BURNSVILLE, N.C. (RNS) — A kerosene heater still sits in the middle of Mack and Lucille Thomason’s living room, a testament to the trauma they and others in their rural Yancey County North Carolina community experienced when Hurricane Helene unleashed its raging waters last fall.
The Thomasons, retired in their 70s, saw 4 feet of water slosh up to the door of their doublewide trailer, destroying the floor, furnace, back porch and most of their kitchen appliances. The hurricane also damaged their well, leaving them without water. For weeks, Mack Thomason had to walk to the creek behind the house to collect water in five-gallon buckets so he and wife could flush the toilet.
They were nearly despondent and living in a borrowed camper when their daughter told them she found someone who could help with repairs. That someone was Keith Ashe, the site coordinator for Baptists on Mission in Burnsville, a town about 7 miles north of Pensacola, where the Thomasons live.
“He said he’d be back, so I looked for him and, true to his word, they’ve been here,” Thomason, 77, said.
Hurricane Helene caused unprecedented damage in the mountain region of Western North Carolina, where hurricane-level rainfall is rare and only 4% of residents have flood insurance. The September storm destroyed abo …