Trying to Recover From Hurricane Helene

OMAHA (DTN) -- A cattle producer and agriculture teacher in Brevard, North Carolina, continues to help farmers and rural residents face new trials as her community starts to recover from Hurricane Helene.

For one, she has a newborn calf living in her laundry room.

Brevard is about 35 miles south of Asheville and just one of a swath of communities in the Southeast U.S. trying to pick up the pieces after Helene.

Sarah Clayton -- unrelated to the author -- has been helping coordinate and deliver feed and other supplies to area farmers hit by the storm. She admits feeling a little exhausted, as every day seems like starting all over again.

Farmers and others are responding to the crisis with supplies for other farmers and livestock producers in need.

"We've gotten some good donations, but it seems as soon as donations come in, somebody is asking for something else," Clayton said. "It's like a puzzle or a scavenger hunt to find things that people need because they are just getting to the point of trying to clean up."

Livestock producers face multiple problems right now because the streams and rivers are contaminated from upstream runoff and municipal wastewater. A lot of area cattle producers used the streams and rivers to water their cattle. Clayton said she's aware of eight to 10 cows that have died.

"We've seen cattle and horses coming up with some nasty sickness from the water," Clayton said. "We're finding that there are toxic chemicals that have been released into the water from sewers and treatment plants into the river, so we're just trying to manage that," she said.

Area producers have been trying to be proactive to warn others about the water, but power is still out in a large area, and the rivers remain the only access to water for some people and livestock.

"People are carrying water up from the rivers to water their livestock, and they don't know" that it's contaminated, she said.

Water tanks that can be carried on pickups are now an important need, as both people and livestock are without clean water. "We've had some donated, but that's definitely something we need more of are those tanks you can sit in the back of your pickup and then drive it out to pastures to fill up troughs."

Another big challenge has been cleaning out hundreds of bales of flooded hay. A local landfill is taking in hay for no charge right now and chopping it up, but simply hauling it all is a headache because each bale is waterlogged and heavy.

"It's a big issue trying to get rid of the wet hay before we can put some dry hay back into the barns," she said.

The storm also hit during fall calving season. Clayton said she now has a calf born just after the storm hit, as does a local veterinarian. The cows, though, are also traumatized by the storm. She's now keeping a calf in her laundry room.

"The cows are just so stressed out they have no interest in wanting to be a momma," Clayton said. "So, they just walk away from their calves. He (the calf) is doing must better. Right now, we just kind of have to take on these challenges as they show up."

Cell service has mostly returned. Last week, everyone was huddled in just a few places to get a signal. More people have their power on, but about 3,500 homes and businesses in Transylvania County remain without power. Nearly 130,000 homes and businesses across 12 western North Carolina counties remain cut off from power.

Many people had homes near streams and rivers, but a lot of the flooded houses didn't have flood insurance because their home wasn't in a floodplain. And flood insurance is also expensive. The lack of flood insurance is going to hamper a lot of recovery efforts for individual families.

"That's a big pill to swallow for a lot of these folks, which is really sad, and they're pretty much having to start over from scratch," Clayton said.

The Western North Carolina Regional Livestock Center in Canton, North Carolina, has become a hub for donations such as hay, feed and fencing material. Clayton said producers in Brevard have been coordinating trips to Canton, which is at least an hour away from Brevard.

"It's been hard for people to even get over there and get supplies," she said.

So, the high school cleaned out its agricultural shop and started collecting supplies there as well. The livestock center has delivered a couple of loads of cattle feed and fencing supplies. A local veterinarian also has opened her clinic in Flat Rock, North Carolina, as a distribution site for livestock and pets.

There also have been people such as one person who bought $3,000 in livestock and pet food and delivered it to Brevard. The feed has been getting taken daily, but there are also people reluctant to ask for help.

"Sometimes the most important thing is encouraging folks to come in because all I hear is 'Somebody else might need it more than me.' That's hard to convince people to come in and let them know this help is for them as much as anybody else. People are just humble, and they aren't used to asking for help."

Clayton is waiting to see if Brevard's school district will reopen for classes next week. Another problem for several area communities is that one of the biggest trash contractors in the area also saw nearly every one of its large trucks destroyed or damaged in the storm.

As recovery from Helene is just beginning in earnest, the country is already turning its attention to yet another storm.

"My biggest fear is when everybody starts to go back to their normal lives, are we going to get forgotten?" Clayton said.

UPDATES ON RECOVERY

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and FEMA officials on Monday said $100 million had been made available for road repairs, and he urged tourists to stay away from western parts of the state while emergency crews continue to operate in the area. All roads in western North Carolina should be considered closed.

"We know there is much more to do, but we know the people here are determined and resilient," Cooper said on a livestream news conference.

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said there are 3,400 federal emergency responders working in western parts of North Carolina. There are also now roughly 3,300 members of the National Guard and 1,500 full-time soldiers on the ground.

President Joe Biden on Friday wrote congressional leaders about disaster needs and recovery. The president raised concerns about funding for different programs, such as the Small Business Administration (SBA) disaster loan program. He urged Congress to quickly appropriate "comprehensive disaster relief" when lawmakers return to session. Biden stopped short of asking Congress to immediately return for a special session.

As Hurricane Milton was set for landfall, Biden on Monday approved another emergency declaration for Florida. The White House stated FEMA has sufficient funding to respond to both Helene and Milton. FEMA also has been connecting with officials in Georgia and South Carolina about Milton's trajectory, the White House stated.

For more, see "Category 5 Major Hurricane Milton Tracking Toward Florida" here: https://www.dtnpf.com/….

Also see "North Carolina Farmer, Teacher Talks About Staying Connected and Sharing in Wake of Devastating Floods" here:

https://www.dtnpf.com/….

DISASTER RESOURCES

USDA Farm Service Agency disaster programs. See https://www.fsa.usda.gov/….

The American Red Cross is mobilizing disaster aid for the region: https://www.redcross.org/…

North Carolina Farm Bureau links to resources: https://www.ncfb.org/…

University of Tennessee Extension Resources for Disaster Recovery: https://utianews.tennessee.edu/…

Chris Clayton can be reached at Chris.Clayton@dtn.com

Follow him on social platform X @ChrisClaytonDTN

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