Hurricane Helene formed Sept. 24, 2024, and made landfall in Florida on Sept. 26. Helene was a devastating storm, but unlike storms in the past, this storm had especially devastating effects on Appalachia, particularly in Georgia, eastern Tennessee, and western North Carolina. 

In North Carolina entire communities were washed away and destroyed by flooding and landslides. In Boone, NC, many houses were flooded, and currently at Appalachian State University, classes will not meet until at least Oct. 15, due to storm damage. 

Many local businesses and organizations are working to gather donations and supplies to help victims. Play It Again Sports in Holly Springs began asking for donations from the public September 30, and is still accepting donations from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 12 to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

Senior Alison Field, who works at Play It Again Sports said, “It’s amazing how fast people respond once we posted about it. Within 30 minutes we had multiple donations of stuff for the people in western North Carolina. People have continued to donate every day. We work with the US Veteran Corps and they have been picking stuff up almost every day, even making two trips a day to the mountains.”

Teachers Shannon O’Brien and Meghan Gannon helped organize a donation drive at the Homecoming game, Oct. 10, which collected enough supplies to fill up a U-haul truck. 

“We had over 40 volunteers who emptied cars, packed the truck and organized the donations.  By the end of the night, we had filled the truck, and the next morning it was on its way to western NC,” said Gannon.

The outpouring of help by ordinary people has been tremendous, even billionaire Elon Musk has donated hundreds of Starlink terminals in an effort to help stranded victims connect to the internet. Many more local organizations such as Boy Scout troops are helping to collect and deliver donations as well.