ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Families and friends struggle each day as sun rises without word from those who have not been heard from since the remnants of Hurricane Helene caused catastrophic damage in Western North Carolina.
Rescuers fan out across the mountains, but downed trees, washed-out roads and poor to no cell service have made some areas unreachable.
That’s where Joe Woody comes in.
“People in our neighborhood, their houses were destroyed. We came through lucky, right? We’ve got water, we’ve got power back and I was just trying to find a way to help.”
Woody, who is part of The Angler Magazine Great Smoky Mountains and The Upstate, wants to use that Facebook page to try to reconnect people. That page, he said, has a pretty large reach in Western North Carolina, East Tennessee and Upstate South Carolina.
“So, actually this is my wife’s idea, you know. I travel around all over the place, and I know the area real well. My wife, we kept seeing these people reaching out. Hey, have you seen my loved one in Burnsville? Have you seen my loved one in Chimney Rock, can’t get in touch with him,” Woody explained.
“So it’s why don’t you do an outreach with the magazine and see if you can’t help some of these people. I’m not saying how many people we can help, but there’s maybe, you know, a loved one someone in Florida who’s looking for their family in Chimney Rock. We can go down there and maybe find them or at least tell them they’re OK.”