and
George Carter, a North Carolina resident and restaurant owner, has been driving up the mountain from his home in Lake Lure to get enough cell service to stay in contact with families and neighbors.
“It’s worse than you can ever imagine,” he said of the devastation. “I don’t know of anyone who’s injured, who’s lost their life, but there’s mud everywhere. Buildings are gone. Streets are gone. Homes are completely gone or damaged.”
He added that while his restaurant seems to have withstood the storm so far, nearby boathouses have washed away and people have lost their pets.
“Maybe 40% of Chimney Rock is still there,” he said. “The stuff that’s still there is filled with mud and smashed up.”
Even for those who haven’t lost their homes, he said, food is likely to perish within the next day or so. What the community will need in the coming days includes food, water, gasoline and shelter.