As Hurricane Helene drew near to their Swannanoa, North Carolina, home, Jim and Allie Bourdy prepared. Jim cleaned out the gutters. He installed a sump pump in their crawlspace. “We were expecting to lose power, and that was it. … we stocked up on puzzles. We got our favorite board games out on the table. We had flashlights, we had candles,” says Allie. “We were ready for a rainstorm, but not ready for surviving our life that morning.”
Swannanoa is located on the Swannanoa River, a small waterway that normally runs about 18 inches to 2 feet deep. On the morning of September 27, the river rose fast, climbing over its banks to cross a five-lane highway and reaching houses on the other side. Only 20 minutes after the water measured midway up their shins, it reached the roofline. The couple clung to the gutters and foam exercise equipment that doubled as flotation devices.
Eventually, they pulled themselves up onto a neighbor’s roof where they waited until kayaking neighbors rescued them and took them to higher ground for safety.
After Helene’s floodwaters receded, Jim returned to their home to collect a few necessities they’d left behind. When he entered, his heart sank. Furniture was overturned, a chair hung from a chandelier, silt was everywhere, and the bathroom looked like someone had painted it with mud and water.
“It just kind of looked like all our possessions got just shook up and just thrown all over the place with mud all over it,” he says. “And it was just heartbreaking seeing that and knowing that the life that we’ve built here for the last seven years just wasn’t the same and would never be.”
Having stretched their budget to purchase the home, Jim and Allie knew they didn’t have the funds necessary to rebuild. “We had barely enough savings [to] replace a car if we had to,” Jim says, “[let alone] replacing and remodeling a house from the studs. We had no concept of what that looked like.”
Their homeowner’s insurance wouldn’t cover the damage because, like more than 99% of homeowners in the greater Asheville area, they didn’t have a flood policy, nor would they have qualified because they don’t live in an area that’s deemed a flood zone.
The two felt overwhelmed by everything they needed to do to rebuild their home and their lives. But things were about to improve. One night they were out getting a hot meal at a local church when they ran into a college friend who’s a contractor — Chris Cronin — who wanted to help them rebuild.
Chris and his business partner have plans to work on four houses in this devastated neighborhood. They’re one of the local partners that World Vision is teaming up with to rebuild 150 homes in the area.
“World Vision has donated pretty much all of our building material,” says Chris. “We’ve got a huge framing drop happening next week where we’ll get all our subfloor. We’ll get all the new floor joists and two-by-fours for the walls. And then they’re going to donate all the insulation, the drywall, the flooring.”
Across Western North Carolina, many families just like Jim and Allie, face similar devastation. But across the nation, generous corporate donors such as Ace Hardware, Lowes, Costco, and Culligan and their Culligan Cares Team are answering the call for help and sending building materials and supplies through World Vision to help ease the burden on families who are trying to dig out from under Hurricane Helene’s wreckage.
These corporate partnerships have allowed World Vision to work with local organizations to develop a plan for rebuilding up to 150 homes in the Greater Asheville area, focusing on the hardest hit mountain towns like Chimney Rock and Jim and Allie’s community in Swannanoa.
“Even the smallest things that we don’t have to pay out of pocket for is the biggest blessing to us,” says Allie. “Your contributions and donations have meant the world to us.”
Corporations coming together with World Vision means that families hit hard by Hurricane Helene have a hope of rebuilding without intense financial hardship.
Supplies still needed as part of the ongoing rebuilding process include items such as drywall; subflooring; insulation walls and flooring; electrical outlets, boxes, and switches; kitchen cabinets; interior doors; ceiling fans; bathroom and kitchen faucets; and bathroom vanities.
If your company would like to partner in World Vision’s response to Hurricane Helene, please fill out this form.
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