[Regarding “Team Timber: One Community’s Quest to Manage Its Downed Trees, Post-Helene,” Jan. 22, Xpress:]
Our property is off Bearwallow Road, and logging could be our solution. We have 5 acres, all with downed trees.
Insurance claims are truly a joke, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency — let’s not go there, as they feel every person should get $750 and all will be solved. We have estimates up to $50,000. I don’t know about others, but we do not have that kind of money.
In short, if it were possible, I’d sell “as is” and be done with the mess.
I wish others the best of luck and hope that it works out better for those who are worse off than we are at this time.
As it has been said when President Trump said that nothing’s been done, he’s absolutely right.
We would like to thank the utility workers, road repairers, etc. They’ve worked hard to make it easier to travel and live here in this disaster.
— Brenda Newkirk
Hendersonville
Donald Trump has known about the hurricane for months. Perhaps he and his billionaire buddies could pass the hat, roll up their sleeves and help…if they weren’t so busy golfing and planning global expansion.
Where are Joe, kamala, chuck, nancy, schiff, bernie, swallowswell, AOC and other progressive leftists who were in power during and after the storm? They are all multi millionaires having smartly invested their guvment paid salaries. Why didn’t they pass the hat, roll up their sleeves and help? Or were they too busy hanging out at beach and planning the next way they could enrich themselves at the taxpayer expense.
You need to go seek mental healthcare (on your own time) to assist you and your TDS.
FEMA has been wonderful since they arrived just after Helene. They have been incredibly helpful and kind. FEMA has been funding and coordinating much of the help we see. As a government agency, FEMA has volumes of federal regulations they must follow. They bend over backward to do all they can but are not permitted to do more. That is up to Congress, not FEMA. If you want that to change, call your senators and representatives. Whether the funds FEMA has approved are paid depends on the current administration, not FEMA. I have spoken with FEMA employees who have signed on to leave their families for a year to help WNC. That’s huge sacrifice on their part, and they and their families deserve our gratitude, not undeserved criticism.
Owning five acres of property with trees is quite a privilege. If your insurance company does not cover removing fallen trees, call them. Please don’t blame FEMA for something over which they have no control. If you truly want to sell your property as is, I doubt you will have a problem doing so.
FEMA gets sh$t upon daily, but you’re absolutely correct. They make a convenient scapegoat but have expended tremendous resources on WNC. I thank them. So should everyone. They are not your fairy godmother!
There are several portable sawmill operators in the area.
Why are you expecting taxpayers to bail you out?? You own 5 acres. Apparently your home is fine. So do the work in stages. Your property , your dime.
Maybe you could Contact a timber framers guild to coordinate the logging so that the logs go to the best use possible for rebuilding,timber frames, which require less wood to be stronger and hurricane resistant. Inquire about a tax deduction for donating the timber for rebuilding, as part of the hurricane recovery? Every bit of a windthrown tree is useful for a different woodworking purpose: even cracked trees are useful for small parts such as table legs. If the wood doesn’t go towards rebuilding, then standing tress will be senselessly cut in a few years to meet future demands. Think efficiency.