Disaster Date:09/27/2024
West Asheville, NC
Hurricanes
What Happened
Thursday September 26, 2024 Hurricane Helene made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane in the Big Bend area of Florida. The storm pushed inland into Georgia, South and North Carolina and southern Virginia. Western North Carolina appears to be especially hard hit. At least 200 people died. Rescue crews battled mudslides, flood waters, and washed out roadways. MDS is renovating a church for future volunteers and then in the fall of 2025 will begin repairing homes.
What MDS Is Doing
MDS Volunteers will work on repair and new builds.
Location
Asheville is a city in western North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains. It’s known for a vibrant arts scene and historic architecture, including the dome-topped Basilica of Saint Lawrence. The vast 19th-century Biltmore estate displays artwork by masters like Renoir. The Downtown Art District is filled with galleries and museums, and in the nearby River Arts District, former factory buildings house artists' studios.
Stories from the Field
Weekly Reports
This week will be the final week for MDS in West Asheville, so we have jobs to finish, job cards to be signed, and packing up to do! A busy week is ahead! We have two short term volunteers this week, one from VA and one from Canada. We are also...
It was a beautiful sunny Sunday and this evening we welcomed six men from Illinois and 8 men from PA. Two of the men from PA will be helping us out this week in various ways – Rob will be leading one of our crews as crew leader, and Ron will...
This week began with sunshine and beautiful warm weather, which we enjoyed! Our group of 15 volunteers arrived from PA on Sunday evening and we spent time with orientation and getting acquainted together. On Monday four crews went out to four jobs...
