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Elizabethton is Going to be OK
My adopted hometown of Elizabethton, TN was hit hard by the recent hurricane. Flooding, bridges out, no electricity or communications, well over 100 people still missing, rescue efforts are still underway. Here are some pictures that my friends have taken in the past day or two:
The electricity went out early in the storm. The heavy rains hit the nearby mountains before they hit the town, so the floodwaters rose suddenly in the dark. By the time they realized they had a problem, they couldn’t get out. And so they were stuck. Everything was windy, wet, cold, and dark. Absolutely terrifying.
On the mountainside above Elizabethton are three crosses which have been there for over 100 years. They’re way up high above the town, so you can see them from everywhere. When the electricity went out, the crosses were no longer illuminated, which my friends said was extremely disconcerting. They’ve always been there. To have them no longer visible in such a terrifying time was, well, extremely disconcerting. Perhaps even terrifying.
Some men climbed up there in the storm, with a generator and some wiring tools. It’s a sheer cliff – they had to pull the generator up with a rope. They worked in the rain and dark, and got the illuminating lights back on in the wee hours of the morning. A friend of mine took this picture soon after the crosses were re-illuminated.
He thought it was a miracle, because nothing else in the region had electricity. He found out later about the men with the generator. Although if you saw the size of this cliff, you’d think it was a miracle that those lunatics managed to get a freakin’ generator up there in the rain and the wind and the dark. I wouldn’t try that on a sunny day.
So, come to think of it, maybe it was a miracle. Who’s to say?
Now, I know what you’re thinking. With no electricity in the region, surely there are better uses for a generator than lighting up some crosses on top of a mountain. Surely somebody needs that generator and that fuel.
And you have a point.
But I don’t know. I think those men may have done more for the people of Elizabethton than anyone else. Perhaps.
Those people were still sitting in the dark, in their flooded homes, praying for rescue.
But now they could see their beacon. An old friend, that has always been there. Reminding them of what they already knew: That they may feel alone. But they are not alone. They are never, ever, EVER alone.
Gasoline is in very short supply right now. But there is a signup sheet on one of the town’s church’s Facebook page, for boys to take turns carrying fuel up there, to make sure the light doesn’t go out. And I suspect it won’t.
Again, that may not be the best use of resources, under the circumstances. Or perhaps it is.
Who’s to say?
In the wee hours of the morning of that terrifying night, my friend was soaked to the bone, sitting on top of a neighbor’s barn, watching her house get pushed off its foundation by the floodwaters. When I talked to her this morning, she said that even though she was losing absolutely everything, when she saw the crosses light back up that night, she knew that everything was going to be OK.
What an incredible thought, under the circumstances. Absolutely incredible.
So I think that was a good use of resources. After all, who’s to say?
I take the same view as my friend: Any town with men in it who would do something like that, under conditions like that – that town is going to be OK.
The people of Elizabethton have a lot of work to do. But they’re not doing it alone, and they know it.
Elizabethton is going to be OK.
Published in General
Glad you are safe
I’m in Hilton Head now. We just got some wind. Not bad, thanks.
Symbols matter. Symbols matter so much they are worth getting shot for.
Charge on Fort Wagner
On July 18, 1863, the soldiers of Carney’s regiment led the charge on Fort Wagner. During the battle, the unit’s color guard was shot. Carney, who was just a few feet away, saw the dying man stumble, and he scrambled to catch the falling flag.
Despite suffering several serious gunshot wounds himself, Carney kept the symbol of the Union held high as he crawled up the hill to the walls of Fort Wagner, urging his fellow troops to follow him. He planted the flag in the sand at the base of the fort and held it upright until his near-lifeless body was rescued.
Even then, though, he didn’t give it up. Many witnesses said Carney refused to give the flag to his rescuers, holding onto it tighter until, with assistance, he made it to the Union’s temporary barracks.
Carney lost a lot of blood and nearly lost his life, but not once did he allow the flag to touch the ground. His heroics inspired other soldiers that day and were crucial to the North securing victory at Fort Wagner. Carney was promoted to the rank of sergeant for his actions.
For his bravery, Carney was awarded the Medal of Honor on May 23, 1900.
Drizzling here, in SWPA. Not in such a way that we should worry about it. Just in such a way that–after the awful dryness of Summer 2024–we are grateful for the damp. Prayers and thoughts for all those who are suffering as a result of what brought the awfulness, in a form of grace, my way.
A story for the ages.
The light that spread around the world.
God bless those guys.
It’s a true disaster area in western NC and eastern Tennessee. Seriously grim. I’m in Charlotte, NC, and you’d never know there’s an ongoing disaster just 2 hours west of me.
Without feds and pharma and Karen straightening out all the little people’s problems for them? Be serious.
Do you know of a good local charity that accepts donations that is not the Red Cross?
This is just terrible for so many people. Why was this CAT4 so much worse than others? It caught me by surprise. I was never in the line of fire but I normally would have followed it closer. I think part of the issue is that I tend to ignore the weather channel. They over dramatize everything all the time. I’ve become numb to it.
Dang, your gas is cheap!
Providing hope for people who see hopelessness all around them can be very important.
Lots of other valuable work can be accomplished when people see even a glimmer of hope.
Those interior mountain areas had received a lot of heavy rain in the week before the remnants of the hurricane came through. I heard 20-30 total inches in some places.
It’s just hard to imagine that much rain. Lordy.
Just for comparison, Colorado Springs gets ~15 inches of precipitation — in a year!
So sorry for all those suffering this devastation. And now there’s a chemical plant fire in Conyers, Georgia, that the EPA assures us people nearby are safe. Reminiscent of East Palestine, Ohio.
Lord have mercy.
I donated to Operation BBQ Relief. They have a network of food trucks and volunteers that go into disaster areas to feed people whose homes have been ruined, as well as first responders.
Samaritan’s Purse is a very effective and efficient charity
Reading this early Monday morning. We’ve been 72 hours without power now. I’ve been following our electric co-op’s outage map, and it looks like our part of Aiken was hardest hit, so we may be the last to get relief. Middle daughter lives about 40 minutes away, and she got her power back yesterday. We are keeping our fingers crossed that we get it back today …
Sorry to hear. North Carolina side got hit bad too. Absolutely devastated areas. I like that whole general region and have spent time there. Some of the airports in the area have be closed to general aircraft while only bringing emergency or SAR traffic.
Sorry to hear Doc. Glad you are safe. Back in the 70’s my hometown in NE Penna got devastated by similar flooding from hurricane Agnes. I can still smell that distinctive smell of the river mud. it covered everything for miles and miles. It was months before the rain washed all of it away. It is a ton of work to rebuild … but you’ll be surprised how quickly things get organized once the water recedes.
I have been thinking of those poor people suffering from this storm with nothing much to help them see the light ahead. They are stuck, unable to leave, and isolated with little ability to receive assistance. All they have is their spirit and their hope. The lit crosses are their encouragement to sustain those two things. It’s hard to believe this can happen in America today. I would have expected swarms of helicopters delivering supplies to be darkening the skies. What is going on? This doesn’t make sense.
Samaritans Purse (which I believe is headquartered in the middle of this mess).
FEMA has stepped right up to address Helene by blaming it on climate change. Will Biden’s FEMA outperform Ws Katrina FEMA?
W’s Katrina FEMA got bad press when it performed pretty well. Biden’s Helena FEMA will be ignored even as it fails. No one will ever know.
Biltmore Village in Asheville, North Carolina:
Lake Lure, southeast of Asheville, North Carolina:
And this is when people should be asking again, “We should have electric vehicles for THIS?!?!”
Imagine all the first responders, responding with their EVs, in a region that has no power.
And all that WATER!!!
Well, the people in the destruction zone will know. They weren’t voting for the Democrat anyway, so they don’t count, and now they’ll be lucky if they get to vote at all.
On the plus side, if they’re unable to use the electronic voting felgerkarb, at least we’ll know THEIR count is accurate.
EVs burn for a good long while in the water. Keeps victims warm that first couple of days while they wait for Biden to activate FEMA. At least until they or the cars are washed away.