East Carolina University
10/10/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 10/10/2024 12:42
Pirates come together for Hurricane Helene relief
Pirates come together for Hurricane Helene relief
Published Oct 10, 2024 by
The remnants of Hurricane Helene combined with heavy rainfall in the days prior to the storm caused historic flooding and devastation in the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee after making landfall in Florida and barreling through Georgia. As the waters began to recede, East Carolina University alumni, faculty, staff and students made their way west to help their neighbors in need.
Greenville gives back
In the days and weeks following Hurricane Floyd 25 years ago, the University of North Carolina System campuses came together to help ECU get back on its feet. In 2024, it is ECU's turn to help.
ECU Dining was one of the first campus groups to send assistance as two of its food trucks helped feed residential students at UNC Asheville just days after Hurricane Helene ravaged the campus. One of the UNC Asheville students that ECU's team fed was 19-year-old sophomore Will Fairley. His mom, Candice Matelski-Brady '02, was also 19 and a sophomore at ECU during Hurricane Floyd.
"The day before Helene struck, I told my sister the amount of pre-rainfall reminded me of the days before Floyd," said Matelski-Brady. "Will told me that ECU Dining came to Asheville to help feed students. I smiled and said, 'ECU remembers. Now they are paying it forward 25 years later."
The Center for Leadership & Civic Engagement offered multiple ways for the ECU community to help storm victims. Several donation drives continue, including one through Friday on both Main Campus and the Health Sciences Campus. Volunteers at those drives helped load athletic equipment trucks full of supplies. Additional donation drives are scheduled during Homecoming week, Oct. 19-26, including at the football game, with details provided on ECU's GivePulse when available.
UNC Asheville students in need of mental health support may have spoken with a team of counselors from the ECU Center for Counseling and Student Development (CCSD) as well as counselors from UNC Greensboro and UNC Pembroke. Beginning Sept. 30, UNC Asheville students were able to access one of the CCSD urgent support counselors by calling a number shared by UNC Asheville Emergency Management. Counselors provided mental health support and referred students to appropriate care.
Earlier this week, ECUPD sent four officers to UNC Asheville as part of a mutual aid agreement among UNC System institutions. ECU Police Chief Jason Sugg said his officers' main role will be to provide relief for the local officers so they can have a break. Sugg added that ECU has previously sent officers to UNC Pembroke and UNC Wilmington.
Delivering a smile
While many East Carolina University alumni are volunteering for disaster relief in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, one alumnus of the ECU School of Dental Medicine is going above and beyond. Dr. Jonathan Austin '16 used his Piper Arrow plane to deliver much-needed supplies to stricken communities in western North Carolina.
"During challenging times, it is common for the UNC System's various institutions to lean on one another, sharing resources and expertise to help alleviate whatever challenge has presented itself," Sugg said. "ECU knows only too well that supporting and serving our communities, especially during times of need and recovery, is simply the right thing to do."
View from Above
Flying in a Chinook helicopter over the mountains of North Carolina, ECU industrial technology student Cameron Smitherman saw the full scope of Helene's devastation.
Cameron Smitherman, an ECU student on National Guard deployment to western North Carolina to help with storm recovery, stands near a helicopter loaded with relief supplies. (Contributed photo)
"It's very evident that the storm was here," said Smitherman, a sergeant with the National Guard's 13B field artillery unit. "The east side of some of the mountains are almost leafless because the storm ripped them all off. Evidence of mudslides is also common, with some exposing the bedrock of the mountain underneath. We flew over Lake Lure, which was full of floating debris washed down from Chimney Rock, a town in which most standing structures are now either gone or unlivable. Several small towns are covered in a foot of mud left behind by the flash floods, and stagnant water is still evident in some places."
Smitherman is one of about 40 ECU students helping with storm recovery through the National Guard or ROTC programs. His unit arrived in Salisbury to assist FEMA before moving Oct. 4 to the Asheville area, one of the hardest hit regions.
He was aboard helicopters that delivered food, water, Starlink satellites, generators and miscellaneous hygiene items to areas without power, water or road access.
"Often, we were the first contact these people have had since the storm," he said.
However, Smitherman noted one thing about the people receiving assistance.
"They often said they didn't need it all and directed us to nearby communities who did," he said.
Smitherman joined the National Guard at age 17, with a 2019 deployment delaying his college plans. He said his professors and ECU have been supportive and are working with him to complete class assignments while he helps with recovery efforts.
The ECU senior grew up in Boonville, a foothills town in Yadkin County where the mountains can be seen in the western sky.
"Many of these soldiers, including myself, only served missions outside of the U.S. To serve the people of North Carolina, some of whom are even our neighbors, gives a real sense of purpose to our mission," Smitherman said. "No one complains about the work we are doing here. We work from sunup to sundown, sometimes even later every day, and nobody says anything about the hours. We understand the importance of our mission out here, and I am proud of the work we have accomplished so far."
Teaming up to serve
Ignite Church has served as a main hub in Greenville to donate items. Droves of support have come from various churches, businesses, ECU and community organizations.
Former Greenville Police Lt. Richard Allsbrook, a teaching instructor in the ECU Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, is one of the leaders who assisted at Ignite and delivered items to the western part of the state. He drove to Boone and to Black Mountain, saying there is a balance between the emotions of seeing the aftermath firsthand and trying to uplift and help people in need of support.
"The emotion, for me, has mainly been mission-driven," Allsbrook said. "When you get to the sites, it's apparent the severe damage that was done and there is a business mindset of taking care of people first. The process of really comprehending the heartbreak might come after we get basic needs out to people. You can clearly see the need is there. It's anything but normal in the mountains. Sometimes it's hard to measure help, but any way that anyone can help is help, because I am 100% certain it is needed."
Student-athletes from ECU volunteered their time at the Ignite drop-off location. Allsbrook described an emotional moment when Pirate baseball players helped to load trucks and then prayed over his delivery team before it left for Black Mountain.
ECU football student-athletes unload supplies from a donation drive hosted by Ignite Church in Greenville. (ECU photo by Steven Mantilla)
Allsbrook is a passionate Pirate sports fan who was greeted in Boone by Appalachian State University basketball players and track and field athletes. Those interactions had an impact on Allsbrook, and he said he would continue to follow the students he talked to and root for the Mountaineers to recover and succeed in addition to his usual support of the Pirates.
ECU instructor Richard Allsbrook stands with Appalachian State basketball players at a Hurricane Helene recovery drop-off site in Boone.
(Contributed photo)
"Everyone has arms open and a heart of gratitude," Allsbrook said. "Their spirits are lifted, and those donations and people helping them out is definitely lifting their spirits, in spite of all the tragedy. It's something to behold when you see their faces at a drop-off point. The generosity of our community goes beyond measure. People are coming out and they are providing. It's amazing to see that response and certainly it's needed. I'm a Pirate, but now an App State basketball fan, too."
Allsbrook worked for the Greenville Police Department when catastrophic flooding accompanied Hurricane Floyd in eastern North Carolina in the fall of 1999. Twenty-five years later, he and others have stepped up again to help fellow North Carolinians.
"When you're on the ground there, you see despair," he said. "Ignite has been a central collection spot and a partnership and collective effort by a lot of faith-based people. This is not a Richard story. I'm just here to share information and if I have a way to get the word out, I'm going to get it out."
Rooted in the mountains
The School of Dental Medicine'scommunity service learning center communities of Spruce Pine and Sylva were impacted as well, but all of the school's students, residents, faculty and staff are accounted for now. CSLC-Sylva has returned to normal operations and is seeing patients, while CSLC-Spruce Pine remains on suspended operations as there are no utilities and many of the roads are still impassable. School leadership will continue assessing the situation in Spruce Pine and determine next steps.
Many ECU alumni and members of the dental school community across the state have worked alongside school leaders to get supplies to the affected areas through donation drives - for water and other basic needs - and creative resource-blending. Dr. Jonathan Austin, DMD'16, used his own plane to fly supplies over several days to impacted areas. For more on Austin, see the sidebar story.
"This school and its students, residents, faculty, staff and community are best known for their spirit of service, their resilience and their abilities to create solutions," said School of Dental Medicine Dean Dr. Greg Chadwick and Vice Dean Dr. Margaret Wilson. "We serve a state that has seen its share of natural disasters over the years - and North Carolinians know how to step in and care for their neighbors in need. We are confident the SoDM will be part of a response and support system that sees the very best of each of us shine through."
The view from Dr. Jonathan Austin's plane as he flies over western North Carolina
Active alumna
Ivy Bagley, a four-time ECU graduate, is a Doctor of Nursing Practice and family nurse practitioner who spent four days assisting displaced western North Carolina residents with their medical needs by working with the North Carolina Healthcare Preparedness Program. Bagley worked in two locations caring for patients.
ECU College of Nursing alumna Dr. Ivy Bagley assisted the North Carolina Healthcare Preparedness Program with Hurricane Helene medical relief efforts. (Contributed photo)
"Some patients were from nursing homes, and others were there due to needing electricity for home medical equipment," she said. "I performed basic nursing care including medication administration, assistance with activities of daily living, wound care, and monitoring of the patients. On Saturday as the APRN (Advanced Practice Registered Nurse), I assessed the patients, wrote their orders, obtained medications we needed from other sources, and helped make decisions regarding patient placement, medication changes due to supply, and truly took time to listen to the patients. Many need us to listen and be supportive."
She believes her ECU education along with her nursing skills proved to be beneficial on the trip. After first graduating from the College of Nursing in 2001, Bagley earned her Healthcare Emergency and Disaster Management certificate from the CON in 2022. In 2023, she obtained her National Healthcare Disaster Certification (NHDP-BC). Currently, Bagley is pursuing her psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner (PMHNP) certificate from the CON and expects to graduate in December.
"My nursing skills along with the CON certification in healthcare emergency and disaster management proved most beneficial on this trip," she said. "The knowledge learned during that process enhanced my ability to serve in western North Carolina."
Bagley plans on helping as much as her schedule allows. She is working with a church in Hickory to collect needed items and feels that her faith called her to help others.
"As a Christian, I believe we are called to respond. The response may be different for everyone. The person loading pallets of goods or the woman sorting canned items are just as important as the person who goes to the area," she said.
Although there is currently a strong focus on helping Helene victims, Bagley believes that focus needs to continue in the coming weeks and months.
"Please take the time to remember western North Carolina a few months from now versus only focusing on the immediate needs," she said. "In a few months, still remember those who lost all and as towns rebuild or artisans begin to work again, support their local businesses."
Supportive staff
Bryan Edge, video content producer in University Communications, spent Oct. 5 in Linville as a volunteer with Samaritan's Purse.
"My sister, Stacy Edge Fogleman, went to college at Appalachian State and heard that Samaritan's Purse was looking for volunteers to help with hurricane relief efforts," said Edge, who is an ECU graduate. "She signed up my brother-in-law Mike, her and myself to help."
The trio journeyed to a church in Boone, where they viewed a video and received instructions on what to do once their arrived at their assigned location. The group was given the address of a house in Newland.
"We were assigned to help a woman named Sue in her late 70's who lived in a small neighborhood," said Edge. "Her husband died of natural causes on the same day the storm hit and she lost her mother and dog earlier this year. The entire first floor of her house was submerged by floodwater and while the water had receded by the time we arrived, substantial damage was already done. Our team leader asked me to clean out insulation around an air duct."
ECU video producer Bryan Edge surveys Hurricane Helene damage while helping with recovery efforts through Samaritan's Purse. (Contributed photo)
Edge went to work removing the insulation while wearing necessary protective equipment due to mold. After completing that task, a second job revealed a bit of light in the midst of the grim aftermath of the storm.
"We were also assigned to move everything out of a shed next to her house. She used this shed as her studio where she designed stained glass windows," said Edge. "Sue was concerned that her works were damaged, but miraculously her work was only covered in mud and could easily be rinsed off."
Edge was touched by those who lent a helping hand.
"One family we met was from Raleigh and another came from Missouri," he said. "It was also nice to see so many of Sue's neighbors willing to help her even though their own homes were destroyed. I told my brother-in-law I wish we could've done more, he agreed but told me it was important that these families see people helping and volunteering. I would like to go back."