Hurricane Helene devastated WNC Sept. 27, 2024. One year after the storm, residents of Haywood County gathered to commemorate what was lost and celebrate the volunteers and helpers that brought a sense of normalcy back to the county.
The Haywood County Hurricane Helene remembrance ceremony was on Saturday, Sept. 27, at 9 a.m. outside the Historic Haywood County Courthouse in Waynesville. The event was hosted by Haywood County and N.C. Government in partnership with the towns of Canton, Clyde, Maggie Valley and Waynesville.
“This is a day remembering the moments, unsurprisingly, that we saw the best of this county, the best of this state, the best of this country,” said Canton Mayor, Zeb Smathers.
The event was quiet and somber, a crowd full of gratitude and memories they can never forget.
“I wasn’t sure I wanted to come today,” said Amy Russell, the operations manager at K-9 Curriculum, a dog training and grooming business in Clyde. “There’s still some PTSD there one year later.”
Haywood County commissioners, the Haywood County Sheriff, the mayors of Canton, Clyde, Maggie Valley and Waynesville, two high school students, a mental health counselor and a local pastor all spoke about their experiences with Helene.
Mike Eveland, mayor of Maggie Valley told a story of standing on his porch, watching Jonathan Creek come out of the banks and first responders rushing to help.
“The day I stood on that porch, I never knew all the people in the area that would come together the way they did, and it was outstanding,” Eveland said.
County and town officials spoke on Helene’s impact to the county and their families, thanked first responders who worked tirelessly to help people and restore infrastructure, the volunteers coming from across the region to help strangers in need, the resilience of WNC and commemorate the five Haywood County citizens who were killed by Helene.
“One moment that will really stay with me forever was the morning after Helene hit,” said Josie Ostendorff, a senior at Tuscola High School. “My mom and I ventured out to downtown Canton and we walked down the street, and I was just filled with numbness and fear and sadness. But we turned the corner and saw a shop that got completely covered in mud, washed away. And there were these two shop owners carrying shovels. They didn’t pause to look at the destruction, they didn’t hesitate, and they just drove their shovels into the mud. That spirit stuck with me, I will remember that for the rest of my life.”
Scout Belue, a sophomore at Pisgah High School, and Ostendorff, shared their experiences with the hurricane through original poems. Ostendorff is also involved in a flood memorial project with the Tuscola Impact U Club. The memorial will be an 8 foot statue with its main symbol being hands, which inspired her poem.
Even a year after the storm, Haywood County is still rebuilding. The Haywood County Helene Recovery Center is open Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. to all still looking for assistance. Additionally, ReadyHaywood has resources and updates.
“I want to thank all the officials from our state representatives to those who came down from Washington. They visited us, and we appreciated it,” said Clyde Mayor Jim Trantham. “And I’m going to ask them to help us more. We’re not done yet.”
Local governments are still waiting on federal aid money to continue rebuilding what was lost. Haywood county has only received 4% of the $15.8 million its owed. FEMA money is stuck in the bureaucracy, local governments are struggling to get requests through and any project that requires more than $100,000 requires sign-off from the Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem.
“There’s something about the people of Haywood County and the Mountains of Western Carolina, the stubborn resilience,” said Smathers. “That the climb is worth the days to make it a few more steps, the days you fall back. It’s stubborn resilience. Again, whatever is at the top is worth seeing. The mountain is worth plowing. Perseverance is worth every single bit of sacrifice.”
https://imgur.com/gallery/haywood-county-helene-remembrance-ZyB3lSD#GD1jqer
