VILAS, N.C. (AP) — In Vilas, a small rural town tucked into the Blue Ridge Mountains, Brad Farrington stopped his car and picked up a case of water bottles being distributed. He’s on his way to help a friend who lost much of her possessions when Hurricane Helen hit last weekend.
Mr. Farrington’s friend, like countless others in western North Carolina, is trying to start his life over. That explains why Farrington isn’t thinking much about politics or the race for the White House between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris right now.
“I don’t think the people have any hope for either of the elected officials,” he said.
Farrington paused and gestured toward more than a dozen volunteers who were loading water and other supplies into cars and trucks.
“I believe we are finding more hope in these people,” he said.
In the final weeks of the campaign, people in the influential battleground states of North Carolina and Georgia are grappling with pressing concerns about widespread storm damage. If that’s not enough, Watauga County, a battleground district in the Appalachian Mountains that has become heavily Democratic in recent years, is a place where politicians are held accountable when campaigning in races that could be decided by the slightest change. We must struggle to express our support while bearing the brunt of the burden. .
Large uprooted trees litter the sides of roads and sometimes block driveways. Some homes in Vilas are no longer accessible due to collapsed bridges and collapsed roads. Massive flooding occurred in densely populated areas such as Boone, where Appalachian State University is located.
Residents are wondering where their missing friends and relatives are, whether they will have enough food and water until new supplies arrive, and how they will rebuild.
The focus is on survival, not politics, and the situation could last for weeks.
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Mr. Trump and Mr. Harris have visited North Carolina and Georgia five times since the storm struck. Trump visited North Carolina on Friday, and Harris was there the next day.
After President Trump’s visit to Valdosta, Georgia, on Monday, 20-year-old Fermin Herrera said former President Trump’s show of compassion earned him votes over President Joe Biden and Vice President Harris. He said it was not because he was dissatisfied with the response. Federal disaster response. Herrera was already leaning toward voting for Trump.
“I think they’re all kind people doing what they can,” he said. “All local residents are grateful for the ongoing assistance.”
Trump, who has a mixed record on responding to natural disasters, attacked Biden and Harris for their slow response to Helen’s destruction. President Trump accused Democrats of “not going out of their way to help people in Republican areas” and said the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s budget is not enough because it is spent on illegal immigration. There is no evidence to support either claim.
“I’m not thinking about my voters right now,” President Trump insisted Friday after a meeting with Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp. “I’m thinking about life.”
Biden strongly objected, saying he was “committed to being president for all Americans” and did not order that aid be distributed based on partisanship. The White House cited statements from Republican governors in Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee who expressed satisfaction with the federal government’s response.
Gavin Smith, a professor at North Carolina State University who specializes in disaster recovery, said criticism in the immediate aftermath of a natural disaster is “inappropriate,” especially when considering Western North Carolina’s difficult logistical challenges. He said dangerous terrain with damaged roads and bridges, as well as widespread lack of electricity and mobile phone service, made disaster response particularly difficult in the region.
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Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper has made several stops in western North Carolina, including Watauga County and surrounding areas, and Biden inspected the extensive damage on an aerial tour.
Focus on recovery and rebuilding
In Watauga County, Jessica Dixon shoveled dirt and broken furniture from the ground and dumped it into the bucket of a noisy excavator. The 29-year-old was standing in the house she bought two years ago. It is now completely destroyed, after Dixon, her boyfriend and their two dogs were evacuated to safety due to rising waters.
Without flood insurance, Dixon doesn’t know what will happen next month. She said she filled out the FEMA application but hasn’t checked her email since. She had been thinking a bit about the presidential election before Helen, but now she’s preoccupied with cleaning the house.
“It doesn’t change my opinion in any way,” said Dixon, who had planned to vote for Harris.
For 47-year-old Bobby Cordell, the presidential election isn’t a top priority either. He’s trying to reach out to his neighbors in western Watauga County for help, where access is difficult in some areas.
He said his home near Beech Mountain was one of those places after the bridge was washed away. Cordell rescued his aunt from the mudslide and then traveled to Boone, where she is staying at the Appalachian Holmes Muster Center, now a Red Cross emergency shelter.
He is in contact with officials such as FEMA to send disaster relief supplies to where he lives. The conversation “went very well,” he said.
It is not easy for mountain people to accept help, he says, because they are used to taking care of themselves.
But now those trapped “need everything they can get.”
Helping neighbors becomes more important in Helen’s aftermath
Over the past week while volunteering at Skate World, where Farrington stopped for water, Nancy Crawford found it hard to laugh. Although she has helped serve more than 1,000 people, she said the mental strain is starting to take hold on “many of us who are usually tough.”
That burden added to the weight she already felt about the election, which she said was “inherently scary.” Crawford, who is a registered Republican, said she plans to vote for Harris. As a Latina of Mexican descent, she believes President Trump’s immigration policies will negatively impact her community.
She said the storm won’t change her vote, but one thing has become clear.
“It doesn’t matter what political party you are, we all need help,” she said.
Jan Welborn had similar thoughts as she walked around the Watauga High School gym gathering supplies to give to colleagues in need. The 69-year-old bus driver for the school district said the outpouring of support from the community has been a “godsend.”
She finds solace in the county’s ability to come together. Elections are important, she said, but helping people get through tough times is even more important.
“Elections should matter,” Welborn said. “But right now we need to focus on taking care of everyone in our county.”
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Associated Press writer Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed to this report.
