Hurricane Helene recently hit and caused damage to many states, including: Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Helene has resulted in major flooding and property damage as well as many people going missing and losing their lives across these areas.
Despite Virginia not being one of the states majorly affected by the storm, there were still disruptions and damages done to many as an aftershock of the storm. Some GHS students and their families were affected by Helene.
One student, Willis Redding, shared that his grandparents who live in Virginia were affected by the storm. He also shared that the storm caused damage to his home directly. Due to the hurricane’s power, Redding’s family had a tree fall on their property. This caused windows to break and the AC and heat for his home to fail.
Redding expressed shock at just how powerful the storm ended up being. When reflecting on what he had heard about Helene he mentioned that this storm exceeded all forecasts’ expectations of total rainfall.
GHS student Paulo Ochoa Zepeda also had family members impacted by the hurricane. Ochoa Zepeda’s great uncle is a Tennessee resident, meaning he was in one of the states that were greatly impacted by the storm.
“My great uncle lost power and had his ventilator fail, causing great worry,” he stated.
Despite the hurricane having passed, many people are still experiencing the repercussions of such a damaging storm. Appalachian State University is still closed because of the damages sustained during the storm.
The hurricane has caused many people to be worried about if their family is okay and how much this will affect them mentally, physically, and financially. For those that are worried and want to help, there are many people and organizations that are accepting donations to help the hurricane relief.
