I've seen a lot of destruction in my life. I've walked through war zones and riot-torn cities, and been at the scene of natural disasters that have devastated communities. But what I saw in Asheville, North Carolina after Hurricane Helen was unlike anything I've ever witnessed.
Houses were washed away by rivers, overturned and crushed. The tracks, once strong enough to support the locomotives, were left suspended in the air as the soil beneath them eroded. A semi-truck overturned by the force of the floodwaters lies hundreds of feet from the road like a child's toy. Entire towns were uprooted and scattered. Debris from homes miles apart piled up like dominoes, and a bridge that had stood for decades was washed away by a 6-foot-high stream.
“You tell everyone you know, even if they don't care, that if no one comes, they'll take care of themselves.”
As I stood there looking out at this sleepy little town in the Blue Ridge Mountains, I thought to myself: It may take decades. ” But it wasn’t just destruction that I saw. I saw something far more powerful than the fury of nature: the resilience of the American spirit.
My expectations for government assistance were low before arriving in Asheville, given its track record of failure in past natural disasters, but the government's response, or lack thereof, to the victims of Hurricane Helen has moved it into a new category. It was negligent. But the people of Asheville weren't waiting for FEMA or the federal government to swoop in. I knew no one would come.
Bridges were torn down, roads destroyed, and mountains cut off outside aid. But instead of despair, I saw hope. Instead of panicking, I took action. People looked out for each other. That's the America I remember. Those were the days after 9/11 when we came together across political parties, races, and backgrounds. We didn't care who voted for whom. We saw our neighbor hurting and asked, “Are you okay?” What should I do? ”
I saw it again in North Carolina. I saw it in a man who had turned a Harley-Davidson dealership into a helicopter landing zone and was shoveling mud out of the showroom so rescue teams could land. I saw it during a volunteer flight where we flew over dangerous terrain to rescue elderly and injured people from danger. They did not seek government permission. They were doing what they were supposed to do.
Adam Smith, a former Special Forces veteran who is coordinating the helicopter landing in Asheville, said the FAA is trying to stop the operation because it is not federally regulated. he told federal authorities they are Helicopters are scheduled to land in the next few minutes, which will actually help people angry about orders from Washington.
One story left an impression on me. We landed to evacuate an elderly woman with a broken hip and severe infection. She had just had surgery, but her family didn't have insurance, so the hospital discharged her as soon as possible. Her wounds were festering and her legs were burning. We helped airlift her to get the antibiotics and treatment she desperately needed. There were no government resources to help get her to the emergency room.
As we loaded the woman into the helicopter, her grandson turned to me and said, “You told everyone you knew that even if they didn't care, if no one came, we would fend for ourselves.” That hit me hard. Ta. it's true. That's what America once was, and that's what we should be again.
As I flew over those mountains in a helicopter, I couldn't help but think of Billy Graham. I had visited Asheville to see him about 10 years ago and remember how beautiful and peaceful the city was. Today, it is unrecognizable. The destruction is overwhelming. But people have never been stronger.
Government can't save us. Washington's response has been too slow, too bureaucratic, and frankly, the government is too indifferent. I saw it firsthand. We found a FEMA truck parked under a tree and its employees sitting at card tables in the shade. They didn't help anything.
But we are Americans. We can take care of ourselves. We don't need Washington to save us. we need each other. This is the America Billy Graham spoke of to me, the America that rises again in times of trouble. And even though the government may let us down, we will never let each other down. And that's exactly what I saw in North Carolina. Americans are stepping up, caring for their neighbors, and rebuilding their communities.
This is what I told the people of Asheville: You are not forgotten. There are millions of Americans who love you, pray for you, and want to help you. Because that's our job. We don't wait for permission. We roll up our sleeves and take care of ourselves.
And I say this to people across America: It's time to remember who we are. It's time to stop looking to Washington for solutions and start looking to each other. Because when the chips are down, it's not the government that comes to save us. It's you and me, and if we stick together, no hurricane, no flood, no disaster can break us.
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