because of a hurricane in the fucking mountains. These are not drunks/derelicts/ne’re do wells but waiters, cooks, nurses, cops, rich, poor, middle class, it fucked _everybody_ in one way or another. Unlike FL, MS, LA, TX, etc., _flood_ insurance is not something that we have _ever_ had to deal with in the mountains. Almost _all_ of the homes destroyed were _not_ covered by flood insurance because we never had fucking _floods_ up here in the mountains.
Anyone who is aware of my short posting history here on ICM know that I avoid politics at _all_ costs but I gotta speak to FEMA’s response to this disaster. It has been pretty damn good. People who moved here from FL and NY whined the first couple days wondering where their presence was... guess what? The roads were completely and totally fucked, so they couldn’t do anything, because they could get to those of us who were fucked. I had to hike up to the point of my property to contact FEMA on the cell, talked with a real, live human who took our info. Within 2 weeks, an inspector made her way up here the only way she could, surveyed the damage and I had a check for 5k in my account in a week.
That paid for the trackhoe and dozer that cleared driveway so we could get off the mountain… after a _month_ of being in the house.
Like I told our kids, driving off the mountain for the first time was like going through a lumberjack explosion. Trees crushing houses, roads totally washed away, fucking _landslides_ blocking entire towns from transportation. Gotta bring this Wall ‘o Words to an end and it will probably be one of the last Walls I’ll post for quite a while.
My priorities have changed, quite dramatically.
@gypsynirvanna, I’m don’t know what your ethnic background is other than being born in GB but let me tell you something about the Scotch/Irish fucks who live back up here in the mountains of the SouthEast U.S., and I’ve got a lot of it on both sides of my family tree… we are some tough motherfuckers, we’re flagrantly independent, we don’t rely on the government for help because we help each other and we are _survivors_.
@moose eater, don’t have time to scroll through the Random Thoughts thread to see what choice you made on the laminectomy but I hope everything has worked out for the best and you were able to prepare for winter and get enough oil stored.
@armedoldhippy, I think you are more in the “country music” side of being a Volunteer so I’m pretty sure you didn’t get fucked like the Eastern part did. Hope you and all you care about weathered the storm and found something to help your hearing.
@tobedetermined, hope you got the hearing aids that are actually affordable and help you hear the music you so love.
@GainesevilleGreen, from my limited access to what happened in your neck of the woods, it seems ya’ll avoided the devastation we had up here in the mountains. Still want to make it down to The General.
@Grow4DDE, yes we had it hard. I wojn’t have time to view/post in the Music section due to my new reality but I _always_ loved the virety of music you posted, Please keep it up even though I won’t be able to give my usual Thumbs UP or Love emoticons.
@Boo, I had a meme about dogs dying that I was saving for you because I know your oldest boy is having problems. Never thought I'd need it before you as my Velcro Girl was only five years old.
Can't find it now, things are still fucked up with me mentally, seem to remember you're in Panhandle area, hope you weathered the storm.
@HarleyJammer, quick search shows you aren’t posting much these days, hope all is well with you, your Dad and hope your sis is helping out.
@Dime, I’ve always loved the music that you post, won’t have the time to visit the sub like I did before the hurricane in the fucking mountains but keep on keeping on with the great music, even though you won’t get my thumbs up or loved emoticon.
@RobFromTX, your posts always make me smile and as much as I _need_ that right now, just don’t have the time to help you out to make people smile. Keep posting that funny shit, you make a difference!
Time to stop constructing this Wall ‘o Words, I’m fucking tore down writing this. I’ll leave ya’ll with this, for Star The Doberman:
Maybe this is forever
Forever fades away
Like a rocket ascending into space
Could you not be sad?
Could you not break down?
After all, won't let go
'Til you're safe and sound
'Til you're safe and sound
There's beauty in release
There's no one left to please
But you and me
I don't blame you for quitting
I know you really try
If only you could hang on through the night
'Cause I don't wanna be lonely
I don't wanna be scared
But all our friends are waiting there
Until you're safe and sound
Until you're safe and sound
There's beauty in release
There's no one left to please
But you and me
Sound
Until you're safe and sound
Feel like I could've held on
Feel like I could've let go
Feel like I could've helped you
Feel like I could've changed you
(Until you're safe and sound)
Feel like I could've held you
Feel like I could've hurt you
(Until you're safe and sound)
Feel like I was a stranger
Feel like I was an angel
(Until you're safe and sound)
Feel like I was a hero
Feel like I was a zero
(Until you're safe and sound)
Feel like I should've heard you
Feel like I could have healed you
(Until you're safe and sound)
Feel like I could have changed you
Feel like I could've heard you
(Until you're safe and sound)
Feel like I could have healed you
Feel like I should've told you
I feel like I could have loved you (Oh)
I feel like I could have loved you
I feel like I could have loved you
I feel like I really loved you
I feel like I really loved you
I feel like I really loved you
I feel like I really loved you
I feel like I really loved you
I feel like I really loved you
Feel like I could've saved you
Feel like I could've saved you
Feel like I could've saved you
Feel like I could've saved you
I buried my Dobergirl the day before Hurricane Helene hit the mountains.
She appeared totally normal a week before but stopped eating, which was highly uncharacteristic for her. Waited a couple of days, contacted our outstanding vet who came up here on the mountain ‘cause Star was a Covid-Girl and didn’t socialize well. She said something was fucked and wanted to take her off the mountain.
Long, brutal story much shorter… after four days, the vet knew she wouldn’t survive more than a week and she knew how important euthanizing our animals at home was to me. The vet wanted to bring her back up her on the mountain so she could die with us.
We put her down on September 26, the hurricane hit the next day.
I’m getting ready to post more personal information than I ever had online and IDGAF (I don’t give a fuck). I live in Western North Carolina and the closest city to me in Asheville but that is over an hour away, in a very mountainous region, on the Blue Ridge Escarpment. Google that, it’s where the mountains meet the Low Country. There’s a 2000-foot cliff less than ¼ mile from my house, I’m at 3k feet and the mountain behind us is 4k. Excess water from mountain rainfall flows into valleys, and is _concentrated_ in those valleys.
The week _before_ the hurricane hit the mountains, while Star was in the process of dying, we had almost 12 inches of rain in what is known as a predecessor rain event (PRE). Digging Star’s grave was quite challenging in this environment, as the deeper I dug, the more the water filled the hole. With the Sheryl Crow tune from the 9/11 tribute Till Your Safe and Sound echoing as I dig, I continue to dig. Elton John’s Come Down In Time, Eddie Vedder singing Wish You Were Here and Fleetwood Mac’s Landslide reverberate as my dinosaur body continues to dig the grave.
My beautiful Star The Doberman is buried and the physical hurricane hits the next day, September 27.
I haven’t mentioned yet that September 27 was Harley and I’s 35th wedding anniversary, we had flights scheduled and paid for, including reservations at the 4 Seasons in Las Vegas. We lost power and Internet service the night I buried Star and power was not restored for over two weeks. Since our water is supplied by a spring, when the power goes out, we lose water as well. Here’s a couple of pics of our driveway, which was impassible, as it was for three weeks:
Would not have mattered if I could get down the driveway, all three roads that provide the only access off the mountain were washed out. Our Internet fiber connection was out for 2 months. Luckily, the house did not sustain any damage, it had to have been the geographical karma of our particular spot on this mountain because the closest town to us was almost completely destroyed. All of the rain that fell was essentially channeled down into the valleys and just washed a whole fucking town away. Here is pic of the rain totals I measured and keep in mind, the week before these were measured, we had already received a _foot_ (30.5cm) of rain:
I’ve always had a hard on for self-reliance/sufficiency since the early 80’s when I thought Ronnie Raygun was gonna get us all killed with the Russkies. Not one of those crazy fucking Preppers/Survivalists but smart enough to know that preparing for loss of power, water, comms, ect was important. I still have this book and it’s one of the major reasons why I chose the mountains of WNC when I bailed from Miami after the riots:
Long story short, Harley and I were prepared for this kind of event.
The _only_ form of communication we had with the outside world was with a 30 year old AM/FM/SW receiver powered by AA batteries. A country music station, WWNC, was fucking _instrumental_ in keeping all of us informed of what was going on and I absolutely _hate_ country music. But they did not play any music or political bullshit, which is very rare here in the mountains. Beyond the scope of this post to discuss preps for no power but I’ve got 200 watts of solar panels connected to a deep cycle battery that kept all of our tablets, laptops and phones fully powered/functional through this whole event. We live in an area that does not receive reliable cell coverage. One bar is the standard, if we’re lucky.
In order to communicate to the outside world, I had to hike up to the point of our property to “get a bar” so I could at least text the kids the let them know we were alright and had them cancel our flights and hotel. Voice communication was not possible, for over a month.
I cannot effectively describe the devastation that has taken place in the mountains of Western North Carolina. As we used to say about LSD back in the 60’s… words tend to be inadequate. I could no doubt post hundreds of videos that are now available online that document the utter destruction that has happened to us but I just can’t look at ‘em anymore. Do a search on YouTube for Biltmore Village, Chimney Rock, Swannanoa, Lake Lure, Hot Springs, Marshall, Spruce Pine… for videos of the utter devastation.
For those of us who live here, it's the new reality.
What those videos _won’t_ show is the thousands and _thousands_ of people who are now left _homeless_ because of a hurricane in the fucking mountains. These are not drunks/derelicts/ne’re do wells but waiters, cooks, nurses, cops, rich, poor, middle class, it fucked _everybody_ in one way or another. Unlike FL, MS, LA, TX, etc., _flood_ insurance is not something that we have _ever_ had to deal with in the mountains. Almost _all_ of the homes destroyed were _not_ covered by flood insurance because we never had fucking _floods_ up here in the mountains.
Anyone who is aware of my short posting history here on ICM know that I avoid politics at _all_ costs but I gotta speak to FEMA’s response to this disaster. It has been pretty damn good. People who moved here from FL and NY whined the first couple days wondering where their presence was... guess what? The roads were completely and totally fucked, so they couldn’t do anything, because they could get to those of us who were fucked. I had to hike up to the point of my property to contact FEMA on the cell, talked with a real, live human who took our info. Within 2 weeks, an inspector made her way up here the only way she could, surveyed the damage and I had a check for 5k in my account in a week.
That paid for the trackhoe and dozer that cleared driveway so we could get off the mountain… after a _month_ of being in the house.
Like I told our kids, driving off the mountain for the first time was like going through a lumberjack explosion. Trees crushing houses, roads totally washed away, fucking _landslides_ blocking entire towns from transportation. Gotta bring this Wall ‘o Words to an end and it will probably be one of the last Walls I’ll post for quite a while.
My priorities have changed, quite dramatically.
@gypsynirvanna, I’m don’t know what your ethnic background is other than being born in GB but let me tell you something about the Scotch/Irish fucks who live back up here in the mountains of the SouthEast U.S., and I’ve got a lot of it on both sides of my family tree… we are some tough motherfuckers, we’re flagrantly independent, we don’t rely on the government for help because we help each other and we are _survivors_.
@moose eater, don’t have time to scroll through the Random Thoughts thread to see what choice you made on the laminectomy but I hope everything has worked out for the best and you were able to prepare for winter and get enough oil stored.
@armedoldhippy, I think you are more in the “country music” side of being a Volunteer so I’m pretty sure you didn’t get fucked like the Eastern part did. Hope you and all you care about weathered the storm and found something to help your hearing.
@tobedetermined, hope you got the hearing aids that are actually affordable and help you hear the music you so love.
@GainesevilleGreen, from my limited access to what happened in your neck of the woods, it seems ya’ll avoided the devastation we had up here in the mountains. Still want to make it down to The General.
@Grow4DDE, yes we had it hard. I wojn’t have time to view/post in the Music section due to my new reality but I _always_ loved the virety of music you posted, Please keep it up even though I won’t be able to give my usual Thumbs UP or Love emoticons.
@Boo, I had a meme about dogs dying that I was saving for you because I know your oldest boy is having problems. Never thought I'd need it before you as my Velcro Girl was only five years old.
Can't find it now, things are still fucked up with me mentally, seem to remember you're in Panhandle area, hope you weathered the storm. @HarleyJammer, quick search shows you aren’t posting much these days, hope all is well with you, your Dad and hope your sis is helping out.
@Dime, I’ve always loved the music that you post, won’t have the time to visit the sub like I did before the hurricane in the fucking mountains but keep on keeping on with the great music, even though you won’t get my thumbs up or loved emoticon.
@RobFromTX, your posts always make me smile and as much as I _need_ that right now, just don’t have the time to help you out to make people smile. Keep posting that funny shit, you make a difference!
Time to stop constructing this Wall ‘o Words, I’m fucking tore down writing this. I’ll leave ya’ll with this, for Star The Doberman:
Maybe this is forever
Forever fades away
Like a rocket ascending into space
Could you not be sad?
Could you not break down?
After all, won't let go
'Til you're safe and sound
'Til you're safe and sound
There's beauty in release
There's no one left to please
But you and me
I don't blame you for quitting
I know you really try
If only you could hang on through the night
'Cause I don't wanna be lonely
I don't wanna be scared
But all our friends are waiting there
Until you're safe and sound
Until you're safe and sound
There's beauty in release
There's no one left to please
But you and me
Sound
Until you're safe and sound
Feel like I could've held on
Feel like I could've let go
Feel like I could've helped you
Feel like I could've changed you
(Until you're safe and sound)
Feel like I could've held you
Feel like I could've hurt you
(Until you're safe and sound)
Feel like I was a stranger
Feel like I was an angel
(Until you're safe and sound)
Feel like I was a hero
Feel like I was a zero
(Until you're safe and sound)
Feel like I should've heard you
Feel like I could have healed you
(Until you're safe and sound)
Feel like I could have changed you
Feel like I could've heard you
(Until you're safe and sound)
Feel like I could have healed you
Feel like I should've told you
I feel like I could have loved you (Oh)
I feel like I could have loved you
I feel like I could have loved you
I feel like I really loved you
I feel like I really loved you
I feel like I really loved you
I feel like I really loved you
I feel like I really loved you
I feel like I really loved you
Feel like I could've saved you
Feel like I could've saved you
Feel like I could've saved you
Feel like I could've saved you
Last edited:
We used our hot tub water to flush and our hot water heater water to drink, so we didn't have it near as bad as you all in Asheville did. We're on the crest of the Hickory Nut Gorge and Chimney Rock area so all the rain that fell on us made it down to the Rocky Broad, so Gerton, Bat Cave and Chimney Rock were simply hammered.
