By Dan Spalding
News Now Warsaw
WARSAW — A handful of area residents spent the weekend delivering needed supplies and got a close-up look at the devastation in North Carolina.
Andrea Murphy along with her husband, Josh Murphy, her mother (Faith Detwiler) and two other folks (Ryan Brubacker and Matt Stanley) were part of a church group that organized a collection effort last week after Hurricane Helene tore through parts of the southeast, leaving millions without power, water, cell phone services while also destroying many key roads in the region.
“It was so rewarding,” she said, mentioning one group they teamed up with, Heart With Hands.
“We delivered a truckload there. There were some items they were no longer accepting due to the generous amount that has come through and that was so awesome to see,” she said.
In another community, they were able to feed about 200 residents, first responders and utility workers who were staying at a church.
She said they came across plenty of damage caused by intense flooding and toppled trees and said the strength of the fast-moving floods appeared to have clear-cut much of the vegetation in some areas, leaving behind what looked like a desert.
She said it was hard to describe the extent of the damage.
“It’s nothing like they’ve ever seen before, and that’s very devastating for a community that’s not used to that,” she said.
They were among the many who struggled to traverse the damage. That was the case when they approached a mountain near Chimney Rock, N.C.
“We had to backtrack because the entire bridge was just wiped out and the road was in the river. You could see pieces of the road floating down,” she said.
On Sunday, they were back in Ashville, going door to door and providing free supplies to residents.
“Whatever we have left we are going door-to-door and just talking with the locals, being there with them and praying with them and giving them anything they need or want, and it’s been so rewarding.”
She talked with News Now Warsaw late Sunday afternoon and said they planned on heading back to Indiana that night once they had depleted all of their supplies.
She said they plan to head to Newport, Tenn. next weekend to provide more support.
At the same time, they’re keeping an eye on another store that is expected to become a hurricane within days with a path that heads toward Florida.
