NORTH CAROLINA — When Hurricane Helene first impacted North Carolina, leaving floods and rock slides in its wake, the Cajun Navy 2016 immediately sprang into action, helping stranded and devastated residents with “survival mode.”
Jon Bridgers with the Cajun Navy 2016 said that the call for help was answered immediately and abundantly by both volunteers and those sending donations. They have been able to give residents gift cards and even cash that have been donated by the public.
“We’re just blown away by the response,” he said.
Many of the places where the Cajun Navy is serving did not have anything at first, but Bridgers said the response of items being donated and sent has filled up those locations.
Now that work is shifting from the survival mode response, Bridgers said the oncoming cold weather is a big concern for impacted residents of the area. Some have electricity now, but many still don’t, and donations such as cold weather clothes, blankets, propane heaters and other items will become important.
Toys and activities for the children who have been affected is another focus of the Cajun Navy now.
“We need to start taking care of the kids,” he said. “There’s a lot of kids here.”
Wellness checks & communication
A lack of being able to communicate has been one of the biggest issues in the communities hit by Helene, Bridgers said. Since late September when the storm hit, families have been unable to contact one another due to downed lines and lack of internet.
When they first arrived, Bridgers said his team responded to many messages from family members asking for wellness checks from friends and family they had not been able to contact. Many of them were elderly and on oxygen.
“We were able to send crews out there,” Bridgers explained. “Some of them actually had to cut their ways miles into the mountains to get to them. We put those people really high on our list — the ones on the oxygen machines. And it’s a good thing the families reached out to us, because there would have been several of them that died if they wouldn’t have gotten those generators to operate their machines.”
After the teams assisted with checking on the person and making sure they had what they needed, they would then contact the family or friends who were worried. Due to a previous donation from Zoar Baptist Church, the Cajun Navy was able to utilize a satellite phone for these situations.
“With the satellite phone, we can actually let a family member that’s concerned about their loved one out there in North Carolina, we can actually let them speak to them, and it just makes a makes a big difference,” Bridgers said.
A chaplain accompanies the team with each deployment to help with spiritual and emotional needs.
Bridgers said the team recently went to help a family search for their disabled adult son, but after a few days, his body was found. The chaplain and other volunteers visited the parents to console them, which Bridgers said seemed to uplift their spirits.
“We’re not just dealing with trees”
This relief work is different than past situations that the Cajun Navy has responded to because of how strong Helene was when it hit the mountains of North Carolina.
“In the mountains, what we’re dealing with is the people that are on the mountains, they’re cut off because of landslides and trees across the road. We’ve been having to use a whole lot of heavy equipment,” he explained. “We’re not just dealing with trees. We’re dealing with dirt.”
Clearing areas takes much longer, sometimes one spot will take an entire day, Bridgers said. Then there will be several more areas to clear before getting to where people need help. However, drones have been useful in scouting ahead and seeing what lies past each obstacle.
Bears have also been a concern for the volunteers with the animals breaking into the supply areas and coming onto the sites multiple times a day. With cold weather approaching, the bears have been even hungrier and slightly aggressive, Bridgers said.
Wish lists
His team updates the Amazon wish list almost daily with new needs or removing items no longer needed. The facilities in Henderson County that the Cajun Navy were using have already been filled up, too — and they were over 200,000 square feet, Bridgers said.
On Thursday, there were over 9,000 boxes from Amazon scheduled to be picked up for use with the Cajun Navy.
“So that’s pretty awesome and just goes to show you how much stuff is coming in.”
To donate via the Cajun Navy’s Amazon Wish List, visit here and select “Cajun Navy 2016” as the shipping address.
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