Come together to help those impacted by Hurricane Helene

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping’” -- Fred Rogers With every update the news seems to get worse. As rescue crews gain access to communities cut off from last weekend’s monster hurricane, the death toll rises and the list of communities forever altered grows.

On Sunday the number of dead was reported in the teens, by Monday afternoon it was over 120 confirmed dead and several hundred more missing. As of press time on Wednesday emergency response agencies have listed 182 dead and thousands more displaced due to the ravages of Hurricane Helene.

In the face of catastrophic loss, there is a call to be the helpers. To be the ones who stand up and pitch in, whether it be in donations to relief efforts or more handson such as the small army of linemen from around the country who are at work restoring power to hard-hit regions.

Without access to clean water, sanitation, food, electricity and adequate shelter, the roll call of the dead will only increase. In the days, weeks and months to come, the flooded areas will become breeding grounds for mosquitoes and other pests, spreading disease and even more death. The death toll promises to rise for months, if not years, to come.

Now is not the time to play politics with tragedy while families are still trapped in the mud and wreckage of broken homes and broken communities. Now is the time to work together as Americans have done in the face of adversity since the founding of the first colonies on these shores.

Hurricanes hitting America’s Gulf Coast and southeastern states are nothing new. What is new is the size and strength of this system which has brought flooding and devastation over a span of 600 miles across six states. Helene was a behemoth of a storm, stretching over 350 miles wide. It fed and grew in the warm, shallow gulf waters and made landfall as a Category IV storm with winds of 140 miles an hour. It bulldozed its way into America’s heartland, dumping months worth of rain in a matter of hours, resulting in massive flooding and destruction. Dams failed as lazy creeks turned into torrents.

A true measure of a nation’s might is not in its military hardware or fighting forces, but rather in how it reacts to challenges and disasters. Resiliency is at the core of the American spirit.

Now is a time for Americans to set aside their differences and come together to help in the rescue, recovery and rebuilding efforts in the many communities devastated by Hurricane Helene.

There will be time to reflect, after the work is done, on ways to reinforce fragile infrastructure and make supply lines more robust so that the next storm’s destruction is lessened and tragedies are averted. There will be a time for politicians and candidates to give speeches and lay memorial wreaths.

For now, however, it is the time to be the helpers.

How to help

American Red Cross — Donate by visiting redcross. org or calling 800-RED-CROSS. You can also make a significant impact as a future Red Cross volunteer or by signing up to give blood.

United Way — The United Way assists in disasterrelated evacuations, shelters, food/clothing distributions, volunteer opportunities and other resources. You can make monetary contributions at https://support. unitedway.org/page/Helene.

North Carolina — North Carolina was among the hardest hit regions and the state has set up a relief fund. To donate to the North Carolina Disaster Relief Fund, visit nc.gov/donate. Donations can also be mailed to: NC Disaster Relief Fund, 20312 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-0312 or NC Disaster Relief Fund, c/o United Way of NC, 1130 Kildaire Farm Road, Suite 100, Cary NC 27511.

Salvation Army — The Salvation Army operates mobile feeding units, emergency disaster warehouses and other relief efforts. You can call 1-800-SAL-ARMY (1-800-7252769) to make a donation by phone, text STORM to 51555 or online at https://give.helpsalvationarmy.org/give/ 166081/#!/donation/checkout