Holston Begins Long Recovery From Catastrophic Helene Floods

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Disasters and Climate Change

Holston Annual Conference | Oct. 4, 2024

ALCOA, Tenn. – Mountainous Holston Conference is now a place for hurricane survivors and rescuers, as communities throughout East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia emerge from chaos and begin the long recovery from Hurricane Helene's devastation.

Torrential rains were still falling and floodwaters were still raging when churches began opening their doors as safe places and church members began emptying the store shelves of water jugs and detergent for UMCOR “cleaning kits.”

In Greeneville, Tennessee, Asbury United Methodist Church opened as a Red Cross Shelter almost immediately. Guests included a man who had been rescued from the violent churning of the Nolichucky River and an evacuated family with nine children. Churches of all faiths offered to help, including nearby Trinity United Methodist Church which provided food and drink, according to the Rev. Sharon Bowers.

“They really rolled up their sleeves and went to work,” said Bowers. “The whole connectional piece has been really beautiful.”

Over the weekend, Holston disaster-response workers distributed 1,600 “cleaning buckets” from conference stockpiles to the hardest-hit regions, providing heavy-duty detergents, brushes and other items to help residents battle the muck and mud left after floodwaters reside.

By Monday, Holston’s acting disaster response coordinator, the Rev. Dave Henderson, had accepted offers of more than 1,200 additional “cleaning kits” from the West Virginia Conference and Tennessee-Western Kentucky Conference.

“I am very thankful for their assistance and for their commitment to be by our side for the long haul,” Henderson said. “The extravagant generosity of all our United Methodist sisters and brothers is overwhelming, but in a very good way.”

Hurricane Helene left a catastrophic mark on the upper half of Holston Conference, collapsing bridges and flooding town streets as far south as Cocke County, Tennessee, and sending RVs floating down the river and destroying parts of a United Methodist camp as far north as Grayson County, Virginia. The largest cities in Holston, Knoxville and Chattanooga, Tennessee, were relatively unharmed.

After slamming Florida as a Category 4 hurricane on Sept. 26, Helene drenched East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia on Sept. 27 -- overflowing rivers; threatening dams; obliterating roads; and stranding people in their businesses, homes, and vehicles.

Bishop Debra Wallace-Padgett offered a prayer on Saturday morning, Sept. 28, as news of ongoing destruction and loss of lives stunned communities. Wallace-Padgett is resident bishop of Holston Conference and West Virginia Conference.

“We pray for those whose lives have been upended by Hurricane Helene and the subsequent storms,” she prayed. “We ask for peace that passes all understanding, hope in discouragement, and comfort in grief. We especially lift up to you the most vulnerable in our communities who are often disproportionately impacted by catastrophes.”

Helene’s death toll is nearing 160, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday. About six fatalities are confirmed so far in Tennessee, two in Virginia.

In Damascus, Virginia, the pastor of four United Methodist churches lost his car and possibly his home to the floods. The Rev. Creighton Smith is in the midst of helping desperate neighbors, even as he struggles with severe damage to the parsonage, according to his district superintendent, the Rev. Jane Taylor. Damascus United Methodist Church, the largest church served by Smith, was also severely damaged by flash flooding.

In Fries, Virginia, three staff at Camp Dickenson were rescued by authorities when New River, which runs through the camp, surged beyond its banks. Although most guests in the RV lot evacuated early, the RVs left behind were “carried down the river,” said the Rev. Mary Thompson, Holston camp and retreat ministries director. The climbing wall and lower-level landscape are destroyed. The parsonage escaped the threat of a landslide.

Many of the flood survivors have been without power, internet and water since Friday. Road and bridge closures hamper their ability to try their luck at stores with empty shelves.

“Water is badly needed here,” says Gayle Crabtree of Mountain City, Tennessee. Unable to reach the nearest Walmart stores in Abingdon, Virginia, or Boone, North Carolina, due to washed-out roads, Crabtree journeyed to Elizabethton, Tennessee. “I was hoping for water but that didn’t happen,” she said. Later she found water that was brought in by a helicopter at the National Guard Armory.

A tree narrowly missed the parsonage, but Crabtree and her husband, the Rev. John Crabtree, count themselves fortunate. They’re able to shower, cook and charge their devices in their travel trailer. John Crabtree is pastor at First United Methodist Church and Trade United Methodist Church in Mountain City, Tennessee. Both churches survived.

“We’re OK but our hearts are deeply broken for the people here,” said Gayle Crabtree.

In Erwin, Tennessee, the Rev. Linda Rozar knows the search for water will be “a long-term thing” as water systems in many East Tennessee towns are not operational or not safe. Her church, Centenary United Methodist Church, had some water damage on the lower level and yet is serving as a hub of activity. Over the weekend, Holston Conference disaster workers delivered about 200 “cleaning kits” (also known as flood buckets) to Centenary. “They were gone within 24 hours,” she said.

On Monday, the pastor took some flood buckets to a location near a bridge that still stands. The drive through the countryside left her shaken. “There are so many people in need,” Rozar said, her voice cracking. She worries about what people will do over time when they can’t work because their businesses are closed. “People live from paycheck to paycheck.”

Rozar could still hear the buzzing of helicopters overhead, as rescuers searched for bodies or survivors. However, she is grateful for the “outpouring of help” that arrives daily, including the National Guard on Monday. Her congregation’s plan over the next few days is to feed first responders and to get more flood buckets to distribute. If the Nolichucky Dam had failed, as authorities feared earlier, “it could have been worse,” says Rozar.

Even in towns where the toilets are still flushing, restaurants are open, and the lights are on, United Methodist churches in Holston Conference are hubs of activity. Church members are loading trucks with water, diapers, baby formula, pet food, batteries and other requested supplies and hauling them to flood areas like Trinity United Methodist Church in Greeneville, Tennessee, where the Rev. Sarah Varnell is leading a massive ecumenical outreach.

Churches are busy organizing the assembly of flood buckets and lining up volunteer drivers to transport them. Cokesbury United Methodist Church has a fleet of drivers hauling supplies from the church’s depot in Knoxville, Tennessee.

At Emory & Henry University in Emory, Virginia, Chaplain Sharon Wright has asked alumni to bring buckets this weekend to homecoming. On Tuesday, Wright took students to buy items for 40 buckets with money donated for the effort. The Holston Conference disaster-relief trailer will be at the Emory & Henry football field, ready for filling. “That will be a good backdrop for people to see,” said Kirk Lowe of Project Crossroads, a mission leader who is making sure flood buckets get distributed throughout Southwest Virginia.

A flood relief fund established by Holston Conference staff in their Alcoa, Tennessee, headquarters had already received more than $40,000 from online givers by Tuesday, according to the Rev. Tim Jones, communications director.

On Wednesday, Oct. 2, Henderson and other mission leaders will begin visiting sites where future early response teams will be needed, assessing where they can be housed. “This is the Holston Annual Conference response with boots on the ground, in the mud, looking at the situation to see how we can go forward,” Henderson said.

See ongoing disaster news briefs from Holston Conference.

Holston Conference includes United Methodist churches in East Tennessee, Southwest Virginia, and North Georgia, with main offices in Alcoa, Tennessee.

Annette Spence is editor of The Call, the news and information publication of Holston Annual Conference. This article is republished with permission from the conference web site.