Day 15 of the Apocalypse, Ground Zero, Gerton, NC pop. 231

This is not an angry post. This is a clarification of facts.

Over the past 2 weeks, no one from the Red Cross has shown up in Gerton to offer support.

No one employed by FEMA or any other government entity has shown up.

FEMA has sent some contractors to assist with road reconstruction, thanks to intervention by Senator Tim Moffitt (R-NC), who lives on top of our mountain.

No one from FEMA has come to Gerton to assist people in applying for disaster relief.

Because - just to review - we still have no power/internet/cell phone service in almost all areas of our fire district.

Most people have no way to apply for assistance.

Outside of myself and three other Gerton community members (including the pastor of our Baptist church), there are no professionals assisting us with mental, emotional, or spiritual care.

All of these big disaster organizations, who are supposed to be leading the efforts of our recovery, are nowhere to be found.

It took 4 days for anyone from the outside world to even get to us.

The military has shown up for us, over and over again, landing Chinooks (helicopters with 2 propellers) filled with supplies. Blackhawk helicopters were the first on the scene, assessing damage to our Gorge from above. The National Guard was the one evacuating people from our mountain by helicopter. The 101st Airborne also showed up a few days ago to help clear roads.

NCDOT and Kentucky DOT have worked diligently on our roads. Duke Energy line workers are here every day now working on our power.

Charleston PD, NC State Patrol, and others have been manning our checkpoint occasionally since last week, freeing community members and our firefighters to attend to other pressing needs.

Mennonite Disaster Relief showed up last week, and has been helping with clearing trees off of houses - very technical work that they are doing without the use of cranes.

Hundreds of volunteers, either related to/connected to the Gerton community or simply showing up on their own, have brought in supplies and willing hands.

Many church groups have volunteered, especially Grace Baptist Church, out of Gastonia, NC. They parked a food truck at our fire station, and are delivering 400 hot meals a day to community members and first responders.

Our Volunteer Fire Department has been working non-stop since day one to ensure that every community member is accounted for, cared for, and able to get the support they need.

We are Gerton strong. We are each doing our part to help our community recover and will continue to do so when outside support dries up.

This is how we handle things in a small community in Appalachia. We show up and help one another. We don’t expect anyone else to help us.
It’s discouraging when that lack of support from disaster relief organizations is confirmed.

Everything that has happened in our community over the past two weeks has happened because of people choosing to come together.