10-4 Magazine November 2024

Trucker Talk: By John & Kim Jaikes We have all been touched in some way by Hurricane Helene. From people we know that live in the affected areas to those participating in relief efforts, we are all connected to this disaster in some way. Florida is a seasoned veteran to hurricanes and the people who live there are experienced in what to brace for and what to do after a storm, but the damage to the Florida coast from Helene was not done by the eye, but by the rain, along with 100 mph winds, and a storm surge that hit the St. Petersburg area affecting Treasure Island, Sunset Beach, St. Pete Beach, Shore Acres and Tanglewood Estates the hardest. Washing up sand like snowdrifts in a blizzard, the damage was extensive, and changed the landscape in some places forever. Life in the Appalachian and Smokey Mountains in Eastern Tennessee and Western North Carolina will never be the same as it was on September 26, 2024. The people in the Tennessee and North Carolina mountains were not prepared and could never have imagined the raging water that would rush through their communities. Hurricanes usually lose steam, especially this far inland, but this one did not – and it was huge. Helene was 420 miles wide, nearly as wide as the state of Nebraska, and hit Florida and continued inland to Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina. Herds of bucket trucks and linemen sent to restore power can be seen from all over the country, and some were sent down from Canada, as well. Our friend Jacob Murray, who gave us the idea to write about all this, said that trucks, from hot shots to oversize, are going to be needed for a very long time. At the time, Jacob was hooked to a trailer with sinks, soap, water and paper towels headed to a 500 person turn-key base camp in Mills Spring, NC – an equestrian center turned into a staging area for relief trailers of all kinds. These trailers were set up to accommodate the needs of the rescue workers and volunteers and included bathrooms, showers, laundry, sleeping trailers, and a kitchen to make meals for the first responders and volunteers. The damage that resulted from the deluge of water and wind from Helene will take years to rebuild. It is going to take heavy equipment to take apart and clean up what is left of a lifetime of work and memories for so many in these mountains, along with dump trucks and trailers to haul it all away. Bridges in many areas of the mountains were washed out leaving no way in or out for many people. Helicopters, ATVs, boats and even pack mules were the only way to get supplies to people who desperately needed them. In one place, they used ingenuity and two flatbed trailers to build a temporary bridge to get supplies to people who had no other access. It could not have been any more personal for our friend Charles “Lefty” Bunde from Elizabethton, TN. At 7:30 AM on September 27th, the Hampton Fire Department knocked on his and his neighbor’s doors and told them they had 15 minutes to get out because the water was coming. It was rising a foot and a half every 10 minutes. Charles was able to grab some clothes and some important papers and personal things, but that was it. Moving to higher ground on the other side of the river that flows near their homes, they sat and watched cars, motor homes and houses floating down the swollen river. Lefty even watched his shed and equipment float away. Their only road in and out was washed out. It has since had rock dumped in the holes and leveled out as best they could, so they essentially have a gravel road – and probably will for at least a year – until the Tennessee DOT will be able to get it repaired. Lefty’s insurance company told him that he doesn’t live in a floodplain (his ground was 3’ above it), so they denied his claim. He told us he was lucky his house had been built in 1936 and the foundation went three feet into the ground and the floor joists were made with true 3x6 wood. Had this not been the case, his house would have floated down the river, too. 68 10-4 Magazine / November 2024 RELIEF BY TRUCK