Many families in Western North Carolina have been affected by the destruction caused by Hurricane Helene as the hurricane season intensifies. 

     One family significantly affected by the storm was the Medlin family. English teacher Karen Medlin and social studies teacher Clay Medlin never expected that their son Russ would be in more danger from a hurricane in Boone than at home in Eastern North Carolina. Russ is a sophomore at Appalachian State University (App State), which suffered destruction throughout the campus. 

     “The power was out, and the cell towers were out, so we couldn't get in touch with [Russ], and then we found out that it was a lot worse than we thought because [Boone] got hit pretty bad,” Karen said. 

     Russ was unaware of the hurricane’s severity and found himself caught in the chaos that followed. Although his apartment was not significantly damaged, he had to stay in isolation.​

     “I really had no idea how serious the hurricane was leading up to the incidents and effects it actually had,” Russ said. “Lucky for myself and my roommates, our apartment was not damaged; the only problem we faced was a power outage.” ​

     With no power or running water, Russ also had to move to a different location just to get sporadic cell service. His worried family could only receive glitchy updates through the phone. ​

     “He is right down from King Street, and that was very flooded, so the lack of conversation with him and contact was nerve-racking [because] he had no power,” Karen said. “He had to move to another location in his apartment just to get a little bit of access to cell phone service.”

     For days, roads were flooded and filled with sinkholes, making them inaccessible and dangerous to drive on. Luckily for Russ, when he went to check on his truck, it was not submerged, so he was able to drive back home.  

     “I was able to evacuate in days following after the water levels had receded, [because] many streets were flooded, so it made it difficult to travel anywhere,” Russ said. “When I had to get my truck that was in a parking lot a good distance away, the conditions had calmed significantly by the time I evacuated.”

     Russ eventually returned to his apartment to check on the appliances for damage. The university was still struggling with flooded classrooms and delayed reopening dates, but Russ considered himself fortunate compared to many others. 

     “Russ… had dirty clothes from the mud when he was going through the flooded waters,

 so he went back on Friday to do his laundry, washed all the dishes and then he cleaned out and threw out all the stuff from the fridge and freezer,” Karen said. “But they still didn't have hot water, so he had to hand wash everything in cold water.”

     Russ and his family were thankful for his safety after the hurricane and appreciated everyone who reached out to help.  

     “We haven't had to call or lean on people, but we had [the majority] of the community asking, ‘Is he okay? Is he okay?’ so they would have helped,” Karen said. “We have good support, but thankfully, we weren't one of the ones in bad shape.”

     At App State they are cleaning up what has been damaged and recovering from the devastation. Classes have recently been resumed after being suspended since the hurricane.