After Helene
Gathering support for Substack's nature writers
To our readers and the larger Substack nature community,
In the wake of Hurricane Helene’s destruction in the southeastern U.S., we’ve heard bits and pieces of news from fellow writers in the affected areas. Many are still without power and water; some are communicating though friends who’ve managed to get into town to share news. Our hearts go out to them, and to all those impacted.
We wanted to gather updates from those we’re aware of, and would gratefully welcome additions to this list. So, please contact us in the comments below, or by email or direct message, if you have information about others in our Substack nature community who could use our support.
In addition,
has just updated his resource on directing your support to the area, here: How to Help the Communities Devastated by Hurricane Helene's Catastrophic Deluges has produced a thought-provoking and compassionate piece on the floods: Reimagining RainSimilarly,
’s piece this week gives important context to the events in Appalachia and beyond: Water[UPDATED 10/9/24) The folks below have published post-hurricane updates, some with suggestions on ways to support their work and their larger communities.
Marsha Stopa writes at Essential Nature.
Asia Suler writes at Mothering Depth. She shared by email that her herbal apothecary was destroyed in the flooding. She has asked that those looking to support her business’s recovery consider purchasing her book, Mirrors in the Earth, or take a look at her online classes to see if any resonate.
Jeanne Malmgren writes at Rx Nature.
Janisse Ray writes at
and . She shared the following on Facebook: “We are safe following Hurricane Helene. Our home is untouched. No power. No cell service. No wifi. Power grid in shambles. Towns without power. Stores closed. We worked with our neighbors yesterday to clear our road of many large downed trees. So we can get out and emergency vehicles can get in. However, there is catastrophic damage in my general area with unreal destruction. My course sessions are cancelled for now. I'll be in touch. Big love to all.”UPDATE 10/9: Janisse has posted the following on Substack:
Katharine Beckett Winship writes at
. She reached out to us 10/5: “FEMA is not viable yet. No power. But I’m starting to get cell and also helicopters bring water. I’m chief of staff on our mountain of 80 households, stranded. We have a road association Venmo.My personal Venmo is: @kathwinship Last four of phone is 2784.
Or just ask folks to do a paid subscription to Matters of Kinship. It will be months before I can open Black Mountain Pilates which is my job that pays the bills. If folks are more comfortable with the road association I can get that Venmo from our treasurer.”
Jenks Farmer writes at Plant People.
We’ll update this list with any new information.
Thank you for any support you can offer; even the gift of your attention to their words is most welcome.
 | A guest post by
|
Thanks for spearheading this, Rebecca! 💚
Rebecca and Julie: Thanks very much for gathering the information for the community. You can learn a bit more about what Katharine Winship is going through in the Black Mtn area of NC in the comments of my Reimagining Rain piece. Here's a good chunk of it:
"I’m impressed with the wherewithal of some really good humans. Every house is assigned to a street leader.
FEMA is in town but not in my area of these mountains.
I’ve been at the collapsed portion of the road since 8:00 this morning. Four guys from our neighborhood pulled off a miracle with their equipment. We got 3 loads of gravel in (amazing) and one top coat level grade coming in tomorrow morning. When the power trucks get up to Highway 9 at this elevation, we’ve given them a safe way up.
We are sharing generators. I got a hot shower yesterday —that was heavenly. And tonight neighbors who knew I had been in the trenches all day made me my first real food since the storm hit a week ago. Helicopters have delivered water and Fritos(!)"