Karen Wallace-Meigs Describes First Frightful Days Following Hurricane Helene
“Worst thing I have ever seen. I am absolutely fine, but there is a lot of survivors guilt. “
Karen Wallace-Meigs was only on the job as the Executive Director of the Western North Carolina Medical Society for five months when the remnants of Hurricane Helene tore across the Southeast and destroyed much North Carolina’s beloved western counties. The impact was both tragic and heartfelt.
With the number of people still missing in North Carolina near 100, Wallace-Meigs days are not getting any easier.
She describes the first few days as harrowing and filled with uncertainty.
“I’ve never had less communications in my life.” You really didn’t know what was happening because of a lack of news.” No water, power, internet, cell service.” She also says you couldn’t travel at all because of road conditions so was unsure of the full extent of the damage.
After a few days, however, WCMS began to regain it’s footing. The first thing was to get in touch with her staff, some of which were as far away as Canada. Her newsletter editor is in South Carolina and estimates it will be a year or more before she can return home.
“We are still getting it out!”
Wallace-Meigs says they are definitely back in working mode and the newsletter will return. WCMS also has the largest interpreter network in Western North Carolina and the need for interpreters greater than ever. “The interpreter network is ready to go” she says and WCMS will be working as hard as possible to put the right interpreters in place for the foreseeable future.
One of the first things Wallace-Meigs worked on was finding places for people to go when they were discharged from hospitals. “People just didn’t have a home to go to anymore!” WCMS has been putting retired physicians together with any area churches that have electricity and water to take in people when they leave the hospital. “They have to have a place to recover,” she says, “or else they will never get well. What happens next is still to be determined.”
“It is about to get cold and I am not sure what that will mean.”
The need for water is well known from reports throughout the region, but Wallace-Meigs says that there will soon be a desperate need for warm clothing, bedding, and shelter. “It will soon be too cold here to stay in a home with no electricity.” She says people also forget that losing your home means you lose things like your eyeglasses and your canes. “Durable equipment is going to be something we will need soon as well,” she says.
“Don’t forget us.”
When asked what she wants the people of North Carolina to know, Wallace-Meigs says ““Don’t forget us. We’re here and we’ll be here struggling for a long time. “We are resilient, but we need you beside us.”
To help the people of Western North Carolina with a financial donation to the NCMS Disaster Relief Fund click here.
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