The past two weeks have been very tough for North Carolina. Since Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc and destruction across our state, our hearts and minds have been with those most impacted.
We are grateful that our entire ACLU-NC team are safe, but our hearts remain heavy for our friends and families in the Western part of our state, including Asheville and the surrounding towns, who have lost much and are without power and water.
Having grown up in the Caribbean I am intimately familiar with the power of hurricanes, but seeing the destruction wrought by a hurricane in places so far from the coastline is truly shocking. Homes have been washed away. Roads are impassable, bridges gone. Businesses and institutions of learning are closed. And, most importantly and devastatingly, lives have been lost and there are still many people unaccounted for. It will take a long time to get things back to some sense of normalcy and we know, for many, that may never come.
Here’s how our affiliate has been doing what we can, in coalition with partners across the state and in Western North Carolina, without getting in the way:
Our Director of Organizing, Artie Hartsell, who has life-long connections across Western North Carolina, spearheaded the crafting of a resource guide that has been made publicly accessible and has information on both giving and receiving aid, because we know it is often the people receiving aid who are also sharing the resources they have with their neighbors. The guide is updated throughout each day, with posts made on social media twice daily. The guide and daily posts can be found on Facebook and Instagram. Please share the guide and look through it for ways you can contribute from where you are!
- WNC Helene Guide (shortlink to share: bit.ly/wncheleneguide)
Our organization has also rapidly deployed unrestricted funds to a community organization to use on the ground as needed.
We are also monitoring what our state board of election will do to ensure that the millions of voters in western North Carolina still get to participate in our most honored democratic tradition. The North Carolina State Board of Elections adopted an emergency resolution on Monday, October 7, with changes intended to facilitate access to the ballot box for those impacted. For the most updated information and resources for voters affected by the hurricane, visit their webpage here.
Lastly, over the past week amid all this devastation, harmful misinformation and disinformation have circulated online regarding the hurricane and its aftermath. Sharing unverified images and information erodes public trust in media and distracts from legitimate efforts to support hurricane survivors. Our team encourages you to pay careful attention to what you read and share with others and just as importantly, to point out false information to friends and family when in a position to do so. FEMA, the RED Cross, and NC Department of Public Safety (responsible for state emergency management), have put out resources to navigate facts versus misinformation.
The road ahead is going to be long and impacted communities will need assistance and support long after. In the words of Mahatma Gandhi, “Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from indomitable will.” The ACLU-NC is committed to being here for the long-haul, to support the indomitable will of the people who call western North Carolina and beyond home. We hope you will join us in lending support to those who have been impacted.
In solidarity,