Last Updated on November 12, 2024 2:26 pm
When Hurricane Helene made landfall in Banner Elk in late September, it became one of the strongest storms to hit these mountains in history. Producing the most rainfall in the region since the Great Flood of 1916, Helene caused devastating flooding, landslides, and damage to roads, buildings, and nature.
Though the storm caused damage to the college’s campus, to the Town of Banner Elk, and to the surrounding communities, Lees-McRae students, faculty, and staff have come together through this difficult time to support each other and rebuild our mountain home. Whether they were locals remaining in the area, or evacuees supporting the community from afar, many students have worked hard to do what they can to support the High Country in its time of need.
“The mountain people are such a close-knit group of people. Even if you don’t know someone, you’re often connected to them in some way. Everyone knows everybody, everyone knows your family to some degree, and everyone wants to help each other. It’s just the way that we were raised, the way that everyone has been brought up generation after generation here in the mountains,” junior Business Administration major Hampton Owen said. “It’s instilled in all of us, whether we know it or not, to want to help each other and to want to help our local community.”
Owen has lived in Banner Elk all his life, and with parents who work for the town, he immediately sprang into action to do what he could to help his community following the storm.
For over a month now, he has been working diligently at the town’s central distribution hub at the Historic Banner Elk School, organizing donations, loading up vehicles with supplies, and helping transport essentials to areas of the community that have been made difficult to access due to damaged roads, downed trees, and remote locations.
The distribution center has been an important resource throughout the storm recovery process, not just as a hub for supplies, but also for connection and community gathering. Owen said that the town plans to continue operating the distribution center for as long as the community needs it.
“Until everyone’s needs are met, we’re going to keep that building open. Until everyone is back to as normal as they can be. I’ll be staying involved there, doing what I can, whatever the needs are, trying to meet those,” Owen said. “It’s a lot of making sure that people don’t forget we’re here. We may be a small community, but that doesn’t mean we’ll just be forgotten.”
While Owen has been working to distribute supplies here in Banner Elk, senior Special Education major Maddie Campo got busy doing what she could to provide supplies from afar. After evacuating campus with the rest of her peers in the direct aftermath of the storm, Campo knew she wanted to do something to support the locals and the many people who remained in Banner Elk to help rebuild.
After coordinating with her elementary and middle school, St. Edward Epiphany Catholic School in Richmond, Virginia, Campo was able to quickly organize a donation drive through the school’s fourth grade class.
“My dad’s entire car was filled to the brim with stuff to bring back to Banner Elk. We were able to bring it to my friends who were residents and were still there. They took what they needed for themselves, and then they were able to disperse everything else to places that were a little less reachable,” Campo said. “Being in Banner Elk when everything happened, and being so fortunate to have somewhere to go—to be able to get out and go home—I felt that it was extremely important to me to get whatever resources I could back into Banner Elk for the people who weren’t able to leave or the people who made the choice to stay and rebuild.”
Some of those who stayed to rebuild were a group of Outdoor Recreation Management and Wilderness Medicine and Rescue students and alumni who also serve as volunteer firefighters for Banner Elk Fire Rescue. This group remained in town following the storm, living and working at the fire station where they were able to provide invaluable recovery support.
Whether working on recovery efforts on the ground, or supporting the community from afar, these students and countless more have done what they can to support their mountain home in its time of need.
“I’m a senior, so Banner Elk has been my home for four years now, and to see it so disheveled and so torn apart by something nobody could have ever seen coming, I think that it’s really important to myself and my teammates that we’re able to get back to Banner Elk,” Campo said. “We know that we are our best when we’re in Banner Elk, and I know that I’m my best person when I’m in Banner Elk, and I want to be able to get back to that.”
While the college has been able to invite students back to campus and return to in-person instruction, and the Town of Banner Elk has made immense strides in restoring water, power, and sewer services to the local community, the recovery is not over. As students begin to settle back in on campus, there is still plenty of work to be done, and lots of ways to contribute to the ongoing recovery effort.
“We will still need volunteers even in the coming months. Even if it’s just spending a day at the resource center, moving boxes, organizing things. Time is so valuable, and we don’t have too much of it, especially with winter coming up. We want to get things well-situated before it starts to snow, and roads get bad,” Owen said. “Someone told me that this was God’s way of bringing our community together, and I think that’s a perfect echo of what it is. As tragic as it is, as devastating as this storm has been, I can’t help but smile walking around and seeing everyone helping each other. Seeing neighbor helping neighbor.”
Learn more about recovery updates and volunteering opportunities
