December 9, 2025 • 37 mins
One year ago, Hurricane Helene tore through Western North Carolina. But the storm didn’t take our spirit. Now, Eddie and Amanda Foxx bring you the voices of neighbors, families and businesses who endured…and rebuilt.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
One year after Helene, the voices of Western North Carolina
share their stories. This is Stories after the Storm with
Eddie Fox and Amanda Fox, Episode three, Rebuilding.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
When the waters went down and the roads reopened, Western
North Carolina wasn't the same place it had been before Helene.
The damage was everywhere you looked, but so were the
people showing up sleeves rolled up, ready to rebuild what
the storm had taken.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
In those early weeks, recovery didn't look heroic. It looked
like neighbors dragon debris out of living rooms. It looked
like small businesses reopening with half a menu and twice
the determination. It looked like volunteers walking miles just to
check on a stranger.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
The rebuild started quietly, one roof, one meal, one hug,
one step at a time. It wasn't fast, wasn't easy,
but it was ours, powered by the kind of grit
only Western North Carolina knows.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
In today's episode, you're going to hear from people who
decided that the story of Helene went in with destruction,
but with renewal.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
This is the part of the story where hope takes root,
where the mountains remind us how to stand tall.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Again, this is episode three Rebuilding.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Well, this episode is about rebuilding, and I don't think
there are two people that know more about just rebuilding
a life than these two right here, y'all, please welcome
to the podcast. Chris and Crystal Moyers. Thank y'all for
taking the time to come in and tell your story.
Speaker 4 (01:30):
Thank you.
Speaker 5 (01:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Absolutely, We kind of want to start obviously, you guys
are dear friends of ours. We love you, but we
want to people that don't know your story. We want
to kind of start from the beginning of the day
and the day that the hurricane first hit. What were
you doing to prepare and Chris, I know it was
like your birthday, I think the day before, so obviously
happy times that, Oh yeah, change quickly. So let's let's
(01:52):
go back to the first day.
Speaker 6 (01:54):
Let's see the first time we twenty seventh. I kind
of got up because we know it'd been raining for
like a week, got up and I said, well, maybe
we should look outside. So we looked outside and the
water was probably halfway up the trailer on the backside.
And he looked and he says, we gotta go. I'm like, okay,
(02:14):
So I mean at that time, my nerves were shot.
I was puking, and I'm like, I don't understand what's
going on. So we basically grabbed handful of clothes. He
grabbed a handful of clothes, We grabbed the dog. We
grabbed some food for him for grot water that's another story,
and left. We went to the holiday Inn in Otine
(02:38):
because we thought we had to get high, so we
went up there on that hill, but the wind was
blowing so hard the trees that was covered with trees,
and I was like, we can't stay here. So then
we left and went to Ingles and Oteene and set
for four hours. Kind of everything kind of kind of
calmed down about ten o'clock and we went back and
that's when we saw what was left of theighborhood. We
(03:01):
had a single wide trailer that was knocked off its foundation,
sitting in the MUDs, kind of tilted sideways, and I
just kind of stood there and I'm like, okay, now
what he went down in the neighborhood and you talked
to some of the neighbors. Yeah, and he was going
to go back in the house. And the guy that
(03:22):
was standing there, he said, I watched your house fall.
He said, I wouldn't go back in it. Chris said,
I kind of have to to see what's left or
what can we can salvage or put in the car.
And because I mean, we were one of the ones
we were crossed from the swan Or River. We were
on the other side of Interstate forty. We were in
a less than one percent flood zone. When we put
the trailer there five years ago. We didn't have to
(03:43):
jack it up because it wasn't a flood zone, so
I was like sure. So four feet of water was
inside the home pretty much took all the stuff with mold,
with sludge, with sewage, with whatever else you want to
put that just ran down through there. It took all
(04:04):
thirteen trailers that was in the neighborhood.
Speaker 5 (04:07):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, you know, we lived the road
that we lived on was Old Gym's Branch. So it
was literally a branch that was behind our house that
was I mean like like two foot wide and on
(04:27):
a normal day not even a foot deep. And when
we when we pulled back up at like ten o'clock,
it was still at that time, it was still flowing.
That looked like a river that was oh my gosh,
I mean still then when I walked down it was
it was almost up to my waist then and was
(04:50):
probably almost one hundred yards wide running through there. And
so I mean at one point, with the way our
trailer sat, you had I mean that water was was
probably I mean it had to be close to nine
nine foot through there, because I mean you had four
(05:11):
and a half to five foot inside, and I mean
our trailer was about three foot off the ground. So
I mean, yeah, I mean it was that was that
was a lot of water that come from Gym's branch,
a tiny little branch.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
So you get back to the property and you see
the damage, you see, which I'm sure it's hard for
your mind to process what you're seeing, right, How do
you decide.
Speaker 7 (05:37):
What to do in that moment? I mean what are
you thinking? Do you decide? I mean, what do I do?
Speaker 6 (05:42):
Now?
Speaker 7 (05:42):
Where do I go next? I mean, take us back?
Put us in your mind at that moment.
Speaker 5 (05:46):
So so she she immediately I don't know how, honestly,
I don't know how she thought about this, but immediately
got on the phone and started with calling insurance companies
and mortgage companies and that type stuff. And and I
was just at that moment was just thinking, is there
(06:10):
is there anything left that that I can salvage inside?
And there wasn't. I mean, there was there was. Well
that that's not true. We were able to get we
got some of her Christmas decoration, and we were able
to get like some of the you know, a few
of like important like like some of our wedding photos,
(06:33):
a few of those, some of her mom's jewelry, some
things like that we were able to save, but it
was very, very few and far between. I got. I
got kind of lucky with with the firearms and Ammo
that I that I owned, and and all of those
were up high enough to where that stuff was saved.
But all furniture, all electronics, all clothing, I mean, any
(06:58):
anything else you can think of, washers and dryers and
and all that was just destroyed. I mean, you know, get.
Speaker 6 (07:05):
The smell out of my nose, because yeah.
Speaker 5 (07:09):
And you know, it was obviously our situation. You know,
when we pulled up, we could still physically see our resonance.
You know, a lot of people weren't even that lucky,
but it was. It was it had floated down from
(07:30):
where it originally was, and like she said, was kind
of turned on its side a little bit. So yeah,
I mean everything was everything was just destroyed. And then
after that, I mean we left.
Speaker 6 (07:41):
We didn't know what we were doing. We just got
in the car and we just was like, okay, what's next.
We started towards Tennessee because we had family in Tennessee.
Because when the phones were still working, we called and
they were like, please come see us because I was
able to get on Facebook and post four hours you
took everything we had so that, you know, people that
could see it was freaking out because they couldn't find us.
(08:04):
So my family in Tennessee was like, please come here,
Please come here, we have a room. So we tried
to get there. Well, forty was gone so you couldn't
get there. So we turned around, went back towards South
Carolina because we had family in South Carolina that said
please come. Couldn't get to South Carolina. We went back
to Old Fort Mountain. Couldn't get down that way because
(08:25):
the Arox slide so and you couldn't get to Johnson City.
You couldn't you couldn't get anywhere. So we were just like, okay,
now now what do we do. We slept on the
side of Interstate at forty on Old Fort Mountain on
the Richard Petty Bridge in the car the first night
and was like, okay, now what's next. So yeah, I
mean there was literally hundreds of people up there with us.
(08:46):
Oh yeah, hanging out, you know. So the truckers, you know,
have the CBS that actually worked because we didn't have
cell phones. You didn't have no communication with anybody to
know if the GPS didn't even work in my car
because I had just bought my car to we before
the storm. So then it didn't work, and I'm like, okay,
something's up. So the truckers started CB and then they
(09:07):
started doing U terms and I was like okay. So
he got out and went to talk to some of
the people that were just standing on the side of
the road and said, you know, twenty six is open.
So we did a U turn, which one of the
state troopers that went through kind of looked at us
and goes comes across this little thing and said, I
(09:28):
wouldn't do that if I were you. I'm sitting here,
my buddy, you don't have any So we did it.
Went to South Carolina. Couldn't find a hotel room anywhere.
We went to Easley, went to Charlotte, everything was sold out.
We finally found a hotel room in Greensboro, North Carolina.
(09:48):
So our second night was in Greensboro, a second and
third or whatever, and I'm still on the phone with
the insurance, still arguing with the insurance. They even asked me,
he said did you have a fire, And I'm like,
do you watch what? I'm like, no, I don't have
I haven't didn't have a fire. So with the insurance,
once we get to Charlotte, my company is trying to
(10:10):
track us down. She's like where are you And once
they're been Hendersonville, I'm like, well, I'm in Greensboro. I'm like,
we have, you know, offices in Greensboro. I can go
to work. She was like, no, you're not working. I
want to know where you are because we're going to
put you in a hotel room in Charlotte. So my
company paid for a week in Charlotte to at a hotel,
(10:32):
no question to ask. And I'm like okay. I'm like, well,
we have an office in Charlotte. I can go work.
And she's like, no, you're going to think about what
you're doing. And I'm like, I don't know what I'm doing.
I need normalacy, I need to stay on a schedule.
I need I need that. I need routine. And she's
like no, I'm like okay. So from there, once we
(10:55):
got back to Charlotte, we had some other friends of
ours who's also the Kevin Harvick fan club that I've
been in for twenty six years. She reached out and said,
I told her, you know, she wanted to have dinner,
and I said, okay, I said, I need to go
the laundry mat first to wash them clothes. She says, no,
You're going to my house. So here, I go in
this house, wash my clothes and then she, you know,
(11:20):
buys dinner. And her daughter is also the nanny for
Kevin Harvick. Well, Kevin Harvick's little girl, Piper went through
her dog's toys, picked a bunch of toys oh, and
had them for Maverick. And her mom was like, honey,
she said, what the dog needs toys? So yeah, I
(11:40):
was like that was special that, you know, she at
least thought of us. But it's the people that have
got us.
Speaker 5 (11:46):
Yeah, I mean there was, there was, and it's it's
like a lot of stories. I mean sometimes I hesitate
to say, but there wasn't a lot of help from
Fama and things like that. But but there was massive,
massive amounts of help from people just neighbors, just friends
(12:06):
or strangers, just everybody, you know, just everybody around. I mean,
that's that's where all the help came from. That's where
all the prayers came from. I mean, there's there's you know,
We've got lots of stories about stuff like that too,
I mean, meals being paid for and and.
Speaker 6 (12:21):
I think there was months that we went through any
restaurant that we would go and everybody would say, your
meal has been paid for? And I'm like, right by who?
And I'm like I need to thank these people, you know.
And it's just like little stories like that. I mean,
we were in Charlotte and I'm still in my pajamas,
looking like total death, and we finally found Chick fil
(12:43):
A Jesus Chicken, and I'm standing at the back of
the car and there's mud all over the car. You know,
we're eating outside because you can't pick it all again.
So this lady comes up and she just has a
swat of money and she says, are you all from
the norm? And I said yes, ma'am. And she said, well,
I want to give you this, she said, this is
(13:04):
all I have right now. That she said I want
to buy your food. Yeah, I lost it. I just
sat there and cried. I mean I didn't cry. We
haven't cried for the house. We haven't cried for anything
of that. It's mostly happy stories, yes, happy tears. It's
what have we done to deserve this? What? What? What
(13:24):
are we doing here? You know, because we're not ones
to like take things or gifts as far as that goes.
We kind of feel like the survivor's guilt.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
You think it's the community that that started restoring your
hope and your faith pretty quick.
Speaker 5 (13:40):
Like one Hu absolutely, absolutely, yeah there and like like
she said, I mean, as weird as it may sound
to some people, never, I don't, I don't. I don't
think either one of us. I know, I know, not
me and I'm pretty sure not her. There was never
a single tear out of sadness or or or worry
(14:03):
or concern. I mean when we pulled up back up
and seen what what wasn't there there was it was.
There was never tears for that. Yes, we were sad,
and yeah, we were concerned on what we were going
to do next. But but I mean we just, honestly,
I mean, we just kind of put it in God's
hand and our faith in God, and and and and now.
(14:26):
I will say there's been a lot of tears of
happiness and from good things. And I'm not normally a crier.
And it's not not because I'm some big, tough guy.
It's just that I'm just not an emotional person usually.
And I mean, for for six eight months after that,
(14:47):
I cried more in those six or eight months that
I had my entire life.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
I think we all have because just to see so
much love and support, knowing how good these people are, it.
Speaker 7 (14:59):
Is it's over whelming.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Guess it's it's hard to contain those emotions, it really is.
Was there ever a point where y'all thought, I just
this is too much, We we just cannot do this.
Speaker 7 (15:09):
Or the why? I mean the no, I don't.
Speaker 5 (15:12):
I don't think so, not for me. No, No, I mean, honestly,
I mean, our spirits have stayed have stayed pretty good.
I mean we've we've you know, I mean, we've we've laughed,
and we've had we've had as much. I mean, we've
had fun with it as much as you can, you know.
I mean we've just kind of, like I say, I
mean literally, we just sort of made the decision, and
(15:35):
we and we talked about this, you know, her and
I did several times obviously. I mean we just kind
of we just kind of made the decision. Look, this
is this is what we've been dealt. We're gonna we're
gonna make the best of it. We're gonna do the
best we can with it. We're putting it in God's hands,
and and we're just gonna travel forward and see what happens.
(15:56):
And that's and that's what we've done.
Speaker 6 (15:58):
And I mean, Gods he provides. So that's been our
mottos from day one.
Speaker 5 (16:04):
And we were able to save that sign yes Yes,
Sign Yes.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
Now, this episode is kind of about rebuilding, and y'all
were not able or chose not to rebuild in the
same area, right, or not to put a trailer back
in the same place.
Speaker 6 (16:19):
We couldn't. Yeah, they did property owners. We didn't own
the property. We owned a house. So that was another
issue which I'm going to bring builtmore in here. Momentarily.
We couldn't put a house back there because basically they've
already put thirteen FEMA trailers back in there, and they
didn't offer it to anybody to live there. So we're
(16:40):
really confused on that one. But I don't think I
could have lived back in there because of the PTSD.
Everybody around here has it because we're looking at houses
and I don't want a house with water and I
don't want a house with trees. But I mean, well,
we get through it. Yeah, But that was one of
the big things with the church. I did reach out
(17:03):
to the church. We have been members, we were married
in the church, and I've been there for sixteen years
at the main campus and then we just moved to
the East campus about two years ago. I did sign
up for the eight to eight strong, not really kind
(17:25):
of wanting to, because you know, we had jobs where
good other people don't have it. But Biltmore was determined
that they were gonna help us, and we're extremely grateful
for Biltmore. If it wasn't for Biltmore, I don't think
we'd be sitting where we are today. Kelly basically kind
(17:46):
of told me. I said, Kelly, honey, there's more people
out there that are, you know, worse off than we are.
She said, you have a home and I said, no, ma'am.
She says, you've loved on these children for sixteen years.
She said, let us love on you. And I that
was one of the things that kind of stuck with me,
is to ask for help. I'm not one to ask,
(18:09):
but it's one to take the help. And Biltmore was determined.
When they first called me, I was like, she said,
how can we help you? Well, blah blah blah. I said, well,
I don't own the land, so there's really not a
way that you can help us. But you can pray
for us. That's what you can do. And that went
on for probably three months, and then in January she
called me and she said I've got a deal and
(18:31):
I'm like, what and a deal? And she says, well,
we've never done this before and she said, we've been
praying about it, and we really want to do this.
She said, this has been a situation that we haven't
come in contact with us where somebody owned the home
but didn't own the land. And we've been talking and
they were going to put you in an apartment for
a year. And I'm like, wow, okay, so I mean
(18:53):
they put us an apartment. We've been there for I
think it was a fifteen month lease. But it's been
a blessing. I mean it wasn't for Biltmore Church. I
mean the love and the support from that church. I
mean we've had people send us Venmo money just out
of the blue, and I'm like, okay, but it's accepting
(19:15):
the help for us that was a big thing. But
being extremely grateful for God's blessing through this whole entire situation.
Speaker 5 (19:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
So anybody that is listening that's maybe still going through
it all or just lost all that hope, any words
that you would give.
Speaker 6 (19:30):
Them, don't give up where the Lord Gods he provides,
and here we are. I mean, we didn't see this
in forty six years that would be starting over.
Speaker 5 (19:38):
It was it's difficult to think, you know. I mean,
I'm I'm fifty two now, so I mean, what how
long ago was fifty years old basically tried to start over,
you know. I mean, I'm like, oh man, I really
I really did not want to try to start over
at fifty years old. But I mean it's it's fine,
it's fine. And me personally kind of kind of echoing
(20:02):
what she just said, the accepting help and that type thing.
One of one of the biggest lessons that I have
learned from this is no matter what, no matter your pride,
no matter the situation, whatever it may be, is it is,
it's okay. It's okay to ask for help, and it's
(20:24):
okay to accept help. And that was very, very difficult
for me to wrap my head around and for me
to understand. And you know, I still I mean, I mean,
right now, right this minute, I don't feel deserving of
a lot of the blessings that we have received. And
(20:46):
I struggled with that. I struggled with it pretty hard
for a while. And a couple of I'm trying not
to get emotional, but a couple of buddies of mine
that I that I go to church with also they
had a talk with me one night and they knew
(21:07):
that I was kind of struggling with stuff and and
and they you know, they kind of put it in
perspective of, you know, if you think about it, do
do any of us really deserve anything that we have?
So so don't don't feel like that you're not deserving
(21:28):
of it. And that was that was one of the
hardest things for me to sort of overcome.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
I have found that folks who have that attitude who
say I'm.
Speaker 3 (21:39):
Not deserving hard the most deserving, always.
Speaker 7 (21:42):
Without without fail, are the most deserving.
Speaker 5 (21:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (21:45):
Well, y'all put a lot of good into the world,
whether it's through the church, you're just being great people.
I mean, Crystal talk all the time during Duke basketball
games especially, but watching a game of them, y'all are
always checking on us, you know, your support of things,
and I know you do that for a lot of people.
So I think that what you've been putting out for
fifty years is what you're now getting and I'm so
(22:07):
glad that you've had that for yourselves.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
Right.
Speaker 5 (22:09):
Well, well, well I appreciate that, but it's I mean,
even that's hard to hear sometimes, you know, I don't know,
It's just that's just who we are nature, right we are? Yeah,
I mean, yes, mountain mountains.
Speaker 7 (22:22):
Well you.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
I think y'all are like the poster child for for
hope and faith and we just it means the world
to us that you would share your story and just.
Speaker 7 (22:33):
The positive vibes.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
I don't feel like at any point, even with all
that was piled on you, I don't feel like you
ever lost that faith or that hope, but you just
you just persevered and you plowed through. And it's I mean,
I think the Lord's bless you.
Speaker 6 (22:44):
I mean absolutely, you know where we're going from.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
Here, hoping for the best wheel.
Speaker 7 (22:54):
I do not know what I'm hood.
Speaker 5 (22:55):
I think that's where everybody's at you. It's a crazy
world out there.
Speaker 7 (23:00):
Anybody else that you want to think or anything else
you want to add.
Speaker 5 (23:03):
Oh my gosh, they're really I mean I mean the list,
I mean well, I mean obviously we don't even know
a lot of the names, you know, but I mean
the list is so long, and and and and I
know we would miss some people, but I mean the church,
like she said, the church is a big one.
Speaker 7 (23:20):
I mean.
Speaker 5 (23:22):
Always yes, and and and where she works, I mean
Derma Blue, which is part it's it's under what is
that blue Sky Health. I mean they they were absolutely amazing.
Speaker 6 (23:36):
I mean they showed.
Speaker 5 (23:38):
Up clothes and food. Yeah, I don't know, I don't
I don't know that there's a way to ever repay people.
And I don't guess you need to necessarily or you're
supposed to, but you kind of feel like you want to.
But yeah, I mean it's just we we've just we
we've been so blessed with with everything. I mean I couldn't. Yeah, gears.
Speaker 6 (24:08):
Of ours also on the football staff, and yeah he
showed up with a box of Clympson attire and also
treated him to a Clemson football game. Yeah, you get
her mind off of the whole.
Speaker 5 (24:20):
But you know, yeah, I mean there's so many and
just just things like that. I mean, it's just.
Speaker 6 (24:24):
Went to Fleet Feet. He was getting new boots because
he lost his.
Speaker 5 (24:27):
Boots, new boots for work.
Speaker 6 (24:30):
Feet gave him a pair of shoes. So I mean,
it's that little thing of you sharing your story. You
never know who needs to hear it. And that's why
I will share my story until I mean, I've gave
my testimony at two different churches and I'll continue to
do because there's always somebody who needs to hear.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
Well, after all you've faced, is there anywhere else you
would ever live?
Speaker 6 (24:55):
I don't think so.
Speaker 5 (24:56):
Probably not, Probably probably not.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
Yeah, thank y'all for sharing your story.
Speaker 5 (25:05):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
So this episode is all about rebuilding and this uh,
this fella here, our next guest is no stranger to
that very thing. He's a longtime friend and just a
fantastic Heywood County Failer. Y'all welcome Hunter Bowen to the podcast.
Speaker 4 (25:21):
Good say Bron, Good See how are y'all doing.
Speaker 7 (25:23):
We're making it through, man, make it through. I feel you.
So take us back.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
To ground zero on day one hurricane to ling what
your experience and what you were seeing, what you were
going through.
Speaker 4 (25:36):
Well, day one, it started out like, first off, I
was going to go to work and I felt like
I should not go to work. This is just something
fell off of that day. Then as everything started progressing
in the day and time went on, it was like, Okay,
(25:57):
this is going to be like the flood we had
a few years ago, Hurricane Fred or whatever the name
of it was. And as you saw the water start
rising and we were like, oh, this ain't gonna be
like it. This is gonna be a lot worse. So
I just started grabbing all my stuff as much as
(26:18):
I can, prize, possessings, clothes, you name it. I try
to grab everything, and I just as time was running out,
I was like, okay, I need to get everything I
can out. And my parents they were still there, just
like it won't be that bad. I'm like, why there's
(26:39):
coming in the house.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
We need to get out in that moment, how do
you decide what stay?
Speaker 3 (26:44):
Do I leave? What do I grab?
Speaker 2 (26:45):
Yeah, that's gonna be a you're you're trying to do
this so quickly, but I mean, it's it's hard to
make that decision.
Speaker 7 (26:51):
I mean, what what do you grab? What do you leave?
Speaker 4 (26:53):
You know, grab my clothes, grab anything clothes Wise I can,
because who knows what could happen to my house? Could
it crumple down, could it stay intact and nothing happened
to it? Or who knows? But prized possessions. I knew
exactly the one item I wanted to grab, and that
(27:14):
was my Tony Store autographed helmet that I was able
to get autographed in person at the twenty fourteen Coke
six hundred. And that took years of trying, and it
brought tears to my eyes. Today I got and I
knew if I saved anything, it would be that one item.
Speaker 3 (27:34):
Oh, you mentioned that you know about previous hurricanes and flooding.
Did had your house flooded before in the area that you're.
Speaker 4 (27:42):
In, Not that we lived there? No, Okay, in the
last flood, Fred, I think it was like twenty one
or twenty two. It took basically up to I live Campton,
right down front the middle school, and there was like
the tractors not trashfly Riverview, and then there was a
(28:04):
church right in front of my house, and it basically
came up to the steps of my house because my
house is a little higher up. And the town alderman
Ralph lived right across the street from me, and he
was able to get out in time. So me, my neighbor,
and the mayor zeb all pitched in together and went
(28:28):
and made sure to get him and his family out
of his house. And later on, after that flood was happening,
all you heard was goats screaming, and the goats they
were over by his house in his garage that he had,
and me, my neighbor and a couple other people that
(28:49):
were just there watching everything happen, just all got together
and decided to get out and there and make sure
it's saved. The goats for the keep them fed didn't take.
Speaker 7 (29:00):
Care of.
Speaker 3 (29:03):
So as you're you know, you said you were grabbing stuff.
Your parents were like, no, we're going to stay. When
was the moment that your parents decided, okay, we need to.
Speaker 4 (29:11):
Go The moment I basically made them. Yeah, Like I
literally had to cust them out and tell them like, hey,
we need to get out of the freaking house and
get on high ground because it's too late for us
to drive off.
Speaker 3 (29:23):
What happened to your house?
Speaker 7 (29:25):
We had about maybe.
Speaker 4 (29:28):
Five feet of water chest deep worth water in my house,
I would say, and almost everything was toppled over and
destroyed or anything like that. And of all those things
my collection, I was just like, all this year of
hard work getting autographs and items that I had just
gotten autographs the week before at the Bristol Night Race weekend,
(29:51):
it was just like this sewed away. And my girlfriend
she was over helping us clean and she's like, don't
throw it away. You can clean them. They may not
be the same as they were before, but they'll still
mean something to you. They'll still have a story that
you can tell. And there was items that I had
just gotten that wasn't able to autographed that yep. And
(30:14):
I took them to the Spring Bristol Race this year
and a couple of other races I went to and
I was like, man, this car I thought was trashed.
My girlfriend was like, hey, you need to save these
and clean them up, and try to get them autographed,
and I did, and the drivers were surprised of just
(30:35):
like where those cars were and what happened to them
and just hearing my story of the hurricane.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
Well, they're very gracious and understanding and yeah, and they
all seem like they're very uh, just accepting people and
very very gracious with their time, especially if you don't
know Hunter.
Speaker 7 (30:52):
He's a huge Naskal.
Speaker 3 (30:53):
And he gets autographs. I don't know how he does this.
I don't really want to know because I don't know
if it's legal, and I'm just kidding, but he gets
out of graps from everyone. So he really works hard
at it. And I'm glad that you were able to
save something.
Speaker 7 (31:04):
For the record.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
I want to say, if somebody listening to this right now,
I might be thinking, well, of all the things you
could say, why would you save NASCAR memorabilia or what?
Speaker 7 (31:12):
Well, look, when.
Speaker 2 (31:12):
You're in that moment, it's those little things that are
big things. I mean to Hunter, that's a big thing.
So you know, it's what you grab. You can't grab everything,
so you just you try to grab what means the
most to you.
Speaker 3 (31:23):
And I mean it's like grabbing pictures, those are kind
of like his, you know, like they tell a story
and memories and all of that.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
So like, there's things that I have that mean nothing
to anybody else, but to you, those are big things.
I mean, that's you know, it's I can't imagine having
to make that decision what do you keep?
Speaker 7 (31:36):
What do you leave?
Speaker 2 (31:37):
Because you don't only leave your house, but you know,
there's a big decisions to make. What is that moment
like when you you see your house and you know, man,
this is just it's just not salvageable. What how do
you how you reconcile that? How do you process that?
Speaker 4 (31:50):
I was in shocked, like I'm odd, Like whenever I'm
a shock or something, I have a tendency to laugh.
So I was kind of like laughing been a little,
but I was. It was like a hysterical laugh, like
laughing but I'm crying. And just the first day of
the flood, I was the first real day I cried.
(32:11):
And after that I just looked at it as Hey,
God had a reason this happened, and there's a reason
that this happened to help move forward in life and
get closer to God.
Speaker 3 (32:27):
And I know we have kind of talked about that
off air and you know, whatever you're comfortable talking about,
but you talked about your parents and kind of finding
God through all of this. Do you want to tell
a little bit about that story?
Speaker 7 (32:39):
Yes.
Speaker 4 (32:39):
My parents at first they were mad with God, like
why would this happen to us? And I kept telling
them go to my foreman, Mac Bowman. He is very
religious and he goes to build more church. After they
started going to church, my parents realized this is where
they want to be at in life if they want
(33:00):
to be close to God. And not just Mac, but
his wife Kathy and his daughter Emily, also the people
that were working on our house Baptists with a mission.
They all Mac's family all work together try to get
them to change their policy because we had flood insurance
and at first their policy was if you don't have
(33:22):
flood insurance or something like that, they'll help you. And
after a few weeks back and forth, they changed their policy.
Called our family and was like, hey changed their policy.
We can be out there within a couple of days
to start the rebuilding process. And from there on, every
(33:47):
group that was in our house wrote a Bible verse,
a prayer or blessed our house in some way, including
Mac and his family. Mac wrote, Mac and his family
all wrote a prayer in each one of our rooms.
I think Kathy wrote a prayer in my mom's room,
(34:10):
Mac wrote a prayer in my room, and Mac's daughter
Emily wrote a prayer in my dad's room. Or Bible
verse or something like that. But we have maybe eight
or nine Bible verses or prayers in our house altogether.
And there's a country rapper I follow. His name is Crucifix,
(34:32):
and he's very religious. I was able to get in
touch with him about possibly writing a prayer or a
Bible verse to put up in our house once we
got back in and he graciously did both of them,
and we both have them in our dining room right
beside our table, where if we're in there we can
(34:55):
always look at them and read them and know God
is there with us at all times.
Speaker 7 (35:01):
That's fantastic.
Speaker 2 (35:02):
I just that's such a ray of hope and sunshine
and in such a dark time.
Speaker 3 (35:07):
I mean, it's just that that's kind of amazing that
all of the stories different people that we have talked
to while doing this podcast, especially, but there's a theme
of what got them through and what gave them hope
and it was God faith in the community. I mean
every story, it's what the people of this community were
doing and what like the churches and what their faith was,
what's doing in those moments. So it tells a lot.
Speaker 2 (35:28):
So how it goes the rebuilding process. Are you guys
coming along?
Speaker 4 (35:31):
It's good, we're back in our house, but it still
doesn't feel like it's our house.
Speaker 2 (35:37):
I think the most important thing though, is you're in
their room. Yeah, yes, yeah, that's a win.
Speaker 3 (35:42):
And it changed I think that's you know the thing.
The storm changed everyone, especially you know, people like you
and your family who lost their belongings or their homes
and you're just trying to find a way to kind
of start over and start fresh. And so it is
going to take a minute for it to feel like
home in your space again, and it.
Speaker 2 (35:58):
Takes strength to do what you and your family have
done over the past year. The whole reason we want
to do this podcast is to get these stories out
there and to let folks know that there is a
community behind you, there is faith, there is love. So
if you could speak to someone who maybe is still
you know, maybe not as far along, or they had
much more damage or greater loss. What would you say
(36:19):
to them to maybe lift their spirits?
Speaker 4 (36:21):
Well, the best day I can thank you to say
is basically what Jay Row said at tank US to
SEEMA Awards.
Speaker 7 (36:29):
There's always a rear.
Speaker 4 (36:30):
View mirror for a reason to look back on it,
and the windshield will always be bigger because your future
is much brighter and bigger than what the past can be.
Speaker 2 (36:41):
That's great advice. Thank you for sharing your story and
thank you for your time here. Thank y'all for listening
to stories after the storm. One year later, we're still learning,
we're still rebuilding and still standing strong together.
Speaker 3 (36:55):
As we move forward, we do it as neighbors, as family,
and as Western North Carolina
One year after Helene, the voices of Western North Carolina
share their stories. This is Stories after the Storm with
Eddie Fox and Amanda Fox, Episode three, Rebuilding.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
When the waters went down and the roads reopened, Western
North Carolina wasn't the same place it had been before Helene.
The damage was everywhere you looked, but so were the
people showing up sleeves rolled up, ready to rebuild what
the storm had taken.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
In those early weeks, recovery didn't look heroic. It looked
like neighbors dragon debris out of living rooms. It looked
like small businesses reopening with half a menu and twice
the determination. It looked like volunteers walking miles just to
check on a stranger.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
The rebuild started quietly, one roof, one meal, one hug,
one step at a time. It wasn't fast, wasn't easy,
but it was ours, powered by the kind of grit
only Western North Carolina knows.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
In today's episode, you're going to hear from people who
decided that the story of Helene went in with destruction,
but with renewal.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
This is the part of the story where hope takes root,
where the mountains remind us how to stand tall.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Again, this is episode three Rebuilding.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Well, this episode is about rebuilding, and I don't think
there are two people that know more about just rebuilding
a life than these two right here, y'all, please welcome
to the podcast. Chris and Crystal Moyers. Thank y'all for
taking the time to come in and tell your story.
Speaker 4 (01:30):
Thank you.
Speaker 5 (01:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Absolutely, We kind of want to start obviously, you guys
are dear friends of ours. We love you, but we
want to people that don't know your story. We want
to kind of start from the beginning of the day
and the day that the hurricane first hit. What were
you doing to prepare and Chris, I know it was
like your birthday, I think the day before, so obviously
happy times that, Oh yeah, change quickly. So let's let's
(01:52):
go back to the first day.
Speaker 6 (01:54):
Let's see the first time we twenty seventh. I kind
of got up because we know it'd been raining for
like a week, got up and I said, well, maybe
we should look outside. So we looked outside and the
water was probably halfway up the trailer on the backside.
And he looked and he says, we gotta go. I'm like, okay,
(02:14):
So I mean at that time, my nerves were shot.
I was puking, and I'm like, I don't understand what's
going on. So we basically grabbed handful of clothes. He
grabbed a handful of clothes, We grabbed the dog. We
grabbed some food for him for grot water that's another story,
and left. We went to the holiday Inn in Otine
(02:38):
because we thought we had to get high, so we
went up there on that hill, but the wind was
blowing so hard the trees that was covered with trees,
and I was like, we can't stay here. So then
we left and went to Ingles and Oteene and set
for four hours. Kind of everything kind of kind of
calmed down about ten o'clock and we went back and
that's when we saw what was left of theighborhood. We
(03:01):
had a single wide trailer that was knocked off its foundation,
sitting in the MUDs, kind of tilted sideways, and I
just kind of stood there and I'm like, okay, now
what he went down in the neighborhood and you talked
to some of the neighbors. Yeah, and he was going
to go back in the house. And the guy that
(03:22):
was standing there, he said, I watched your house fall.
He said, I wouldn't go back in it. Chris said,
I kind of have to to see what's left or
what can we can salvage or put in the car.
And because I mean, we were one of the ones
we were crossed from the swan Or River. We were
on the other side of Interstate forty. We were in
a less than one percent flood zone. When we put
the trailer there five years ago. We didn't have to
(03:43):
jack it up because it wasn't a flood zone, so
I was like sure. So four feet of water was
inside the home pretty much took all the stuff with mold,
with sludge, with sewage, with whatever else you want to
put that just ran down through there. It took all
(04:04):
thirteen trailers that was in the neighborhood.
Speaker 5 (04:07):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, you know, we lived the road
that we lived on was Old Gym's Branch. So it
was literally a branch that was behind our house that
was I mean like like two foot wide and on
(04:27):
a normal day not even a foot deep. And when
we when we pulled back up at like ten o'clock,
it was still at that time, it was still flowing.
That looked like a river that was oh my gosh,
I mean still then when I walked down it was
it was almost up to my waist then and was
(04:50):
probably almost one hundred yards wide running through there. And
so I mean at one point, with the way our
trailer sat, you had I mean that water was was
probably I mean it had to be close to nine
nine foot through there, because I mean you had four
(05:11):
and a half to five foot inside, and I mean
our trailer was about three foot off the ground. So
I mean, yeah, I mean it was that was that
was a lot of water that come from Gym's branch,
a tiny little branch.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
So you get back to the property and you see
the damage, you see, which I'm sure it's hard for
your mind to process what you're seeing, right, How do
you decide.
Speaker 7 (05:37):
What to do in that moment? I mean what are
you thinking? Do you decide? I mean, what do I do?
Speaker 6 (05:42):
Now?
Speaker 7 (05:42):
Where do I go next? I mean, take us back?
Put us in your mind at that moment.
Speaker 5 (05:46):
So so she she immediately I don't know how, honestly,
I don't know how she thought about this, but immediately
got on the phone and started with calling insurance companies
and mortgage companies and that type stuff. And and I
was just at that moment was just thinking, is there
(06:10):
is there anything left that that I can salvage inside?
And there wasn't. I mean, there was there was. Well
that that's not true. We were able to get we
got some of her Christmas decoration, and we were able
to get like some of the you know, a few
of like important like like some of our wedding photos,
(06:33):
a few of those, some of her mom's jewelry, some
things like that we were able to save, but it
was very, very few and far between. I got. I
got kind of lucky with with the firearms and Ammo
that I that I owned, and and all of those
were up high enough to where that stuff was saved.
But all furniture, all electronics, all clothing, I mean, any
(06:58):
anything else you can think of, washers and dryers and
and all that was just destroyed. I mean, you know, get.
Speaker 6 (07:05):
The smell out of my nose, because yeah.
Speaker 5 (07:09):
And you know, it was obviously our situation. You know,
when we pulled up, we could still physically see our resonance.
You know, a lot of people weren't even that lucky,
but it was. It was it had floated down from
(07:30):
where it originally was, and like she said, was kind
of turned on its side a little bit. So yeah,
I mean everything was everything was just destroyed. And then
after that, I mean we left.
Speaker 6 (07:41):
We didn't know what we were doing. We just got
in the car and we just was like, okay, what's next.
We started towards Tennessee because we had family in Tennessee.
Because when the phones were still working, we called and
they were like, please come see us because I was
able to get on Facebook and post four hours you
took everything we had so that, you know, people that
could see it was freaking out because they couldn't find us.
(08:04):
So my family in Tennessee was like, please come here,
Please come here, we have a room. So we tried
to get there. Well, forty was gone so you couldn't
get there. So we turned around, went back towards South
Carolina because we had family in South Carolina that said
please come. Couldn't get to South Carolina. We went back
to Old Fort Mountain. Couldn't get down that way because
(08:25):
the Arox slide so and you couldn't get to Johnson City.
You couldn't you couldn't get anywhere. So we were just like, okay,
now now what do we do. We slept on the
side of Interstate at forty on Old Fort Mountain on
the Richard Petty Bridge in the car the first night
and was like, okay, now what's next. So yeah, I
mean there was literally hundreds of people up there with us.
(08:46):
Oh yeah, hanging out, you know. So the truckers, you know,
have the CBS that actually worked because we didn't have
cell phones. You didn't have no communication with anybody to
know if the GPS didn't even work in my car
because I had just bought my car to we before
the storm. So then it didn't work, and I'm like, okay,
something's up. So the truckers started CB and then they
(09:07):
started doing U terms and I was like okay. So
he got out and went to talk to some of
the people that were just standing on the side of
the road and said, you know, twenty six is open.
So we did a U turn, which one of the
state troopers that went through kind of looked at us
and goes comes across this little thing and said, I
(09:28):
wouldn't do that if I were you. I'm sitting here,
my buddy, you don't have any So we did it.
Went to South Carolina. Couldn't find a hotel room anywhere.
We went to Easley, went to Charlotte, everything was sold out.
We finally found a hotel room in Greensboro, North Carolina.
(09:48):
So our second night was in Greensboro, a second and
third or whatever, and I'm still on the phone with
the insurance, still arguing with the insurance. They even asked me,
he said did you have a fire, And I'm like,
do you watch what? I'm like, no, I don't have
I haven't didn't have a fire. So with the insurance,
once we get to Charlotte, my company is trying to
(10:10):
track us down. She's like where are you And once
they're been Hendersonville, I'm like, well, I'm in Greensboro. I'm like,
we have, you know, offices in Greensboro. I can go
to work. She was like, no, you're not working. I
want to know where you are because we're going to
put you in a hotel room in Charlotte. So my
company paid for a week in Charlotte to at a hotel,
(10:32):
no question to ask. And I'm like okay. I'm like, well,
we have an office in Charlotte. I can go work.
And she's like, no, you're going to think about what
you're doing. And I'm like, I don't know what I'm doing.
I need normalacy, I need to stay on a schedule.
I need I need that. I need routine. And she's
like no, I'm like okay. So from there, once we
(10:55):
got back to Charlotte, we had some other friends of
ours who's also the Kevin Harvick fan club that I've
been in for twenty six years. She reached out and said,
I told her, you know, she wanted to have dinner,
and I said, okay, I said, I need to go
the laundry mat first to wash them clothes. She says, no,
You're going to my house. So here, I go in
this house, wash my clothes and then she, you know,
(11:20):
buys dinner. And her daughter is also the nanny for
Kevin Harvick. Well, Kevin Harvick's little girl, Piper went through
her dog's toys, picked a bunch of toys oh, and
had them for Maverick. And her mom was like, honey,
she said, what the dog needs toys? So yeah, I
(11:40):
was like that was special that, you know, she at
least thought of us. But it's the people that have
got us.
Speaker 5 (11:46):
Yeah, I mean there was, there was, and it's it's
like a lot of stories. I mean sometimes I hesitate
to say, but there wasn't a lot of help from
Fama and things like that. But but there was massive,
massive amounts of help from people just neighbors, just friends
(12:06):
or strangers, just everybody, you know, just everybody around. I mean,
that's that's where all the help came from. That's where
all the prayers came from. I mean, there's there's you know,
We've got lots of stories about stuff like that too,
I mean, meals being paid for and and.
Speaker 6 (12:21):
I think there was months that we went through any
restaurant that we would go and everybody would say, your
meal has been paid for? And I'm like, right by who?
And I'm like I need to thank these people, you know.
And it's just like little stories like that. I mean,
we were in Charlotte and I'm still in my pajamas,
looking like total death, and we finally found Chick fil
(12:43):
A Jesus Chicken, and I'm standing at the back of
the car and there's mud all over the car. You know,
we're eating outside because you can't pick it all again.
So this lady comes up and she just has a
swat of money and she says, are you all from
the norm? And I said yes, ma'am. And she said, well,
I want to give you this, she said, this is
(13:04):
all I have right now. That she said I want
to buy your food. Yeah, I lost it. I just
sat there and cried. I mean I didn't cry. We
haven't cried for the house. We haven't cried for anything
of that. It's mostly happy stories, yes, happy tears. It's
what have we done to deserve this? What? What? What
(13:24):
are we doing here? You know, because we're not ones
to like take things or gifts as far as that goes.
We kind of feel like the survivor's guilt.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
You think it's the community that that started restoring your
hope and your faith pretty quick.
Speaker 5 (13:40):
Like one Hu absolutely, absolutely, yeah there and like like
she said, I mean, as weird as it may sound
to some people, never, I don't, I don't. I don't
think either one of us. I know, I know, not
me and I'm pretty sure not her. There was never
a single tear out of sadness or or or worry
(14:03):
or concern. I mean when we pulled up back up
and seen what what wasn't there there was it was.
There was never tears for that. Yes, we were sad,
and yeah, we were concerned on what we were going
to do next. But but I mean we just, honestly,
I mean, we just kind of put it in God's
hand and our faith in God, and and and and now.
(14:26):
I will say there's been a lot of tears of
happiness and from good things. And I'm not normally a crier.
And it's not not because I'm some big, tough guy.
It's just that I'm just not an emotional person usually.
And I mean, for for six eight months after that,
(14:47):
I cried more in those six or eight months that
I had my entire life.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
I think we all have because just to see so
much love and support, knowing how good these people are, it.
Speaker 7 (14:59):
Is it's over whelming.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Guess it's it's hard to contain those emotions, it really is.
Was there ever a point where y'all thought, I just
this is too much, We we just cannot do this.
Speaker 7 (15:09):
Or the why? I mean the no, I don't.
Speaker 5 (15:12):
I don't think so, not for me. No, No, I mean, honestly,
I mean, our spirits have stayed have stayed pretty good.
I mean we've we've you know, I mean, we've we've laughed,
and we've had we've had as much. I mean, we've
had fun with it as much as you can, you know.
I mean we've just kind of, like I say, I
mean literally, we just sort of made the decision, and
(15:35):
we and we talked about this, you know, her and
I did several times obviously. I mean we just kind
of we just kind of made the decision. Look, this
is this is what we've been dealt. We're gonna we're
gonna make the best of it. We're gonna do the
best we can with it. We're putting it in God's hands,
and and we're just gonna travel forward and see what happens.
(15:56):
And that's and that's what we've done.
Speaker 6 (15:58):
And I mean, Gods he provides. So that's been our
mottos from day one.
Speaker 5 (16:04):
And we were able to save that sign yes Yes,
Sign Yes.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
Now, this episode is kind of about rebuilding, and y'all
were not able or chose not to rebuild in the
same area, right, or not to put a trailer back
in the same place.
Speaker 6 (16:19):
We couldn't. Yeah, they did property owners. We didn't own
the property. We owned a house. So that was another
issue which I'm going to bring builtmore in here. Momentarily.
We couldn't put a house back there because basically they've
already put thirteen FEMA trailers back in there, and they
didn't offer it to anybody to live there. So we're
(16:40):
really confused on that one. But I don't think I
could have lived back in there because of the PTSD.
Everybody around here has it because we're looking at houses
and I don't want a house with water and I
don't want a house with trees. But I mean, well,
we get through it. Yeah, But that was one of
the big things with the church. I did reach out
(17:03):
to the church. We have been members, we were married
in the church, and I've been there for sixteen years
at the main campus and then we just moved to
the East campus about two years ago. I did sign
up for the eight to eight strong, not really kind
(17:25):
of wanting to, because you know, we had jobs where
good other people don't have it. But Biltmore was determined
that they were gonna help us, and we're extremely grateful
for Biltmore. If it wasn't for Biltmore, I don't think
we'd be sitting where we are today. Kelly basically kind
(17:46):
of told me. I said, Kelly, honey, there's more people
out there that are, you know, worse off than we are.
She said, you have a home and I said, no, ma'am.
She says, you've loved on these children for sixteen years.
She said, let us love on you. And I that
was one of the things that kind of stuck with me,
is to ask for help. I'm not one to ask,
(18:09):
but it's one to take the help. And Biltmore was determined.
When they first called me, I was like, she said,
how can we help you? Well, blah blah blah. I said, well,
I don't own the land, so there's really not a
way that you can help us. But you can pray
for us. That's what you can do. And that went
on for probably three months, and then in January she
called me and she said I've got a deal and
(18:31):
I'm like, what and a deal? And she says, well,
we've never done this before and she said, we've been
praying about it, and we really want to do this.
She said, this has been a situation that we haven't
come in contact with us where somebody owned the home
but didn't own the land. And we've been talking and
they were going to put you in an apartment for
a year. And I'm like, wow, okay, so I mean
(18:53):
they put us an apartment. We've been there for I
think it was a fifteen month lease. But it's been
a blessing. I mean it wasn't for Biltmore Church. I
mean the love and the support from that church. I
mean we've had people send us Venmo money just out
of the blue, and I'm like, okay, but it's accepting
(19:15):
the help for us that was a big thing. But
being extremely grateful for God's blessing through this whole entire situation.
Speaker 5 (19:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
So anybody that is listening that's maybe still going through
it all or just lost all that hope, any words
that you would give.
Speaker 6 (19:30):
Them, don't give up where the Lord Gods he provides,
and here we are. I mean, we didn't see this
in forty six years that would be starting over.
Speaker 5 (19:38):
It was it's difficult to think, you know. I mean,
I'm I'm fifty two now, so I mean, what how
long ago was fifty years old basically tried to start over,
you know. I mean, I'm like, oh man, I really
I really did not want to try to start over
at fifty years old. But I mean it's it's fine,
it's fine. And me personally kind of kind of echoing
(20:02):
what she just said, the accepting help and that type thing.
One of one of the biggest lessons that I have
learned from this is no matter what, no matter your pride,
no matter the situation, whatever it may be, is it is,
it's okay. It's okay to ask for help, and it's
(20:24):
okay to accept help. And that was very, very difficult
for me to wrap my head around and for me
to understand. And you know, I still I mean, I mean,
right now, right this minute, I don't feel deserving of
a lot of the blessings that we have received. And
(20:46):
I struggled with that. I struggled with it pretty hard
for a while. And a couple of I'm trying not
to get emotional, but a couple of buddies of mine
that I that I go to church with also they
had a talk with me one night and they knew
(21:07):
that I was kind of struggling with stuff and and
and they you know, they kind of put it in
perspective of, you know, if you think about it, do
do any of us really deserve anything that we have?
So so don't don't feel like that you're not deserving
(21:28):
of it. And that was that was one of the
hardest things for me to sort of overcome.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
I have found that folks who have that attitude who
say I'm.
Speaker 3 (21:39):
Not deserving hard the most deserving, always.
Speaker 7 (21:42):
Without without fail, are the most deserving.
Speaker 5 (21:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (21:45):
Well, y'all put a lot of good into the world,
whether it's through the church, you're just being great people.
I mean, Crystal talk all the time during Duke basketball
games especially, but watching a game of them, y'all are
always checking on us, you know, your support of things,
and I know you do that for a lot of people.
So I think that what you've been putting out for
fifty years is what you're now getting and I'm so
(22:07):
glad that you've had that for yourselves.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
Right.
Speaker 5 (22:09):
Well, well, well I appreciate that, but it's I mean,
even that's hard to hear sometimes, you know, I don't know,
It's just that's just who we are nature, right we are? Yeah,
I mean, yes, mountain mountains.
Speaker 7 (22:22):
Well you.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
I think y'all are like the poster child for for
hope and faith and we just it means the world
to us that you would share your story and just.
Speaker 7 (22:33):
The positive vibes.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
I don't feel like at any point, even with all
that was piled on you, I don't feel like you
ever lost that faith or that hope, but you just
you just persevered and you plowed through. And it's I mean,
I think the Lord's bless you.
Speaker 6 (22:44):
I mean absolutely, you know where we're going from.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
Here, hoping for the best wheel.
Speaker 7 (22:54):
I do not know what I'm hood.
Speaker 5 (22:55):
I think that's where everybody's at you. It's a crazy
world out there.
Speaker 7 (23:00):
Anybody else that you want to think or anything else
you want to add.
Speaker 5 (23:03):
Oh my gosh, they're really I mean I mean the list,
I mean well, I mean obviously we don't even know
a lot of the names, you know, but I mean
the list is so long, and and and and I
know we would miss some people, but I mean the church,
like she said, the church is a big one.
Speaker 7 (23:20):
I mean.
Speaker 5 (23:22):
Always yes, and and and where she works, I mean
Derma Blue, which is part it's it's under what is
that blue Sky Health. I mean they they were absolutely amazing.
Speaker 6 (23:36):
I mean they showed.
Speaker 5 (23:38):
Up clothes and food. Yeah, I don't know, I don't
I don't know that there's a way to ever repay people.
And I don't guess you need to necessarily or you're
supposed to, but you kind of feel like you want to.
But yeah, I mean it's just we we've just we
we've been so blessed with with everything. I mean I couldn't. Yeah, gears.
Speaker 6 (24:08):
Of ours also on the football staff, and yeah he
showed up with a box of Clympson attire and also
treated him to a Clemson football game. Yeah, you get
her mind off of the whole.
Speaker 5 (24:20):
But you know, yeah, I mean there's so many and
just just things like that. I mean, it's just.
Speaker 6 (24:24):
Went to Fleet Feet. He was getting new boots because
he lost his.
Speaker 5 (24:27):
Boots, new boots for work.
Speaker 6 (24:30):
Feet gave him a pair of shoes. So I mean,
it's that little thing of you sharing your story. You
never know who needs to hear it. And that's why
I will share my story until I mean, I've gave
my testimony at two different churches and I'll continue to
do because there's always somebody who needs to hear.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
Well, after all you've faced, is there anywhere else you
would ever live?
Speaker 6 (24:55):
I don't think so.
Speaker 5 (24:56):
Probably not, Probably probably not.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
Yeah, thank y'all for sharing your story.
Speaker 5 (25:05):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
So this episode is all about rebuilding and this uh,
this fella here, our next guest is no stranger to
that very thing. He's a longtime friend and just a
fantastic Heywood County Failer. Y'all welcome Hunter Bowen to the podcast.
Speaker 4 (25:21):
Good say Bron, Good See how are y'all doing.
Speaker 7 (25:23):
We're making it through, man, make it through. I feel you.
So take us back.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
To ground zero on day one hurricane to ling what
your experience and what you were seeing, what you were
going through.
Speaker 4 (25:36):
Well, day one, it started out like, first off, I
was going to go to work and I felt like
I should not go to work. This is just something
fell off of that day. Then as everything started progressing
in the day and time went on, it was like, Okay,
(25:57):
this is going to be like the flood we had
a few years ago, Hurricane Fred or whatever the name
of it was. And as you saw the water start
rising and we were like, oh, this ain't gonna be
like it. This is gonna be a lot worse. So
I just started grabbing all my stuff as much as
(26:18):
I can, prize, possessings, clothes, you name it. I try
to grab everything, and I just as time was running out,
I was like, okay, I need to get everything I
can out. And my parents they were still there, just
like it won't be that bad. I'm like, why there's
(26:39):
coming in the house.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
We need to get out in that moment, how do
you decide what stay?
Speaker 3 (26:44):
Do I leave? What do I grab?
Speaker 2 (26:45):
Yeah, that's gonna be a you're you're trying to do
this so quickly, but I mean, it's it's hard to
make that decision.
Speaker 7 (26:51):
I mean, what what do you grab? What do you leave?
Speaker 4 (26:53):
You know, grab my clothes, grab anything clothes Wise I can,
because who knows what could happen to my house? Could
it crumple down, could it stay intact and nothing happened
to it? Or who knows? But prized possessions. I knew
exactly the one item I wanted to grab, and that
(27:14):
was my Tony Store autographed helmet that I was able
to get autographed in person at the twenty fourteen Coke
six hundred. And that took years of trying, and it
brought tears to my eyes. Today I got and I
knew if I saved anything, it would be that one item.
Speaker 3 (27:34):
Oh, you mentioned that you know about previous hurricanes and flooding.
Did had your house flooded before in the area that you're.
Speaker 4 (27:42):
In, Not that we lived there? No, Okay, in the
last flood, Fred, I think it was like twenty one
or twenty two. It took basically up to I live Campton,
right down front the middle school, and there was like
the tractors not trashfly Riverview, and then there was a
(28:04):
church right in front of my house, and it basically
came up to the steps of my house because my
house is a little higher up. And the town alderman
Ralph lived right across the street from me, and he
was able to get out in time. So me, my neighbor,
and the mayor zeb all pitched in together and went
(28:28):
and made sure to get him and his family out
of his house. And later on, after that flood was happening,
all you heard was goats screaming, and the goats they
were over by his house in his garage that he had,
and me, my neighbor and a couple other people that
(28:49):
were just there watching everything happen, just all got together
and decided to get out and there and make sure
it's saved. The goats for the keep them fed didn't take.
Speaker 7 (29:00):
Care of.
Speaker 3 (29:03):
So as you're you know, you said you were grabbing stuff.
Your parents were like, no, we're going to stay. When
was the moment that your parents decided, okay, we need to.
Speaker 4 (29:11):
Go The moment I basically made them. Yeah, Like I
literally had to cust them out and tell them like, hey,
we need to get out of the freaking house and
get on high ground because it's too late for us
to drive off.
Speaker 3 (29:23):
What happened to your house?
Speaker 7 (29:25):
We had about maybe.
Speaker 4 (29:28):
Five feet of water chest deep worth water in my house,
I would say, and almost everything was toppled over and
destroyed or anything like that. And of all those things
my collection, I was just like, all this year of
hard work getting autographs and items that I had just
gotten autographs the week before at the Bristol Night Race weekend,
(29:51):
it was just like this sewed away. And my girlfriend
she was over helping us clean and she's like, don't
throw it away. You can clean them. They may not
be the same as they were before, but they'll still
mean something to you. They'll still have a story that
you can tell. And there was items that I had
just gotten that wasn't able to autographed that yep. And
(30:14):
I took them to the Spring Bristol Race this year
and a couple of other races I went to and
I was like, man, this car I thought was trashed.
My girlfriend was like, hey, you need to save these
and clean them up, and try to get them autographed,
and I did, and the drivers were surprised of just
(30:35):
like where those cars were and what happened to them
and just hearing my story of the hurricane.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
Well, they're very gracious and understanding and yeah, and they
all seem like they're very uh, just accepting people and
very very gracious with their time, especially if you don't
know Hunter.
Speaker 7 (30:52):
He's a huge Naskal.
Speaker 3 (30:53):
And he gets autographs. I don't know how he does this.
I don't really want to know because I don't know
if it's legal, and I'm just kidding, but he gets
out of graps from everyone. So he really works hard
at it. And I'm glad that you were able to
save something.
Speaker 7 (31:04):
For the record.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
I want to say, if somebody listening to this right now,
I might be thinking, well, of all the things you
could say, why would you save NASCAR memorabilia or what?
Speaker 7 (31:12):
Well, look, when.
Speaker 2 (31:12):
You're in that moment, it's those little things that are
big things. I mean to Hunter, that's a big thing.
So you know, it's what you grab. You can't grab everything,
so you just you try to grab what means the
most to you.
Speaker 3 (31:23):
And I mean it's like grabbing pictures, those are kind
of like his, you know, like they tell a story
and memories and all of that.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
So like, there's things that I have that mean nothing
to anybody else, but to you, those are big things.
I mean, that's you know, it's I can't imagine having
to make that decision what do you keep?
Speaker 7 (31:36):
What do you leave?
Speaker 2 (31:37):
Because you don't only leave your house, but you know,
there's a big decisions to make. What is that moment
like when you you see your house and you know, man,
this is just it's just not salvageable. What how do
you how you reconcile that? How do you process that?
Speaker 4 (31:50):
I was in shocked, like I'm odd, Like whenever I'm
a shock or something, I have a tendency to laugh.
So I was kind of like laughing been a little,
but I was. It was like a hysterical laugh, like
laughing but I'm crying. And just the first day of
the flood, I was the first real day I cried.
(32:11):
And after that I just looked at it as Hey,
God had a reason this happened, and there's a reason
that this happened to help move forward in life and
get closer to God.
Speaker 3 (32:27):
And I know we have kind of talked about that
off air and you know, whatever you're comfortable talking about,
but you talked about your parents and kind of finding
God through all of this. Do you want to tell
a little bit about that story?
Speaker 7 (32:39):
Yes.
Speaker 4 (32:39):
My parents at first they were mad with God, like
why would this happen to us? And I kept telling
them go to my foreman, Mac Bowman. He is very
religious and he goes to build more church. After they
started going to church, my parents realized this is where
they want to be at in life if they want
(33:00):
to be close to God. And not just Mac, but
his wife Kathy and his daughter Emily, also the people
that were working on our house Baptists with a mission.
They all Mac's family all work together try to get
them to change their policy because we had flood insurance
and at first their policy was if you don't have
(33:22):
flood insurance or something like that, they'll help you. And
after a few weeks back and forth, they changed their policy.
Called our family and was like, hey changed their policy.
We can be out there within a couple of days
to start the rebuilding process. And from there on, every
(33:47):
group that was in our house wrote a Bible verse,
a prayer or blessed our house in some way, including
Mac and his family. Mac wrote, Mac and his family
all wrote a prayer in each one of our rooms.
I think Kathy wrote a prayer in my mom's room,
(34:10):
Mac wrote a prayer in my room, and Mac's daughter
Emily wrote a prayer in my dad's room. Or Bible
verse or something like that. But we have maybe eight
or nine Bible verses or prayers in our house altogether.
And there's a country rapper I follow. His name is Crucifix,
(34:32):
and he's very religious. I was able to get in
touch with him about possibly writing a prayer or a
Bible verse to put up in our house once we
got back in and he graciously did both of them,
and we both have them in our dining room right
beside our table, where if we're in there we can
(34:55):
always look at them and read them and know God
is there with us at all times.
Speaker 7 (35:01):
That's fantastic.
Speaker 2 (35:02):
I just that's such a ray of hope and sunshine
and in such a dark time.
Speaker 3 (35:07):
I mean, it's just that that's kind of amazing that
all of the stories different people that we have talked
to while doing this podcast, especially, but there's a theme
of what got them through and what gave them hope
and it was God faith in the community. I mean
every story, it's what the people of this community were
doing and what like the churches and what their faith was,
what's doing in those moments. So it tells a lot.
Speaker 2 (35:28):
So how it goes the rebuilding process. Are you guys
coming along?
Speaker 4 (35:31):
It's good, we're back in our house, but it still
doesn't feel like it's our house.
Speaker 2 (35:37):
I think the most important thing though, is you're in
their room. Yeah, yes, yeah, that's a win.
Speaker 3 (35:42):
And it changed I think that's you know the thing.
The storm changed everyone, especially you know, people like you
and your family who lost their belongings or their homes
and you're just trying to find a way to kind
of start over and start fresh. And so it is
going to take a minute for it to feel like
home in your space again, and it.
Speaker 2 (35:58):
Takes strength to do what you and your family have
done over the past year. The whole reason we want
to do this podcast is to get these stories out
there and to let folks know that there is a
community behind you, there is faith, there is love. So
if you could speak to someone who maybe is still
you know, maybe not as far along, or they had
much more damage or greater loss. What would you say
(36:19):
to them to maybe lift their spirits?
Speaker 4 (36:21):
Well, the best day I can thank you to say
is basically what Jay Row said at tank US to
SEEMA Awards.
Speaker 7 (36:29):
There's always a rear.
Speaker 4 (36:30):
View mirror for a reason to look back on it,
and the windshield will always be bigger because your future
is much brighter and bigger than what the past can be.
Speaker 2 (36:41):
That's great advice. Thank you for sharing your story and
thank you for your time here. Thank y'all for listening
to stories after the storm. One year later, we're still learning,
we're still rebuilding and still standing strong together.
Speaker 3 (36:55):
As we move forward, we do it as neighbors, as family,
and as Western North Carolina
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