Harris County native leads this Hurricane Helene relief effort for Asheville. How to help
As the executive director of the Asheville Downtown Association, Hayden Plemmons’ job is to promote business and tourism for that western North Carolina city — not provide it hurricane relief.
But that’s what this Harris County High School graduate has been doing this week in Columbus.
Plemmons, whose last name was Harrison when she attended HCHS, evacuated from Asheville with her husband, Tim, and drove approximately 300 miles to her childhood home in Ellerslie on Friday night after Hurricane Helene hit.
When the storm made landfall at 11:10 p.m. Thursday in the Big Bend area of Florida, it was a Category 4 hurricane with 140 mph winds, and the forecast called for Columbus to be in its path of severe impact.
But by the time Helene crossed into Georgia early Friday morning as a Category 2 hurricane with 100 mph winds, its path had shifted eastward. Although the storm caused some damage and brief power outages in the Columbus area, it was spared devastation. Instead, Helene produced widespread destruction and flooding, with more than 160 reported deaths, elsewhere in the Southeast, including Asheville, where it dumped 14 inches of rain.
“We made it out, by the grace of God,” Plemmons told the Ledger-Enquirer.
So she went from being worried about how Hurricane Helene would effect her hometown to seeking refuge there.
After they arrived in Harris County, she wanted to find a way to help Asheville. Plemmons realized, because of this storm, Columbus and Asheville now share more than both cities being destinations for whitewater adventure: While one community is grateful to escape Helene’s wreckage, the other is grateful for assistance.
All of which led to the establishment of River to River Relief, the Columbus area’s resource drive to aid Asheville’s recovery.
Plemmons and her team are collecting large-format water (jugs of 2-5 gallons), propane, batteries, body wipes, linens, hand sanitizer and paper/plastic products for meals.
“Clothing donations are not being accepted at this time,” she said, “as the focus remains on urgent essentials.”
Collection points are at:
- Columbus Convention & Trade Center, 801 Front Avenue, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., through Oct. 25,
- Phyxx Salon, 7600 Veterans Parkway, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., through Oct. 4.
- Branch Church, 2980 Highway 27 in Cataula, 8 a.m. to noon, Oct 3.
For updates on donation drop-off locations, collection times and other ways to help River to River Relief, visit www.ashevilledowntown.org.
Plemmons requests anyone who has access to large vehicles that could be used to help deliver the supplies to email her at hayden@ashevilledowntown.org.
‘We’re very blessed’
Plemmons said she and her husband are fortunate to live on a hill in Asheville, so their property wasn’t flooded. But her neighborhood had numerous fallen trees and lost water service and cellphone service.
“Honestly, we’re very blessed to have made it out before bridges started to collapse,” she said. “… We have a lot of folks (in Asheville) that are unaccounted for. Our city and our county are working as hard as humanly possible to get folks access to water.
“Our infrastructure for water was already pretty inferior for what we needed because of the growth that Asheville has experienced over the last few years, and they’re anticipating weeks — we’re hearing four to six weeks — before members of our community will get water back.”
Plemmons further described Hurricane Helene’s aftermath in Asheville.
“We’re talking about entire businesses and buildings being completely washed away, actually gone, and other businesses that are completely flooded,” she said. “We could only see rooftops. … It is catastrophic damage.”
To her knowledge, Plemmons said, none of the roughly 650 member businesses of the Asheville Downtown Association are able to operate.
“We’re looking at six to eight weeks for that,” she said. “… The River Arts District is decimated.”
Plemmons noted even relief organizations are hesitant to come to Asheville “because there’s no water for their own people. They don’t want to take resources away from others.”
Despite being in this job for only 18 months, Plemmons said she already has “fallen in love” with Asheville.
“The people of Appalachia are different,” she said. “They’re so special, and they really rally around one another.”
Now, she wants folks in the Chattahoochee Valley to rally around them. Plemmons is pleased with the Columbus area’s response so far.
“Super helpful,” she said. “… I’m proud to call both of these places home.”
This story was originally published October 2, 2024 at 12:00 PM.
