04/11/2024
It's been quite a while since I posted an update, so fair warning, this will probably turn into a novel. I had meant to make one sooner after the hurricane, but everything has been a bit overwhelming! Both of our cabins were hit with damage from Helene, but the Guardian Bear got it worse. We got about 24" of rain from the storm, with extremely high winds, and a little tornado came through the street. All-in-all we were very lucky, though I did find out today that my insurance is not going to cover anything. Not even lost rents even though everything had to be cancelled from 9/25-11/1 because the "structure was still livable". Even though the property was not accessible!
When the storm came through we lost power for over a week. Fortunately we had installed a generator in the spring so power stayed on and some neighbors w/out power were able to walk over and stay at our house until trees were cleared from the roads. They helped us assess damage from afar until the battery back-ups died and internet/cell access was lost two days after the storm. At that point we were blind to what was happening up there until power came back on.
We lost maybe 10-15 trees, but the house in front of us lost all of the trees in the front. The string lights and hammocks had trees land on them, but no trees landed on the house. We had some water come in around the chimney. My mason was in the process of removing/replacing the exterior stone with the storm hit, so he said when he's back out there this week he will take a look. Due to the amount of destruction in the region it's been hard to get people out to fix things. Also need a complete landscaping refresh, new rain chain, and a couple other small things. But I've been inside and if you didn't know there was a storm you wouldn't notice. It was still a lovely stay when I went up there last week to work, and the trees were so beautiful.
The surrounding towns are finally getting to a place where visitors are welcome. Blowing Rock, Boone and West Jefferson and ready for you! Banner Elk is almost there (they had to completely rebuild their water management system) and many restaurants stared to open last week. Kiddo #1 even got to move back into the dorms on Sunday!
If you are unsure about keeping your mountain reservations, or making new reservations, please come and stay. The areas really need your support and the homeowners need the rental income to pay their bills. There are so many available homes to rent right now! Just plan to come stay, relax, take your time getting around, and bring a little extra spending money to support the local shops and restaurants. And don't forget to be kind when you are here... people have been through a lot.
I've included some videos and photos from the day of the storm, as well as pictures I took when I went up later to assess the damage. I'll make comments on each picture and will post videos in the comments because apparently I can’t post both photos and videos in the same post anymore!
www.guardianbearlodge.com
