Ten Days on a Mountaintop: A Mother’s Story of Hope and Resilience After Helene

Barnardsville, NC (October 8, 2024)--Ten days. That's 14,400 minutes. 240 hours. 864,000 seconds. Enough time to wonder what will happen to you and your boys. Enough time to deplete your food stores, even though you are being frugal. Enough time to worry whether you will ever be able to leave the mountaintop where you live. Enough time to wonder if everyone forgot you were even there.

When remnants of Hurricane Helene swept through Barnardsville, North Carolina, on Friday, September 27, the road to Karen's house was washed away. The two bridges over Stoney Fork Creek were gone, and the remaining stretches of road lay choked with fallen trees. No one could make it up the mountain, and certainly, no one could come down. Karen was trapped, alone with her two boys.

Karen's first sign of hope rumbled in ten days after the storm when large trucks rolled past her mountaintop home. She quickly loaded her boys into her car and drove down the mountain. A Salvation Army mobile feeding unit parked at the base of the mountain was the first thing she spotted.

“Oh! Dear Lord!” Karen got out of her car, visibly shaking. “You are the first people we’ve seen. I don’t know what to do!”

Salvation Army canteen worker Ken Brown simply stood there and hugged her. “I told her she was not alone and that we would work through this together. We have plenty of resources – what do you need?”

Karen started to share her story. Trees had fallen on her home, and the roof was leaking. She needed insulin for one of her boys, a hot meal, and something to drink. And prayer. Lots of prayer.

“We can do that,” he reassured her. “Let’s start with some food.”

Ken and his Emergency Disaster Services partner, Barbara Still, prepared plates of chicken, green beans, and peaches for Karen and her sons and set them up a place to eat. As they ate, she shared more of her story.

“This is the first hot meal we’ve had in a week,” she said. “We have a small gas stove, but I was trying to conserve our gas and food since we didn’t know when we could get off the mountain.”

Once they had eaten their fill, Ken led Karen to the Big Ivy Community Center, where the small community had gathered resources, and began connecting her with those who could help.

“We linked her with the Baptists on Mission to clear the trees from her house and put tarps on her roof - they arrived within a couple of hours with chainsaws and equipment. We also helped her secure a supply of insulin for one of her sons. The community rallied around her, reassuring her that she was not alone. Everyone there lifted her and her boys in prayer, giving glory to God for her safety,” Ken said. "In Barnardsville, it's all about community."

Karen’s story is just one of many in the mountains of Western North Carolina. Each day, winding roads leading to mountain cabins are being cleared, allowing help to reach people impacted by the storm. Acts of human kindness extend into the smallest hollows and the highest mountaintops, offering support and comfort to people in the most need. The Salvation Army is on the ground throughout the area, grateful to be ready to serve wherever and whenever needed, connecting people to God, the ultimate source of salvation.

“For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness.” — Ezekiel 34:11-12