Hurricane Helene

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It felt as if we had weeks to dread Hurricane Helene. The weather service tracked it from nothing, to strong winds, and then the named stages of a tropical storm to a massive hurricane that slammed Florida. It was almost a relief when the clouds rolled through and we could get started with the North Carolina version of the storm. I have no idea how much rain we were to get or how strong the winds would be, and the ending totals varied as it progressed. I can tell you there was a LOT of rain and winds that seemed weak much of the time.

Grandson David and Brit were concerned about a tree falling on their house, so they asked for asylum on our street. David stayed here with their dog, and Brit was officially with her parents across the street. Most of the time she was at the fire house as a volunteer, actively helping rescue people from rising waters of the creek. Jonathan Creek, my former destination for walking, dumped up to a foot of mud in the firehouse itself. I live on the lower slope of a mountain and would never be in danger from that creek. Before a drop of rain fell, our neighbors were in a texting group as we geared up for the storm. As it turned out, I was the only one who needed help.

David took Beatrix for a final walk before bedtime. He didn’t know why she pulled so hard to get to bushes bordering the pasture to the side of the house. He soon found out. Skunk!! The skunk sprayed, mostly hitting David’s jacket. He rinsed and sprayed his clothes and left them on the porch to be thoroughly blown by the wind.

The storm was in full force when David got up at 4:45 a.m. to go to work. I was thankful he thought to let me know he got to Lowe’s safely. That’s about the time the county said no one should be on the road to have everything clear for emergency vehicles. At a reasonable hour, neighbor Shawn texted to see how I was getting along.

I replied, “I’ve made coffee. Things should look better in a few minutes. I’m very unprepared for this with a spooked dog, no dog food, no treats, and a house that reeks of skunk!!”

I told her I didn’t think the dog had been sprayed by the skunk. I was dealing with everything and thought it would be amusing by afternoon. She replied that Bob would come over to fetch Beatrix after the wind died down, which he did. I had petted her the night before, but she never let me near her after David went to work.

Shawn wrote that the windows on the north side of her house were leaking. (Mine didn’t.) She added that maybe now my house would smell better. Hers smelled like skunk. I apologized, because I couldn’t smell it on the dog. She wrote, “I’ve mixed up a solution for Bea – baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, and Dawn.”

Below is a video taken on the north side of my house through the glass of the door.

When David picked up the dog after work, Shawn and later Bob came over to visit for a while. Everything smelled better on the windblown porch. Their dog and Beatrix kept each other busy playing and nipping at each other. It seemed a fitting end to the hurricane.

We were blessed to have no damage on the street. Winds and floodwaters wreaked havoc in towns and near all the streams in the area.

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Published by Anne Mehrling

I'm a retiree who loves to write about life in the mountains of North Carolina.

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54 thoughts on “Hurricane Helene”

  1. I’m so glad you didnt experience what my son Chris is dealing with in SC. Trees falling in the road as he tries to make it to his job site with no power, as if his bosses don’t realize he is doing the best he can in the aftermath of the storm.
    You are lucky to live on the mountain, but I was still worried about tree damage or windows breaking, etc. Seems the skunk was the worst of it, poor thing. He was probably freaking out about the storm then startled by the dog.

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    1. Hurricanes usually aren’t bad in the Carolina mountains, because we are so far from the original action. The rain was excessive. I read 20 inches somewhere, but I don’t know that it is accurate.

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  5. Wow, that is a lot of rain out your back door! It is fortunate the wind was not bad at least. So David is nearby? For some reason, I thought he moved somewhere further. It rained heavily here, but that is not unusual during hurricane season, even though it tracked east of us. Good to hear all is well with you.

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  6. After reading all of the reports fron NC. It is so good to read you are ok. I have been some what concerned even though I figured being on the up side would be on your favor..Thanks for the safe report.

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  8. Scary stuff, but I’m glad you are okay. Skunk smell is so unpleasant!! Takes forever to completely go away.

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  11. Glad you are safe. I’ve seen some horrible damage in Asheville, a before-and-after picture was especially devastating. You are lucky to be unscathed except for the skunk smell.

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            1. I think we have our own devastation in Waynesville. My son, from Washington, said I am cut off. The interstate to Tennessee will be out for weeks. We’ll need to get gas and food from the East. I’ll have to wait for them to bring it here. There is talk of air lifting food to Asheville.

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              1. Oh my – I am on Twitter/(X) and Asheville has been featured as a trending topic for three days now with videos and photos. I just saw more photos a few minutes ago. That’s just amazing airlifting food.

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      1. I can search google. It a cat-sized American mammal of the weasel family, with distinctive black-and-white striped fur. When threatened it squirts a fine spray of foul-smelling irritant liquid from its anal glands towards its attacker.

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        1. I just went to my Asheville church on line, and no one was there. Chatted with the tech person and another worshipper from Mississippi. They didn’t know if there was church in person today. The damage is much worse than I thought. I haven’t been away from home to see it and will stay out of everyone’s way.

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  19. I am relieved you made it safely through the hurricane. My cell service was terrible at the farm, so I wasn’t able to see if you had any damage.

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  20. I wondered how you were doing and am glad to see not too bad at all. Your videos look like they could have been taken here on Friday. We had about the same wind/rain with no real damage.

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