NEW MARSHFIELD, Ohio — If there’s one thing folks in Athens County should know about Hurricane Helene survivors one year after the natural disaster, it’s that folks in North Carolina are still “not OK,” said Kim Allison, who delivers aid in the area.
A year ago last month, Hurricane Helene hit the Carolinas, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia. The storm caused at least 108 fatalities in North Carolina alone, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. It caused an estimated $60 million in damages in North Carolina, according to a 2024 state report.
Allison, who runs her nonprofit Giving Goods Hub Distribution Center out of her home in Marion, North Carolina, told the Independent that communities hit hard by the hurricane are “still struggling.”
“There is progress being made, but there’s not a lot of progress being made,” said Allison, whose own home was damaged by the hurricane. “We just need all the support that we can get, as far as just the basic needs — baby diapers, baby formula, just everything.”
That’s why New Marshfield’s Waterloo Fire Department is preparing to go on its fifth run to deliver more supplies to Allison. Waterloo Fire Department Chief Craig Churchheus said he hopes to deliver the next round before November.
“They’re a blessing to me,” Allison said of the fire department.
The fire department is collecting nonperishable items, including canned food, as well as new toys and new or gently used jackets. Collections are held at various locations, including all Athens County Emergency Medical Services Stations, Spices of Life Gourmet Coffee in The Plains, the Nelsonville and Waterloo fire departments, and the Athens County Title Office. Perry County 911 and Perry County Emergency Management Agency said on Facebook they are also accepting donations.
The department’s fifth run is in honor of recently deceased Athens County Emergency Medical Services Paramedic Monica Perani, who not only served Athens and Perry counties, but also North Carolina immediately after the hurricane.
“She’s the one that got me started going to North Carolina,” Churchheus said. “She was a lot of fun to work with. She was a good paramedic. She was passionate about what she did. And she was a single mom, raising two kids, and those two kids was her life. So, just what a way to honor Monica.”
Allison also sang Perani’s praises and pointed to her responsibility in connecting Athens County to McDowell County, North Carolina. The two women worked alongside each other immediately after the hurricane.
“[Perani] and I connected way in the beginning, because she was doing the same thing as we were — going out — we were trying to find people,” Allison said. “We were sawing trees, we were doing just whatever we could to try to get to people.”
Photos provided by Craig Churchheus, featuring scenes of aid delivery to Hurricane Helene survivors in Tennessee and North Carolina. Click on the photos to scroll through the gallery.
Allison said she owned a cleaning business before the hurricane and had no previous experience with organizing mutual aid.
“I just felt like God led me, that I needed to do a little more when this hit,” Allison said. “And so I just started getting tractor trailer beds. That’s what I work out of.”
Allison serves her home county, McDowell, as well as Ashe, Avery and Henderson counties in North Carolina and parts of Kentucky. She largely collects goods and donations and distributes them.
Allison said the past year has been one of “neighbor helping neighbor.” She said that assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency has been limited.
Churchheus said “churches and the fire departments is really what kept those communities alive and going, and then just those mountain people, those mountain people are just a different breed of people — they take care of their own.”
Before Perani connected Churchheus with Allison, he went on a trip with a high school classmate from Lancaster to help with aid efforts in Mountain City, Tennessee. Churchheus and Allison have since become not only allies in recovering from the hurricane, but also friends.
“Everybody that I have met has just been amazing,” Churchheus said. “We had a lady come up and actually opened up a pack of toilet paper and took one roll and said, ‘This is all I’m taking because somebody else might need some also.’”
Churchheus said the second trip he took to Tennessee was to bring diapers, paper towels and toilet paper. Later, he began collecting jackets and propane to bring to North Carolina. Last year the fire department transported 65 propane tanks and an estimated $15,000 worth of brand new jackets.
“We did an amazing toy drive last year,” Churchheus added. “We want to get them [hurricane survivors] back to normal, as normal can be for them, and try to help them get on their way back to some kind of something.”
Churcheuss agreed with Allison’s assessment that aid has dried up. “People have moved on,” he said.
Survivors still need basic needs, including toilet paper, paper towels, paper plates, pet food, canned food and microwaveable meals, Allison said.
“I don’t know how long this is going to last,” Allison said. “I just know every time it rains, it seems like we get flooded out now. So still, a lot of people’s homes are not — they don’t have homes yet. There’s a lot being built. There’s a lot happening; you see progress, but you see people that’s still waiting.”
Churchheus said he will continue local collection efforts for Hurricane Helene survivors as long as he can help.
Find more information about the Waterloo Township Fire Department on its Facebook page. For questions regarding material or monetary donations, contact Churcheuss at 740-707-2146.
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