EXCULSIVE INTERVIEW: Erwin TN; Over a Month After Hurricane Helene, People Are Still Isolated

One young lady describes the destruction in Erwin, Tennessee and surrounding communities including her grandfather's property.

The story still needs to be told about the plight of Erwin, Tennessee and the massive destruction that took place from the aftermath of Hurricane Helene when the torrential rains and floods cascaded through multiple southern states including western Tennessee.  Erwin, Tennessee is down river from North Carolina on the western side of the mountains with Burnsville and Asheville further up in the mountains.  From those two cities the Nolichucky River flows downstream through the county of Unicoi and Erwin.    

Erwin was one of the very first images of the razor-sharp force of rushing water from the river that swept through the town like a quick bolt of lightning from the upstream force of the Nolichucky River as it traversed further down the mountain and reached lower elevations.  The city of Erwin was one of the first images that went viral across the world and a preview of what was to come next for so many small communities up and down the North Carolina and Tennessee Appalachian Mountain communities.  One of the first images that appeared on social media was the 50 people on top of the Ballard Health regional hospital roof waiting to be rescued as the water rushed below them and engulfed the surrounding residential and business community. Below is a picture of Ballard Health the day of the rescue.

 

Erwin, Tennessee sits in a valley in the Cherokee National Forest, surrounded by mountains and largely developed around the Nolichucky River with an average elevation of 1,673 feet above sea level.  Settled in 1780 and incorporated in 1903, the county and city are populated with multigenerational families.  The county seat of Unicoi County is Erwin, Tennessee has a population of 6,083 as of the 2020 census.  Nestled in the mountains on the western side of the Appalachian Mountains, the city of Erwin is quiet, peaceful and picturesque.  The city of Erwin and the surrounding county is no different than many other small, quaint towns up and down the Appalachian Mountains.  The medium household income is $49,855, with a 51% employment rate, and 17.2% of the population with a bachelor’s degree.

Ashley Watt’s family lives in Erwin, Tennessee.  Her grandfather was the first to settle in this little town back in the late 1800s or early 1900s with the rest of the family in tow.  Ashley’s grandfather raised two new generations on his property which is just off Old Highway 81 South.  Ashley grew up in Jonesborough Tennessee and attended Lamar and David Crockett public schools.  Growing up, Ashley found a passion for performance and storytelling of the Appalachian people and decided to embark on writing a book.  Unfortunately, Ashley’s planned release of her latest album was put on hold after Hurricane Helene hit her grandfather’s property and had to temporarily sideline her musical project.  The release of the album and a short pdf of her book is accompanied with purchase of the album and was released as of October 31, 2024.  Ashley decided to release her album even though she feels in normal times, the project has a few more iterations before release “because what we need right now is joy and light in the darkness. We need physical help to rebuild our homes and our city; to find missing loved ones, and to meet the needs of our family, friends, and neighbors throughout our region.”  The new release can be found via Spotify and BandCamp under the artist name Sonikbuster. 

Ashley graciously sat down with me for an interview and provided testimony of what her family and community experienced during the raging wall of razor-sharp water which instantly came rushing down from the mountains onto the town and surrounding community.  What she initially told me was “I am right there with them with my own family's property decimated, my grandfather's rescue from the rushing waters, and no way to recover on our own. We need our communities to know that we care that we see their sorrow, that there is hope for tomorrow, that restoration is possible, that they are loved and not forgotten.”

Ashley’s Grandfather owns one property with five rental homes situated on his land.  What Ashley’s grandfather and many others in the community describe is something biblical transpired.  With little warning, many started packing a few belongings to get to a safer place but in a blink of an eye, a Tsunami of water rushed through the town leaving the people struggling to survive as the water ascended.  Ashley’s grandfather and his new wife were no different than others caught up in the rushing waters.

Ashley’s grandfather’s property is nestled approximately 30 feet above the riverbank in between the river and the road behind his property.  Her grandparents were packing to leave but without warning, the water came rushing and engulfing all five rental properties on his lot of land including their home.  Ashley describes her grandfather’s experience during the moment the water rushed up to the home “they saw the wall of water and became trapped in the house” with no time to leave.  They became trapped inside the house with the water rising around 6-8 feet deep.  Her grandfather and stepmother were stranded inside the house for approximately 5-6 hours until neighboring teenagers came to rescue the couple.  The bridges between the houses on either side washed away from the force of the wall of water cutting off transportation.

The rushing water sliced out entire sections of land traversing across 350 miles down the western side of the Appalachian mountains as the Nolichucky River swollen river banks pushed the rushing water beyond its capacity to contain carving out large sections of topography similar to the glaciers that formed the Great Lakes as the water ascended beyond the river banks into the communities.  There was a girl on Ashley’s grandfathers property who was stuck in the storm with a cat and dog.  As she was preparing to leave for safer ground, the girl packed up her two animals to take with her.  She put the cat in a backpack and leashed up her dog for the journey to safety, but it was too late.  Through what many describe as a divine power intervening, by the sheer force of the raging water, it swept her up into a tree with her cat still in tow inside the backpack.  She was stuck in the tree for five hours until a search and rescue team found her.  The cat stayed safely in the backpack, but the dog was swept away and was thankfully found far off, nowhere near her property.

Another woman who volunteers for the charity group Rise Erwin describe the biblical waterfall rushing down the mountain into Erwin comparable to the force of the water rushing over the ledge of Niagara Falls.  In fact, what the residents describe as the sudden rushing wall of water was at the strength of the Niagara Falls has been confirmed by the Tennessee Valley Authority's dam safety team.  In a public statement, the TVA said the force of the water accumulation at the Nolichucky Dam was twice the flow of Niagara Falls during Hurricane Helene flooding.   Rise Erwin is a charitable organization focused on revitalization and rejuvenation of the community and has raised $300,000 for the victims of Helene to help them rebuild their lives as of last week.

For anyone who is interested in providing a donation to Rise Erwin, the link is attached here https://www.riseerwin.org/

Stories started surfacing the weekend after the flood that looters were ascending on the town to take advantage of the homes left empty of occupants from the historical flood.  Ashley’s own grandfather was a victim of looters.  Her grandfather’s house was looted twice already.  It appears the vandals took siding off the house but it’s hard to determine what washed away from the raging waters and what specifically the looters confiscated.  All told, two of the five residential properties on her grandfather’s land remain, the other three are destroyed.    Ashley’s grandfather’s house is still with the foundation intact but with an enormous amount of inside and outside damage that needs to be restored to its original grandeur before the flood.  By some miracle her grandfather’s house withstood the raging force of water because large logs from the lumberyard washed up against the foundation as the water rushed by and helped anchor the structure in place. Below is a picture of Ashley’s grandfathers living room after the flood.

So many homes and buildings are splintered and pushed off their foundations in Erwin including three of the homes on her grandfather’s property.  What’s amazing is the beds were still made on the second floor untouched by the destruction downstairs.  One house landed in the middle of the road.  Ashley described to me that there are so many abandoned cars that were wrapped up in the rushing water and swept miles away only to be found further downstream covered inside and out with debris and mud.  “Some cars look like they just exploded”, and with some of the car parts found scattered elsewhere.  Her grandfather has big and small parts of a red Nissan that settled on his property with no idea who owns the car nor has anybody come to claim the car.  Cars are placed everywhere miles away from their original spot.  People are finding mementos miles away untouched and in perfect shape while most other items are destroyed.  

Where does Erwin and the surrounding community stand almost six weeks post Helene after the worst natural disaster on record for this community?  A key section of Interstate 26 in Unicoi County has reopened recently after catastrophic flooding in Erwin caused the collapse of parallel interstate bridges over the Nolichucky River.

One lane in each direction on I-26 is open between mile markers 39 and 40, TDOT announced. I-26 East Exit 40 (Jackson Love Highway) is closed. The entrance ramp from Jackson Love Highway to I-26 East and I-26 West will be open.  There are still restrictions on weight loads and size of commercial vehicles.

Unicol County needs help with restoring power, internet connection, help rebuilding, and assessing the medical needs of the community after the regional hospital was shut down from the flood.  Thus far, Starlink is largely installed at churches and community volunteer centers, but many residents are still without access to communication.  The people outside of Erwin proper are still pretty much disconnected from the world.  There is power availability, but the destruction of the buildings and damaged infrastructure makes it a fire hazard to start the power back up to the remaining communities still without connection. 

Locals, with the aid of volunteers have resorted to horseback to search the rough terrain where transportation routes have been destroyed in search of people still stranded in remote areas.  There are still search and rescue efforts going on and just last week rescue workers found a little girl who was stranded.  It’s questionable as to whether there are more people that need to be rescued because of the downed communication infrastructure.  Without clear lines of communication, the community can’t determine the search and rescue needs of the surrounding areas.  Ashley says, “we need more Starlink connections to the small communities which will allow more people to be reached in the remote areas” that are still without phone or internet connection since Hurricane Helene. 

FEMA does visit the town, but they are largely visitors coming in from out of town, and they do not stay in the area.  Their main responsibility is to help the residents fill out paperwork and inspect buildings.  FEMA classified her grandfather’s rental units as a business and not rent-by-owner so it’s questionable whether the property loss will qualify for assistance except for his personal home.  Ashely states she has heard stories that FEMA is taking over distribution centers.  Just last week, a church who was collecting items for the residents was commandeered by FEMA. Ashely believes this did in fact happen because the following day FEMA flags were flying at the church.  At the time of publication, the assumption that FEMA taken control of the church distribution center has not been confirmed.   Ashely said that her family’s property is intended to be a highway and was confirmed in the local newspaper yesterday but some residents plan on fighting for their properties to stay intact.  Residents are also reporting that only a few of many residents who have applied for the $750 emergency FEMA disaster checks have yet to be approved or received.

Water contamination is a big concern for the residents of Unicol County.  Ashely took water samples for testing to the nearby town of Avery and handed the water sample off to a volunteer.  He was decontaminated and the sample was sent off to another lab to be further evaluated by HAZMAT officials.  The volunteers at the Avery location were told to leave shortly after Ashely dropped off the samples. A picture of the water sample is below.

Stories started surfacing the weekend after the flood that looters were ascending on the town to take advantage of the homes left empty of occupants from the historical flood.  Ashley’s own grandfather was a victim of looters.  Her grandfather’s house was looted twice already.  It appears the vandals took siding off the house but it’s hard to determine what washed away from the raging waters and what specifically the looters confiscated.  All told, two of the five residential properties on her grandfather’s land remain, the other three are destroyed.    Ashley’s grandfather’s house is still with the foundation intact but with an enormous amount of inside and outside damage that needs to be restored to its original grandeur before the flood.  By some miracle her grandfather’s house withstood the raging force of water because large logs from the lumberyard washed up against the foundation as the water rushed by and helped anchor the structure in place. 

Ashely Watt lives with her husband and 9-year-old child outside of her hometown of Erwin but visits often to visit her family.  She just returned home after visiting the town to help the people of Erwin and plans on continuing to help until the town is restored back to its original glory. 

All my work is independently researched and funded personnelly, if you find my work valuable please consider a paid or unpaid subscription. My area was also devastated beyond words. Locals who have lived in my community for 30 plus years have repeatedly said the flooding was the worst in their lifetime. My Florida community was in the process of rebuilding from Hurricane Helene when Milton brought even worse devastation including areas that never experienced flooding. The community is just starting the cleanup and rebuild process in the last few days.