By Sharon Fahrer
French Broad River floods Asheville’s River Arts District. Photo by Sharon Fahrer.
On September 27, 2024, hurricane Helene hit Western North Carolina. Winds, felled trees, landslides, and flood waters destroyed cars, homes, and commercial buildings. Roads collapsed or were blocked by fallen trees. Residents whose homes and businesses were spared damage found themselves without water, power, internet, or cell service. Western North Carolina was cut off almost completely.
Thankfully, Asheville’s four congregations—Reform, Conservative, Chabad, and secular—were not damaged. Almost immediately, they contacted congregants to identify people who needed help. Staff and members drove around to find people, delivering gas, water, and chainsaws. The Jewish Community Center (JCC) organized a bucket brigade at the pool for people who needed non-potable water for toilets and dishwashing.
There are many stories to tell. Here’s one.
Rochelle Reich, Executive Director of Beth Israel Synagogue, realized that her apartment along the Swannanoa River might flood so she and her youngest son went to stay with friends. In the middle of the night, two trees fell on their friends’ house, but fortunately, no one was injured. On Friday afternoon, the day of the storm, not knowing the enormity of the damage, she drove over to her complex, driving under and around downed trees and powerlines. Once there, she saw that her entire building and the one next to it were engulfed by a muddy lake of receding waters. She returned 48 hours later and trudged through eight-inch-high mud to get to her apartment. Once inside, she could see that the water had reached the ceiling. All she was able to retrieve were some clothes, a waterlogged fire bag of important papers, several menorahs, her grandmother’s Shabbat candlesticks, her great-grandfather’s tallit, and a handful of other things. Suddenly, she was homeless.
Many Jewish-owned businesses—mostly related to manufacturing, junk and hides and steel fabrication—were historically located in the River Arts District. Some buildings are still standing but were badly damaged, while others were swept away. Help began pouring in from individuals, congregations, and Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA). One congregant from Beth Israel helped organize the delivery of six semi-trailers from a fire department on Long Island! These supplies were distributed by Jewish Family Services (JFS) and Asheville Buncombe County Christian Ministries. Chabad-Lubavitch of Western North Carolina became a command center with related organizations sending assistance and trained rescue workers despite the fact that Helene arrived five days before Rosh Hashanah. Christian teams clearing trees also helped members of the Jewish community by bringing Bibles and offering prayers. In the River Arts District, Riverview Station—Jewish-owned for many years—counted 1,000 volunteers who helped clean out mud and clear debris.
By Rosh Hashanah, Asheville still had no power, water, cable, or cell service, and the city imposed a 7:00 PM curfew. When volunteers could not get to the Chabad center to prepare a meal, Emergency Culinary Solutions appeared with a crew. They provided a way for the Jewish community to connect. By Yom Kippur, daytime services could be held inside the buildings with power, but they had no water, just port-a-johns.
French Broad River floods Asheville’s River Arts District. Photo by Sharon Fahrer.
JFS was a central anchor for all the local Jewish organizations, providing emergency assistance, supplies, counseling, and financial aid. The Tzedek Social Justice Foundation provided grant money to JFS to help people with emergency expenses, aiding over 1,000 families, the majority of whom were not Jewish. JFS also gave out over 180 emergency grants of up to $500. Other grantors to our Jewish institutions loosened restrictions so monies could be used wherever needed. JFNA provided funds for port-a-johns and Starlink connections. Trained staff from J Response, a program of the JCC Association of North America, came from Durham and Charlotte. The JCC was able to pay their employees and provide scholarships for children while its building was closed. Nechama: Jewish Response to Disaster, a Minnesota-based group, helped with clean-up, and Hillel sent students to help. Carolina Jews for Justice focused on the election. After members dealt with survival needs, they did voter engagement work, phone banking and canvassing, organizing and offering rides to the polls, and volunteering at polling sites.
Hurricane Helene brought the Jewish community together, pooling resources and coordinating information. A strong, inclusive, supportive community emerged throughout the area. At the same time, local resources were depleted as funds were diverted for the emergency. Much work remains ahead. Now the challenge is providing continuing support to keep Jewish organizations operating while addressing long-term needs.
