“Lean on Me” by Bill Withers, played by Chris Durman, 10/6/24 

I’ve called Jefferson County, TN, home for most of my life and it’s always been a rare sight to see the spillways of Douglas Dam open. I see they’ve just got four out of the possible six going today so maybe that’s a good sign that the floodwaters that have devastated our neighbors are slowly heading downstream.
I guess all of you who live around here in East Tennessee or who are over in North Carolina already know this, but, for those of you who might read this who don’t live around here, devastation is not too extreme a word for what has happened in those mountains behind me and to the east of me in this video. Whole communities have been destroyed and many, many people have lost everything. Their needs are tremendous and they are going to be long term. I think most of us who live here feel this was an unprecedented and absolutely unexpected event that created rivers through places no one ever remembers flooding before and that left lakes through places that can only hold rivers. Saddest of all, many people and animals have died and I think we all fear that the number of casualties is going to continue to rise even as all the help that’s been coming into the region becomes better able to help the hardest to reach communities.
I encourage all of you to find a way to help folks who have been devastated by Hurricane Helene. There’s going to be many, many ways to do that as the needs are so extreme.
“Lean on Me” by Bill Withers, played by Chris Durman, 10/6/24
Edit: In re-reading my post, I notice that I didn’t include the huge “Thank You!” I meant to send out with this to all the folks who are already doing and giving so much to help! My Facebook feed has been absolutely filled up this week with reports of people arriving from near and far to help out! Many, many, many thanks to all of you who are already doing so much! ❤️