News
There is now a Mobile Post Office at the Farm Bureau office (6070 US-25 #70, Marshall) for residents with PO boxes. Mail and packages will be delivered there. For residents with street addresses, you can check there for any undelivered packages that may not have been returned. Retail services are not yet open.
There is also a Mobile Post Office in Hot Springs near the Hot Springs post office building for residents with PO boxes and potentially any undelivered packages for street addresses. No retail services at this time.
ReClaim Madison thrift store will be closed until further notice. They are currently accepting financial support to focus on flood and storm-related repairs. To contribute, please visit https://chcmadisoncountync.org/donate.
Madison County Libraries announced that there will be no fees or replacement charges for lost or damaged items due to the hurricane. They do ask that you contact them to report any losses for insurance and FEMA support.
The entire length of the Blue Ridge Parkway remains closed as emergency stabilization efforts and damage assessments continue in the wake of significant, and in some areas catastrophic, damage from Hurricane Helene. The closure applies to all vehicles and uses – motor vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians. Hazards, both seen and unseen, endanger unauthorized users. Some threats may not be obvious, such as weakened road structures or hanging limbs.
Note from Deb Burns in Marshall:
Yesterday the cavalry arrived! We were standing inside the building in the morning trying to plot out the day’s attack when a commotion outside called our attention and we looked out to see troops marching down the street, shovels over shoulders. And I was never so happy to see anything!
Every bit of cleanup up to this day has been our little community coming together, joined by civilian volunteers drawn from across the country, and we’ve made incredible progress. But I had been dreading pulling up the last floor and stairs where a couple feet of mud was trapped and our basement.
These (gorgeous) young soldiers from Ft. Campbell, KY got busy with chainsaw and crowbars to rip out the stairs and began a bucket brigade to haul out the remaining muck. (And still they looked like this after their day?!) They’re coming back today to finish up.
By the end of yesterday I felt hope. I could see empty space that held promise of better things to come. And I thought, I can do this, we can do this.
Each long work day ends with our downtown neighborhoods, volunteer coordinators and town leaders gathering together to debrief, get and search for answers, share sweet moments and frustrations. At the meeting the day before, a new face appeared, a guy who had worked in many different disaster situations. He said he’d never seen a community come together at a grass root level in the way ours has.
You need a shovel? What kind? Extension cord? How many? Hot meal? Sit down, I’ll get them. Do you want some yummy brownies we just got delivered? Are you drinking enough water? H*ll, we even have a f***ing Wellness tent now — with massage therapists, counselors, and elixirs — which I plan to use soon. That’s Marshall. Magictown.
I know there will be many more discouraging days and moments ahead where I will again be cursing Helene, but as I looked around the sea of beautiful muddy faces last night, I thought, implausibly, for a moment, there is no place I’d rather be.
Josh Copus shares his thoughts and experiences in this story about love and caring in the face of a historic disaster.
Benefits
A benefit concert featuring music by Appalachian Heartstrings takes place this Friday & Saturday, October 11 & 12 beginning at 7:30 p.m. at the Owen Theater in Mars Hill. Appalachian Heartstrings are an old time string band from Madison County. They play classic old-time mountain music infused with contemporary folk and Americana. Get tickets ($5-$15) at www.sartplays.com/live-on-mars.
Cardinals at the Window: A Benefit for Flood Relief in Western North Carolina is a new collaborative album supporting our neighbors. The digital album features 136 tracks of unreleased music by Superchunk, Rosali, Eric Bachmann, Wye Oak, the Mountain Goats, Archers of Loaf, H.C. McEntire, Waxahatchee, Lambchop is a Band, and many others! 100% of proceeds will be donated to BeLoved Asheville, The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina, and Rural Organizing and Resilience. To learn more, please go to cardinalsatthewindow.bandcamp.com.
Donations & Volunteers Needed
Volunteers and cash donations are needed! If you can, consider donating at www.gofundme.com/f/help-downtown-marshall-rebuild. Funds will be equally distributed through The Downtown Marshall Association. Please give what you can.
Donate and connect with local businesses at Helpmarshall.org.
If you want to help Madison County, NC businesses get back on their feet, go to the donation hub at visitmadisoncounty.com/business-donation-page. All the known GoFundMe pages are listed there. If you’re a Madison County, NC business and have a GoFundMe page, reach out to madconcchamber@gmail.com to have your business listed.
Nanostead has been transformed into a volunteer hub for community action and clean up in Marshall. The biggest donation they need right now is time. Nanostead is located at 806 Walnut Creek Rd. in Marshall. They have an information booth to help coordinate times for volunteers to help. You can also sign up to volunteer at signup.com. Donate funds at gofund.me/fd7c1c6f.
Resources
Food, water, diapers, household goods, clothes, and much more. Please come and get what you need at the Walnut Community Center, 46 School Rd. in Marshall, Monday-Friday 2-6pm; Saturday 12-4pm; Sunday 12-2pm.
The Laurel Community Center just got a huge shipment of apples, grapes, tomatoes, and sweet potatoes. Come to 4100 NC 212 HWY in Marshall and get what you need!
The Mars Hill Library will have volunteers available on Thursday, October 10 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. to help with FEMA assistance, AirBNB credits for housing, etc. No appointment necessary.
Disaster Unemployment Assistance is available! If you are a resident of Madison County and are unemployed as a direct result of Hurricane Helene, you may be eligible for unemployment benefits under the DUA program. For more information, go to www.des.nc.gov/dua.
FEMA will be at A-B Tech Madison through Friday, October 11, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. to help with applying for assistance. Rumors about FEMA turning away donations, stopping trucks or vehicles with donations, confiscating and seizing supplies are all false.
RUMOR: FEMA will only provide $750 to disaster survivors to support their recovery. This is FALSE. Serious Needs Assistance is an initial payment you may receive while FEMA assesses your eligibility for additional funds. This means you will receive an upfront, flexible payment to help cover essential items like food, water, baby formula, breastfeeding supplies, medication, and other emergency supplies.
Other Facts
- FEMA provides assistance to survivors regardless of race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, English proficiency or economic status.
- FEMA cannot seize your property or land. Applying for disaster assistance does not grant FEMA or the federal government authority or ownership of your property or land.
- FEMA has enough money for immediate response and recovery needs.
- FEMA does not ask for or accept any cash donations or volunteers for disaster response. If you encounter someone claiming to represent FEMA and asking for donations, be careful as that is likely a scam. Government employees will never solicit money.
- FEMA’s disaster response efforts are funded through the Disaster Relief Fund. Funds have not been diverted to other, non-disaster related efforts.
- FEMA is continuing to work with state and local partners in the impacted areas to effectively bring in life-saving resources to the people and communities who need it most.
Help keep yourself, your family and your community safe by being aware of rumors and scams and sharing official information from trusted sources. Please visit www.fema.gov/disaster/current/hurricane-helene/rumor-response.
