The Swiss and Canadians boast some of the most beautiful mountains in the world. But North Carolinians have no inferiority complex. The Blue Ridge is uniquely beautiful. Covered in mountain laurel, rhododendron, mossy boulders, and trickling streams, this ancient range lives up to its name through a series of vistas in which green turns blue as they recede in rolling waves to the distance.
If we compressed the age of the Blue Ridge Mountains into a 24-hour day, human civilization—roughly 6,000 years old—would only appear in the last 0.5 seconds before midnight. The Blue Ridge Mountains are about five times older than the Rockies, which only formed around 80-55 million years ago. They’re even older than the supercontinent Pangaea, which existed about 335-175 million years ago. Their formation predates most life on Earth as we know it, including the dinosaurs. Eat your heart out Peter Jackson: These are my Misty Mountains.
In May, my then-fiancee and I drove up from Greenville, SC, to the mountains of North Carolina to get married. My family had worked mightily to make my mom’s and her wife’s farm perfect for the ceremony and reception. And it was perfect. We had people fly in from as far away as—yes—Switzerland and Canada to celebrate with us. While I have many memories of those mountains, none stands out as special as that occasion when this old goy threw a Jewish wedding surrounded by loving souls from all walks of life in a secret slice of hillbilly heaven.
But that was before the storm.
After The Storm
Today, I have to keep it together as I write.
The pictures of devastation flooding in are almost too much to bear. Areas like Lake Lure, with its hairpin turns and stunning views of the water, and Chimney Rock, with its small-town country charm, are unrecognizable. East of Asheville, the Swannanoa River claimed hundreds of lives, and idyllic towns like Black Mountain are struggling to recover amid receding waters and wreckage. Their morgues overflow, and their shop sandwich boards are chalked with plaintive cries for cooking gas and clean water.
Nature charms and lures us. The NC mountains have drawn people from all over to settle, and area real estate is the most expensive in the state. Californians discover in NC mountain life something their wayward state had sacrificed to some false god or other long ago.
Nature is red in tooth and claw. It turns the skies into a biblical deluge, the streams into rivers of blood, and the valleys into lakes haunted by souls with unfinished business and grandchildren to visit. The detritus is godforsaken.
It turns out my family is okay.
Because my mother was cut off from cell towers and roadways from the rest of the world, my family could not at first have processed the extent of the destruction afforded one with a digital bird’s eye view. I haven’t been able to reach her except by SMS, but here is her social media account from yesterday:
My first post in days: We have no power or water, and very limited cell service. The devastation around us is hard to take in. We have friends who have lost their homes, farms, and animals. I’ve gone to places where houses stood, but no trace is left. Yesterday I encountered a woman whose home had flooded (total loss), but she had returned with cat food in hopes that she might find her kitty alive. She was overjoyed when a little tuxedo wandered out of the woods. I shed tears of joy with her. In all this devastation I have found a beautiful human spirit. David S. helped me tarp my barn roof yesterday. Jean R., Debbra D., and I have hosted a community dinner every evening, bringing together a lively group. Trish H.-H. is providing her skills and energies to help at Mission Hospital in whatever capacity is needed. More than ever, I am so proud to be part of this community. I have no doubt that we will survive this. Thank you all for reaching out with your love and prayers. It fuels our resolve to rebuild this beautiful place.
The community spirit of mountain folk is strong. Their resolve is steeled, and surrounding regions like mine will leap to help their neighbors as we are recovering much faster here down the mountain. People in faraway places are already helping, too. And the good people on the ground will be stronger with the right resources.
If you would like to help East Tennessee and Western North Carolina recover, here are some resources:
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A rescue team paddles down the Swannanoa River on Sunday. The remnants of Hurricane Helene downed trees and caused widespread flooding and power outages in western North Carolina. (Travis Long/The News & Observer)
Max Borders is a senior advisor to The Advocates. See more of his work at Underthrow.
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