Editor’s note: Xpress is asking readers to share their experiences of Tropical Storm Helene. This is one of those stories.
While Helene was visiting our home in Black Mountain, my husband and I were waking up in sunny Crested Butte, Colo. More than 1,600 miles away from Helene’s wrath, I was attending a work conference on the perfect fall day. The juxtaposition of the weather made my heart sick.
As the news rolled in that fateful Friday morning, conference attendees asked if our home was OK. “I don’t know,” I’d respond while stoically keeping it together. What we did know was that the situation looked horrific, the power was off, and our neighbors weren’t responding.
Existing in a world that is normal when your community is falling apart feels like it’s stretching your soul in opposite directions. Watching the videos and pictures brought me to tears. I felt grateful to not be there, and I felt guilty for not being there, as well as overwhelmed for the community and hopeful through the generosity of strangers.
While we bided our time in Colorado, waiting for the “right moment” to fly home, we bellied up to a bar in Winter Park and met a lovely family who had moved to the area from Georgia. They shared their condolences and experience surviving the 2020 East Troublesome Fire. Colorado’s second-largest wildfire ravaged nearly 200,000 acres over 48 days, taking down 555 structures in its path, including homes and dreams.
They noted the kindness of strangers, survivor guilt — and how donations are great, but if you don’t have a home, there’s nowhere to store them. They talked about it through wide eyes and healing heart scars, reminding us that life will evolve and our communities will rebuild stronger.
Twelve days after Helene’s attack, we arrived home, shaken by the damage we witnessed on the drive but grateful to be back with our community to share the joys and burdens of rebuilding together.
— Olivia Ward
Black Mountain
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