Hurricane Helene Ripped Up So Many Roads That Supplies Have To Be Delivered By Pack Mule

Screenshot: BBC

It may take years to recover from all of the damage caused by last week’s Hurricane Helene landfall. Flooding and high winds conspired to down trees and power lines and tear up concrete and asphalt, making the thoroughfares that the people of the region rely on impassable. Over the weekend reports from North Carolina indicated over 400 different roads were closed in the aftermath. As neighbors, volunteers and road workers continue to clean up the mess, the people who can’t get emergency supplies by helicopter are forced to reject modernity and revert to the old ways of hauling goods, the old reliable pack mule.

Hurricane Helene causes widespread destruction across the US Southeast

While the hurricane caused damage all over coastal Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, it was western North Carolina that got the brunt of the flooding, as the waterlogged clouds hit the mountainous area, they dumped and dumped and dumped for hours. Most routes into the touristy city of Asheville, North Carolina are still locked down. The majority of the gas stations in the region are among the 700,000 NC customers without power and the ones that have power are inundated with hours-long lines of people hoping to fill up their cars or generators. According to poweroutage.us there are still around 1.5 million homes and businesses without power in the region.

I Need A Sporty Ride That Can Haul | WCSYB?

Image: Mountain Mule Packer Ranch

According to a report by Associated Press, volunteer Mike Toberer hauled his pack of a dozen mules to the region in an effort to deliver food, water, medicines and diapers to the people who live in the difficult-to-reach mountain homes in the Appalachians. Each mule is capable of hauling 200 pounds of supplies. “We’ll take our chainsaws, and we’ll push those mules through,” said Toberer.