IVAN Update From Macon County

When I wrote about Ivan acouple of days ago, I merely noted that my home,property and electric, satellite and internet were all functioning. I had no idea of the havoc in my county. My first clue about flooding came when my son told me he could not get home due to road closures. He is night auditor at a local motel, so had a safe place to stay. A friend called and we determined we had both weathered the storm without problem. My son then reported a news report out of Asheville telling of a Macon neighborhood about 6 miles, as the crow flies, from my home that lost 30
homes from a mudslide and 4 lives lost. Yesterday found out a friend 2-3 miles from me has been without power and the earliest estimate for restoring power is maybe Wednesday. Since we are a rapidly growing rural community we do not have public water etc. We have our own wells which means that without power, water pumps do not work. Local grocery stores are giving our bottles water and ice.

In the middle of last night, a tanker pulled in to the motel parking lot and began fueling the power trucks of power company staff sleeping in the motel. My son went out and spoke with the tanker driver and asked how many trucks he had to refuel in Macon County. The answer was 200.

This morning's Asheville newspaper has pictures of the devastation. The Tenn-NC section of Interstate I40 is closed because of flooding that undercut portions of the highway. Large chunks of the eastbound road were washed down a bank. They are restriping the west bound lane to allow two way traffic and hope to be able to open it tomorrow. The repair to the eastbound road will take months.

I thank the Lord that I was spared. My prayers go out to those who have suffered so much. We are not certain of any other losses of life as some people have not been located and rescue teams have not been able to get to some of the areas. Flooding or
total loss of some roads requires cutting of new roads after debris, downed wires and trees block access.