Residents speak out about their hurricane experiences

Earlier this week, The Paper went to the Morganton Post Office to talk to residents about how Hurricane Helene impacted their lives. This is what they told us.

Donald Abee: “Some of us took some supplies up to Burnsville Monday. It took us an hour to get where we were going and another hour to get out. Words cannot tell how bad it really is. It is unbelievable. We took up gasoline and over $1,000 to one family up there. The only way they could get in and out was with a four-wheeler. I just can’t explain how it was. It’s bad.”

“Hugo was a little swath coming through, only about 10 to 20 miles wide. This here is just extensive all over the whole place... Way worse. Nothing like this has ever happened in my lifetime.”

Silvia Urjiles, cashier at Tractor Supply, said the store was completely underwater following Hurricane Helene. Urjile’s home suffered minor damage to shingles on her roof.

“For us, it was not only like a hurricane, it was like a tornado the way it was coming. Everything was in the road, the trees fell out, we had no power for almost a week. The shingles on our roof were wrapped up like carpet.”

“It’s a lot of damage. If you go to the back roads, you can still see the cables and the big trees cut up on the side of the roads. Everyone is thinking, if rain comes again, the whole thing is coming in the road. That’s the scary part for everyone.”

Mitchel Haycraft, resident of Johns River, had to kayak to leave his home. Haycraft was not affected by power, water, and internet loss.

“I live off grid so that didn’t affect me. I’ve got solar panels, water, and Starlink so everybody was coming to my house. The only thing that flooded was my driveway.”

Haycraft, whose house is on a hill, said he didn’t realize his driveway was flooded.

“The wind started blowing and I figured I’m gonna take me a nap because if I’m gonna die, I’ll die in my sleep. The trees were blowing so hard up that way. I didn’t realize I needed to be rescued until my cousin kayaked to my house. I was sleeping like a baby until she came knocking on the window.”

Rebecca Ervin, owner of R.K. Ervin Accountant, lost her business to Hurricane Helene.

“I had a pretty successful accounting and tax business across from Ingles. I lost everything. I’m having to start over. It’s pretty devastating. The flood waters put everything 6 to 7 feet underwater. Nothing was salvageable and insurance won’t cover it because it’s considered a flood, not a hurricane.”

Ervin has been at the Carbon City Road location for 10 years.

“I’ll have to go into about $80,000 worth of debt to replace business furniture, equipment, and supplies. My employees are out of work. I’ve got no income coming in right now. I’ve got to somehow get it all figured out before tax season starts back again.”

Michael Jenkins, retired minister, said at his property, trees fell and he lost power.

“We were stuck for three days and out of power for about six days. The biggest problem was losing everything in the freezer and refrigerator, but we survived. … We did ok.”

Jessica Peedin, employee at Options Domestic Violence Shelter, lives in the Glen Alpine area and remains without power or hot water.

“I had a big tree fall on my house and put a hole in the roof in my bedroom. It ruined all the stuff in there. We were in the bedroom that morning and the tree came through the roof in the attic area. The water poured all over us and all over everything, but we were safe. We’re sleeping in a spare bedroom right now until I can try and get everything replaced.

“I’m fortunate enough to work at a shelter so I’m able to take a shower and do some laundry there. I have wonderful friends and neighbors who have been helping us with supplies. My neighbor is letting me store a couple of items in his refrigerator and heat food.”

“We’re just kind of flying by the seat of our pants.”

Tim Bernard, owner of Bernard’s Vintage Autos on Carbon City Road, who lives downtown Morganton, helped residents by directing traffic during the aftermath of the storm.

“Friday morning I kept seeing cars turn around on the one-way street on the big curve by Little Guatemala… I thought ‘Somebody’s gonna have a head-on collision.’ Not knowing what devastation was going on, I got up and walked up the street and there was a telephone pole laying on Union Street. I went to try and direct traffic up a side road until the city got there to put cones up because I was scared somebody was gonna have a head-on collision.”

Bernard on having no power or water: “It was like camping out; we had our tank of propane so we were able to cook on the grill.”