Albert Einstein theorized that things (such as time, space, mass and motion) are relative. To me, that suggests putting things into perspective.
In a seven-day span, my personal perspective couldn’t have been more powerful if a jackhammer had been pounding inside my brain. Our son Alan and I traveled from South Georgia to Western North Carolina to assess damages from Hurricane Helene.
Our first stop was Jesup. Helene—with its terrifying winds and rains—knocked my hometown on its heels. But in perspective, Wayne County was very fortunate compared to Valdosta, Fitzgerald, Douglas, Hazlehurst and Augusta.
Now, imagine this horror of horrors.
In McDuffie County, Kobe Williams must have been leaning over her 1-month-old twins when a tree crashed through her house. The 25-year-old mother apparently fell on sons Khyzier and Khazmir, smothering them. One tree. One funeral for three.
Relatively speaking, I can think of no worse.
Helene mangled The Press-Sentinel’s roof in Jesup. Tarps are keeping some water out, but a new roof is needed. That won’t happen until there are at least seven days of sunshine. And that’s if the materials are available, and the crew can get right on it.
But hold that thought.
Helene’s hurricane cousin, Milton, is huffing and puffing in the Gulf of Mexico. South Georgia could be slammed again. Valdosta has been victimized by violent hurricanes three times in 13 months. One of our associates is from Cedar Key, Florida. Her family and friends can’t rebuild from one storm before the next screams in from the Gulf.
Einstein was right. What has happened to me and my family, so far, is relatively minor. We have not lost a child or grandchildren, as did Obie Williams of Thomson.
Following the Civil War, Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman told the cadets at Michigan Military Academy, “War is hell.” He should have included hurricanes, floods, tornadoes and wildfires.
On Oct. 4, I witnessed the aftermath of Helene’s hellish wrath on Western North Carolina—specifically, Spruce Pine, 50 miles east of Asheville. Community Newspapers Inc. (CNI) owns the Mitchell News-Journal. Alan is a partner and CNI’s chairman.
Spruce Pine is a quaint mountain town. Among the county’s 15,000 folks is an eclectic mix of artisans and miners. Mitchell County’s mines are one of the world’s few sources of rare high-purity quartz that is needed to produce microchips. And the sugar-white sands in the traps of Augusta National’s golf course come from Spruce Pine.
On the drive to Spruce Pine, I rode shotgun in Alan’s truck, which was packed with relief supplies. It was his third trip that week. Riding with us were two CNI editors, Randy Foster and Megan Horn, to help the small News-Journal staff document the historic catastrophe.
The Toe River is a centerpiece of the community. Most days, it’s a watery slice of beauty. But Helene turned the Toe—along with other streams—into raging torrents. What the floods didn’t destroy, the storm-driven winds did. The front-page headline of that week’s News-Journal was one word, “UNDERWATER.”
An understatement.
Roads and bridges were destroyed. Tractor-trailer rigs upside down. Vehicles wind-and-water strewn as if they were plastic shopping bags. Houses and buildings had telltale mud marks of flooding. I thought, “To see more destruction, I’d have to travel to Ukraine, Gaza, Lebanon or Iran.” Or, have mercy, hurricane-hammered Florida.
On Locust Street, our newspaper’s building sits on a bluff overlooking the Toe River. I was prepared for the worst, but I was astounded. The News-Journal’s carpet was soaked. But yards down the street, buildings had been filled to the ceiling with muddy water. Whatever our neighbors had had was piled in the middle of the street. In perspective, we could not complain.
During those seven days, destruction wasn’t the only thing that I saw. I witnessed strangers helping strangers. Good Samaritans and unsung heroes everywhere. And that confirms that everything is relative. My perspectives are:
§ We’ll get another roof and new carpet.
§ Resilient Americans will rebound.
§ But Obie Williams and countless others won’t get back their loved ones.
dnesmith@cninewspapers.com