With
Some of those areas got 29 inches of rain on top of previous rain last week. All anybody is seeing on the news is Asheville & Boone because all communication is off everywhere else. There is no telling what the death numbers will be this week from smaller towns spread out because nobody knows yet.
Sadly, I agree. Being stripped of electricity and all communication is like being thrown into a time warp. For a couple of weeks it is strictly about survival. Being in a rural area can be both a blessing and a curse.
The key to the next few weeks is being prepared beforehand (knowing what to expect and doing what you can to mitigate immediate losses) and having a dependable system of friends and family -- everyone helps and is helped in turn.
Cable TV is out. Who still has an aerial antenna? Down here many of us have generators, but few are "whole house". So regular old fans are needed. You would be amazed at how many people can sleep in the one room with the "hurricane" window air conditioner. And after a hard day's work, everyone sleeps like a log.
Bulletin boards are used for local communication. One of the main modes of outside communication is, believe it or not, HAM RADIO. These relics come out of shadows and for a few weeks are heroes. Believe it or not, again, these cats really have their shit together and enjoy a world wide community.
Before so many of us got generators, ice was critical. Now it is gas that is so needed to keep the generators going. But for the uninitiated, ice is still a god-send.
Going back to the "help" part, everyone is going to need everything. The church organizations do a lot of good in this area, but they depend on help from us, so get ready. Two to three years after Katrina we still had groups coming down here to assist.