POPLAR, N.C. 鈥� Fewer than 300 people live in this tiny mountain hamlet, but their ties to this place are deep.
鈥淚'm a fifth-generation settler child,鈥� says Misty Hughes. 鈥淢y great grandfather was the first white settler amongst the Indians here.鈥�
The community sits along the beautiful Nolichucky River, popular for its whitewater rafting. When it rose up violently, Hughes鈥� home survived but her aunt and uncle鈥檚 place did not. 鈥淭hey ran out with the clothes on their back, and they're both in their late 70s,鈥� she says.
Tropical Storm Helene tore up much of the infrastructure that supplies western North Carolina with water and electricity. Restoring it has been slow going 鈥� especially in the most isolated areas like Poplar, which sits atop a winding, forested road.
Hughes is coordinating much of the relief effort in Poplar, juggling nonstop questions and 鈥� thanks to a Starlink satellite set up in the yard 鈥� texts and calls. Cars, ATVs and helicopters cycle in and out of the community center with drop-offs and deliveries.
She says most people here are seniors, and she鈥檚 worried about them. 鈥淭hey're sticking with it. It's not the first time they sit in the dark. That's a quote!鈥� she laughs. 鈥淪o, they're going to rough it.鈥�
The last estimate Hughes got was that the hamlet may face up to five months without electricity, phone lines or internet.
Given that stark possibility, she鈥檚 now scouting for propane and kerosene heaters to see people through the cold, dark winter ahead. 鈥淭hese elderly that once used wood stoves have aged to the point that they're unable to supply that need for themselves,鈥� she says.
Another priority is making sure people can get the medication and care they need. Rick Hughes, who is 70 and says he鈥檚 no 鈥渃lose鈥� relation to Misty, has a 94-year-old mother with high blood pressure.
He and his wife are 鈥渘ot even staying in our house anymore,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e鈥檙e staying in her house, trying to keep a generator going. And she has to go to the hospital a lot so we鈥檙e just trying to keep her calm.鈥�
He鈥檚 working to switch her care to another hospital, because the one she had been going to half an hour away in Erwin, Tenn., was flooded out.
The whitewater paddling community has rallied to help a beloved place
One major source of help for Poplar has been the community of paddlers and kayakers who live nearby and have long simply passed through the hamlet to raft the rapids of the Nolichucky River.
Helene鈥檚 flooding put river educator Trey Moore out of work for now, so he鈥檚 been devoting all his time to rounding up donations, supplies and volunteers from across the country. Every morning at 9 o鈥檆lock, Moore gathers with a few neighbors on his front porch in nearby Erwin to discuss needs and logistics for Poplar.
At a recent gathering, one of Moore鈥檚 neighbors said she鈥檇 been in Poplar the day before and used a portable internet connection to help people there sign up for FEMA disaster aid 鈥� especially seniors not comfortable with computers.
Another neighbor said she was checking whether a new supply of generators could be borrowed or donated. Moore suggested looking into solar generators to cut down on noise and fumes at people鈥檚 homes and save fuel for other uses.
For Moore, this new focus is a way to process his grief over the destruction of a beloved river community that most paddlers simply bypassed. He said this was an opportunity to 鈥渂uild goodwill between paddlers and the people of Poplar.鈥�
鈥淲hat I hope for,鈥� he says, 鈥渋s that now my neighbors know me, and that we're friends, and that some of us are going to become family through this.鈥�
A 1910 house floats upstream, 'completely majestic like a ballerina'
After the porch meetings, Moore usually drives up to Poplar to help out at the community center, which is just down the road from where he would put boats into the river.
That road runs along damaged railroad tracks, which a loader and other machinery are working to clear and restore. Then, around a corner, the entire area becomes a wasteland of deep, brown muck. On one side is the river. On the other, Moore鈥檚 friend and fellow paddler Patrick Toups is trying to dig out his property.
鈥淲hat you're looking at is, for some places, five feet of river silt,鈥� Toup says. 鈥淭his entire area became a standing water river eddy. All of the trees and garbage were kind of floating around in here.鈥�
Until Helene hit, Toups lived on this spot in a house that was built in 1910. He says the previous owner had told him about a big flood in 1977 when water reached the front porch steps. So Toups was in disbelief as Helene鈥檚 floodwaters just didn鈥檛 stop, eventually reaching the home鈥檚 gutters.
Retreating up a hill behind the house, he watched what happened next, distraught but also amazed. 鈥淭hat house picked up in one beautiful piece. It floated out upstream into the eddy, completely majestic like a ballerina,鈥� he says.
Toups is thankful he had just built a workshop up top of the hill. He鈥檚 now staying there, not ready to imagine giving up on this place he loves.
Making do and planning for the long haul
It took days to clear out some driveways and roads in Poplar, and some elderly residents are still not able to get around. Misty Hughes says even some who drove themselves before are now afraid to go out on the torn-up roads. She鈥檚 sending out volunteers on ATVs to do wellness checks and see what people need.
Down one road and up a long driveway, two volunteers stop to check on an older couple. Jarrell Peterson greets them in the yard and says he could use more gasoline for the generator. The couple is lucky to have a water well, he says, but he sure does miss hot showers.
Inside the house his wife, Jewel, dissolves into tears when she starts talking about what happened. 鈥淚'm just devastated for everybody,鈥� she says, her voice catching. But she immediately counts her blessings, saying she鈥檚 thankful her loved ones are safe and that her home 鈥� in which her husband grew up 鈥� was spared.
She is also finding ways to make do. 鈥淲e have a grill that we heated water on to do dishes and bathe,鈥� she says. 鈥淵ou know, when you live in the mountains, you kind of do things different.鈥�
Peterson says that includes being prepared. She鈥檚 happy her husband had just dug up their potatoes before the flooding. She鈥檚 also canned food, and as long as the generator holds out, they鈥檝e got a full freezer.
Copyright 2024 NPR
