On September 26, Hurricane Helene made landfall in the Florida panhandle. As it continued along its path, forceful winds and subsequent flooding tore apart thousands of homes, displaced countless Southerners, and swept away entire towns. Near 200 people are reported dead across Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia as of this writing, and even more are missing, with millions left without power and thousands without other vital supplies like food and fuel. It has been seven days since the Category 4 storm slammed into the region and emergency services are still unable to reach many communities in Appalachia, especially in Western North Carolina, where roads were washed away with the historic flooding.
Many of the towns facing the worst of wreckage are thousands of miles inland, high up in the mountains making them deeply unprepared for the unprecedented damage wrought upon the region by the storm. As scientists and climate activists have been warning for decades, the historic ferocity of Hurricane Helene is just one of many catastrophic weather events brought about by global climate change, which disproportionately impacts historically marginalized groups like people of color and LGBTQ+ people.
Community organizers point out that much of the devastation has to do with the region of the country the storm hit the hardest. Despite popular misconceptions about the South, the region is home to over a third of the LGBTQ+ population and 56% of the Black population in the U.S., leaving many of the people most vulnerable to the climate crisis directly in the path of Hurricane Helene and storms like it to follow. The South has also been disproportionately impacted by gerrymandering, voter suppression, the legacy of Jim Crow segregation, and laws that actively block Black people from being able to cast a ballot today, meaning many of the people most vulnerable to climate disaster have historically been disenfranchized from being able to change policy to address the crisis. All of these factors act in tandem, determining who gets impacted the worst by the climate crisis, as well as how governmental bodies distribute resources in response to it.
But while some say that the federal government was deeply underprepared to handle the devastation to the region, community support runs deep in the South. First responders, regional organizations, and everyday people have sprung into action to help their own communities get access to necessary resources, track down unaccounted for loved ones, and even distribute hot meals, as trans-owned restaurant Neng Jr.'s in Asheville, North Carolina has been doing in the wake of Helene. If you’re looking to access care or help in the response efforts, here is a list of organizations, resource banks, and people to direct your attention to.
On-the-Ground Resources
As first responders attempt to access those most impacted by the flooding, these local organizations and mutual aid collectives are providing hot meals, medical care, necessary supplies, and water to those whose communities have been devastated.
BeLoved Asheville
As a community-based organization, BeLoved Asheville is focused on providing mutual aid and care to all in the broader Asheville area. Its response to Hurricane Helene has been no different, as volunteers are working to distribute water, food, diapers, baby formula, and other vital supplies to the mountain city. The organization has been posting regular updates on its Instagram page to inform people in the area about where it is offering essential supplies. BeLoved Asheville is also actively searching for volunteers to help with supply distributions and accepting donations of supplies to redistribute to the community.
Pansy Collective
Pansy Collective is a trans-led mutual aid collective currently accepting donations of supplies and funds to help redistribute to impacted communities in eastern North Carolina. After Hurricane Helene tore through Appalachia, members of the collective posted on the group’s Instagram that they were headed toward less impacted parts of the state to meet with “comrades and gather supplies to bring back home.” The Pansy Collective has gathered and handed out necessary supplies like water, propane, canned foods, baby formula, diapers, and batteries.
Voices of Florida
Voices of Florida is a queer-led, Black-led nonprofit organization dedicated to defending reproductive rights. The organization has been distributing supplies to those impacted and providing hot meals on the ground in Florida.
Rural Organizing And Resisting (ROAR)
Rural Organizing and Resisting (ROAR) is a North Carolina-based mutual aid organization that “works to strengthen connections and respect among all people in our mountain communities by countering systems of oppression through education, outreach, empowerment and mutual aid.” In the wake of the devastation, ROAR is collecting donations of essential supplies and redistributing them to people in impacted communities. They’ve opened a mutual aid hub that runs every day from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. in Marshall, North Carolina to provide materials like food, water, and other necessary items. They are actively accepting donations of food, medical supplies, generators, oil, and more, as well as volunteers and monetary donations.
Appalachian Hurricane Helene Relief Resources
One of the quickest relief efforts to Hurricane Helene has been community-gathered resources into a Google spreadsheet, helping people across six states find specific assistance for their communities and loved ones. From medical care to how to access water in each state to different shelters accepting those displaced, this list has been compiled and updated as more information becomes available.
Where to send monetary donations
While not everyone can directly drive supplies to areas impacted, monetary donations can still go a long way, especially as many of the impacted communities will have a long road to recovery from the historic flooding. These organizations are accepting donations and directing people to mutual aid finds that directly go into the pockets of those worst affected.
Mountain Access Brigade
Founded in 2016, Mountain Access Brigade is a volunteer group of abortion doulas located in Tennessee. The organization has been actively promoting donations to abortion funds in areas decimated by Hurricane Helene, because as the group pointed out on its Instagram page, “abortions don’t stop for natural disasters, but especially here where there are so many abortion restrictions, it gets much harder […] The clock is ticking for people who are displaced and appointments are cancelled.”
Mutual Aid Disaster Relief
Mutual Aid Disaster Relief is a nonprofit national network of organizors aiming to “provide disaster relief based on the principles of solidarity, mutual aid, and autonomous direct action.” The organization has been directing people to mutual aid efforts across the impacted states in order to provide resources and funds directly to community members who direly need it. If you check the Mutual Aid Disaster Relief Instagram page, you can see a number of mutual aid funds you can send money to right now.
Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina
The Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina has launched their emergency response efforts in order to fill the gap in accessible food services in western North Carolina, sending fleets of refrigerated trucks with food and preparing ready to go meals for those impacted. The organization is also accepting donations to help their efforts to feed communities displaced by the storm’s wrath.
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