High Country Hurricane Damage

[Mjohn1988]

It hurts to write this. I have a friend who manages crews for Dominion Energy. There is no easy or respectful way to say this so here goes. His guys are finding around 20 bodies per hour. This is going to be so much worse than we could ever have imagined. Pray for those who have lost loved ones. We can and will help our neighbors replace houses and belongings. We can and will help rebuild lives. But we can’t replace the people who are gone.

incredibly sad.

questions, for context, has this discovery rate been happening since early or middle of last week? Or just in the last day or so as they are able to get into areas previously inaccessible?

And if it just started at this rate yesterday for instance, does that mean in 10 hours of daylight/work they would have found 200 bodies yesterday? And the same rate today would be another 200 bodies for instance?. And 200 tomorrow ?

Also, what areas are his crews working in if you can share?

Sorry friend, I didn’t get a lot of details.

[ArmantiWaterSafety]

I've seen some talking about getting fuel for the helicopters and planes looking for donations. I'm sure we have some aviation people on here. What's a rough per hour cost to keep some of these smaller choppers and planes in the air?

I was watching a news story with a very small, 2 seater helicopter, and they were showing receipts of fuel. It looked like 100-200 every hour. Obviously extremely dependent on how much they're flying vs. how much they're sitting at a rescue drop/off site.

[Rick83]

We have a relative who's a nurse in the Piedmont area of NC and they have been asked to come up with 1,000 body bags quickly.

[BTK2000]

It hurts to write this. I have a friend who manages crews for Dominion Energy. There is no easy or respectful way to say this so here goes. His guys are finding around 20 bodies per hour. This is going to be so much worse than we could ever have imagined. Pray for those who have lost loved ones. We can and will help our neighbors replace houses and belongings. We can and will help rebuild lives. But we can’t replace the people who are gone.

So your friends crews have found hundreds of bodies of people that have been unreported as deceased or missing? I’m confused


This is a disaster porn post and is part of a huge problem during this event. People posting exaggerated things that cause the overall impact to become murky and hard to understand the scope of.

[BTK2000]

We have a relative who's a nurse in the Piedmont area of NC and they have been asked to come up with 1,000 body bags quickly.

And I have a friend of a cousin niece that said it was 20,000 s/

Why would a random nurse in the piedmont need to send body bags to the mountains of nc. Why would that “need” not come directly from county ems/ hospitals/ coroners to an associated state agency?

[Mjohn1988]

It hurts to write this. I have a friend who manages crews for Dominion Energy. There is no easy or respectful way to say this so here goes. His guys are finding around 20 bodies per hour. This is going to be so much worse than we could ever have imagined. Pray for those who have lost loved ones. We can and will help our neighbors replace houses and belongings. We can and will help rebuild lives. But we can’t replace the people who are gone.

So your friends crews have found hundreds of bodies of people that have been unreported as deceased or missing? I’m confused


This is a disaster porn post and is part of a huge problem during this event. People posting exaggerated things that cause the overall impact to become murky and hard to understand the scope of.

You’re welcome to say what you want but I got what I said from a very reliable person who had no reason to exaggerate anything. I didn’t get any details and this could have been the experience of one crew on one day.

[Rick83]

We have a relative who's a nurse in the Piedmont area of NC and they have been asked to come up with 1,000 body bags quickly.

And I have a friend of a cousin niece that said it was 20,000 s/

Why would a random nurse in the piedmont need to send body bags to the mountains of nc. Why would that “need” not come directly from county ems/ hospitals/ coroners to an associated state agency?

It was asked of her hospital group. The Piedmont is just a little over an hour away.

[BTK2000]

We have a relative who's a nurse in the Piedmont area of NC and they have been asked to come up with 1,000 body bags quickly.

And I have a friend of a cousin niece that said it was 20,000 s/

Why would a random nurse in the piedmont need to send body bags to the mountains of nc. Why would that “need” not come directly from county ems/ hospitals/ coroners to an associated state agency?

It was asked of her hospital group. The Piedmont is just a little over an hour away.

The supply of this would come directly from the state or federal gov so I’m still confused

[Rick83]

We have a relative who's a nurse in the Piedmont area of NC and they have been asked to come up with 1,000 body bags quickly.

And I have a friend of a cousin niece that said it was 20,000 s/

Why would a random nurse in the piedmont need to send body bags to the mountains of nc. Why would that “need” not come directly from county ems/ hospitals/ coroners to an associated state agency?

It was asked of her hospital group. The Piedmont is just a little over an hour away.

The supply of this would come directly from the state or federal gov so I’m still confused

We did not interrogate her, it's what was said. I don't have any knowledge of how medical supplies work in these situations, but I wouldn't be surprised if our state and federal governments were caught flat-footed by the scale of this catastrophe.

[Mjohn1988]

We have a relative who's a nurse in the Piedmont area of NC and they have been asked to come up with 1,000 body bags quickly.

And I have a friend of a cousin niece that said it was 20,000 s/

Why would a random nurse in the piedmont need to send body bags to the mountains of nc. Why would that “need” not come directly from county ems/ hospitals/ coroners to an associated state agency?

It was asked of her hospital group. The Piedmont is just a little over an hour away.

The supply of this would come directly from the state or federal gov so I’m still confused

And God knows the State and Federal governments have never needed any assistance getting anything done. My daughter is a nurse and she had to clean and reuse surgical mask throughout COVID. The government couldn’t source enough of them. I don’t want to argue with you but if you think government agencies have got this you will be proven wrong. It will take a combined effort from Government, the private sector and individuals working together to get this done.

[BTK2000]

We have a relative who's a nurse in the Piedmont area of NC and they have been asked to come up with 1,000 body bags quickly.

And I have a friend of a cousin niece that said it was 20,000 s/

Why would a random nurse in the piedmont need to send body bags to the mountains of nc. Why would that “need” not come directly from county ems/ hospitals/ coroners to an associated state agency?

It was asked of her hospital group. The Piedmont is just a little over an hour away.

The supply of this would come directly from the state or federal gov so I’m still confused

And God knows the State and Federal governments have never needed any assistance getting anything done. My daughter is a nurse and she had to clean and reuse surgical mask throughout COVID. The government couldn’t source enough of them. I don’t want to argue with you but if you think government agencies have got this you will be proven wrong. It will take a combined effort from Government, the private sector and individuals working together to get this done.

That’s apples and oranges due to a global supply shortage until manufacturing could catch up.

Where’s the reputable reporting on hundreds or “1000” missing people that are presumed casualties. These disaster porn posts have made the water so murky on social media that the actual damage and needs are hard to sift through.

[Bootsy]

Due to living in the HC and local contacts in fire/law enforcement, we know Helene-related fatalities are significantly higher than initially expected.

Re: the 20k fatalities number, here's some perspective: the combined population of Ashe, Watauga, Avery, Mitchell, and Yancey counties in North Carolina is ~131,000 persons (thanks ChatGPT).

So even if you throw Buncombe and Henderson...and even with fatalities being higher than initially expected, 20k does seem a bit farfetched. OTOH, 1,000 fatalities does not.

[Mjohn1988]

And I have a friend of a cousin niece that said it was 20,000 s/

Why would a random nurse in the piedmont need to send body bags to the mountains of nc. Why would that “need” not come directly from county ems/ hospitals/ coroners to an associated state agency?

It was asked of her hospital group. The Piedmont is just a little over an hour away.

The supply of this would come directly from the state or federal gov so I’m still confused

And God knows the State and Federal governments have never needed any assistance getting anything done. My daughter is a nurse and she had to clean and reuse surgical mask throughout COVID. The government couldn’t source enough of them. I don’t want to argue with you but if you think government agencies have got this you will be proven wrong. It will take a combined effort from Government, the private sector and individuals working together to get this done.

That’s apples and oranges due to a global supply shortage until manufacturing could catch up.

Where’s the reputable reporting on hundreds or “1000” missing people that are presumed casualties. These disaster porn posts have made the water so murky on social media that the actual damage and needs are hard to sift through.

It’s not apples and oranges, both are disastrous situations. I just listened to the official FEMA spokesperson on the radio. He confirmed that FEMA is pretty much an organization that has money to hand out. They are not on the ground participating in search and rescue or counting fatalities. They have delivered meals and food but all of that will be distributed by state and local agencies and volunteer groups. He said they had brought in some search and rescue teams but they are not FEMA employees. Point is, government can’t do it all and that’s ok. FEMA isn’t even remotely designed to do it all. He also said he has never seen anything like what he saw in Western NC. So your desire for hard facts from a single source just isn’t going to happen. Right now small groups of police, fire fighters, EMS and volunteers are working in remote chaotic areas to save lives. And well meaning folks are reporting what they have experienced. So yes, the information will be fluid and some will be wrong.

[hapapp]

FEMA is a coordinating agency that also provides funds for immediate needs and long term recovery, in addition to providing needed supplies like food, water, and in this case, generators. It is not in the business of search and rescue but rather coordinates those kind of efforts with other agencies and groups.

[Saint3333]

The lack of rapid and concise response of the short-term and long-term relief that will be provided by the government, followed by how it allocates funds to domestic vs. foreign and citizens vs. non-citizens is unfortunately creating this backlash.

If you read that as a political statement that says quite a bit about the current state.

[hapapp]

The lack of rapid and concise response of the short-term and long-term relief that will be provided by the government, followed by how it allocates funds to domestic vs. foreign and citizens vs. non-citizens is unfortunately creating this backlash.

If you read that as a political statement that says quite a bit about the current state.

One has nothing to do with the other.

[Saint3333]

The lack of rapid and concise response of the short-term and long-term relief that will be provided by the government, followed by how it allocates funds to domestic vs. foreign and citizens vs. non-citizens is unfortunately creating this backlash.

If you read that as a political statement that says quite a bit about the current state.

One has nothing to do with the other.

Of course it does. Get ahead of it and you control the narrative, then prioritizing your citizens shows we are doing what is necessary to provide for our own.

[Mjohn1988]

FEMA is a coordinating agency that also provides funds for immediate needs and long term recovery, in addition to providing needed supplies like food, water, and in this case, generators. It is not in the business of search and rescue but rather coordinates those kind of efforts with other agencies and groups.

Not sure if you’re talking to me but I understand and agree with your statement. I just think some folks think FEMA is going to come in and get everything fixed.

[Mjohn1988]

The lack of rapid and concise response of the short-term and long-term relief that will be provided by the government, followed by how it allocates funds to domestic vs. foreign and citizens vs. non-citizens is unfortunately creating this backlash.

If you read that as a political statement that says quite a bit about the current state.

One has nothing to do with the other.

Of course it does. Get ahead of it and you control the narrative, then prioritizing your citizens shows we are doing what is necessary to provide for our own.

Right on, earn our confidence.

[hapapp]

The lack of rapid and concise response of the short-term and long-term relief that will be provided by the government, followed by how it allocates funds to domestic vs. foreign and citizens vs. non-citizens is unfortunately creating this backlash.

If you read that as a political statement that says quite a bit about the current state.

One has nothing to do with the other.

Of course it does. Get ahead of it and you control the narrative, then prioritizing your citizens shows we are doing what is necessary to provide for our own.

I've seen no evidence to suggest otherwise.