David Marcus: Postboxes, used cars and other things make the life of hell in Asheville
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Asheville, nc – We have all experienced emergencies in which adrenaline takes over power; We spend credit cards up to maximum, we do what must be done at the moment and take care of the consequences later.
In western North Carolina, four months later horrible devastation of hurricane HelenaIt’s later now.
Sleeping in shadow appropriately named Smoky Mountains, this 95,000 city population is beautiful as from a postcard, but the physical scars and work crew are lurking around every corner of red bricks and comfortable cafes.
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The good news is that most of the places, at least in the city center, are open. A lot of which were out of town gathered at the Jack in the Woods Restaurant on Friday night to see the performance of the humorous performance of Kill Tony, which is another sign of returning to normal.
Asheville residents struggle to return to a normal life and help each other survive.
I was told that the restaurant was closed for two months, and then I managed to get a water pump and opened with a limited menu until the water was finally released again.
But when I asked the bartender, one classic guy who seems to know everything and everyone about the city, if things are normal, she looked at me almost shocked
“No, absolutely no,” she said.
I asked her and several other locals, including a man in her forties who works in a local school district, how much time they still spend every day doing something about a hurricane or thinking about a hurricane. Four months later, they both gave approximately the same answer: “Almost all day.”
Signs of re -construction are around every corner in Asheville.
In a stunning confession, the bartender told me that the day when she received electricity was bitter.
“Obviously it was better,” she said. “But we all gathered in this incredible way and when I could watch TV, I just wanted to stay home.”
As much as the damage is in Asheville, In the surrounding rural areas is much worsewhich is why Mark Luckinbill and several friends living in Raleigh have discovered a unique way to help: installing postal crates. Desperately wanting to help local communities in Avery district, Mark said the Pastor’s wife there that they really needed heavy equipment.
“I only had a friend, my hands and a few shovels,” Mark told me.
Then something happened. Pastor’s wife recalled an older woman without a cellphone, who was terrified because she disappeared her mailbox. It depended on the obtaining of checks and social security accounts.
This may not make sense of urban inhabitants, but in rural America your mailbox can be half a mile down a macadam road from home. Postmen can’t just leave packages along the road.
So they made a mailbox to the woman.
Mark and his friend were now in Avery district to install postage crates 10 times, because it was a thing they had to do, and they had power and ability. They even have website now.
Here is a clear selflessness of neighbors who help neighbors, as well as the spirit of putting others in the first place.
Many people lost their cars and used cars are few. Most cars parked on the streets of Asheville show treasure -like drafts from water.
One local musician I was talking to was typical. When I asked him if he was very hit, he said, “No, we were mostly well. I mean, we didn’t have electricity for two months, and my car and my girlfriend’s car were destroyed, but nothing drastic.”
In Ashville, this qualifies for “We were mostly well.” He considers himself happy.
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I asked if their insurance allowed them to replace cars. He said (again) they were happy to get one to share.
“The insurance is paid,” he said, “but there is simply no cars, I can’t find anything decent below $ 10,000.”
Shortly afterwards, his girlfriend arrived, they exchanged the keys, and he said that if the job was late, he would take Uber.
More than 138,000 vehicles destroyed Hurricane Helena, a good part of them in western North Carolina. Walking through the city, even cars that survived show damage to water on the lower half, and the State Attorney’s Office warned about fraud that includes sales of car badly damaged by water.
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Compared to the loss of life or destruction of a home, access to a car or mailbox may seem like tiny fries, but they add up quickly and are a low priority for the state and federal government still overwhelmed with destruction.
With the visit of President Trump on Friday and the promise of additional aid, there is room for more optimism in North Carolina. But the true strength here, what will ultimately help good people in and around Asheville through this, they are alone and how to care for each other.
There is little more beautiful than that, and maybe nothing is American.
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