Note: Tales from the Flood is presented in collaboration with Mountain Projects and the United Way. The series, featuring stories of community strength and resilience, was created to provide knowledge of ongoing recovery efforts and opportunities to contribute to the needs of those affected by Tropical Storm Fred.
When the west fork of the Pigeon River rose into her family home on Aug. 17, Donella Pressley escaped into the darkness with her two young daughters and the clothes on their backs.
It had already been a rough summer: Her marriage ended suddenly, her mother went into assisted living and her long career as a caregiver was complicated by COVID. So as her home filled with water, she fled toward Asheville and just wanted to keep going.
“I couldn’t get far enough away from Canton that day,” she said. “But now I can’t see how I’d ever leave. It’s been a very humbling experience.”
Donella and Elena, 5, and Cordelia, 6, eventually rolled to a stop at an Asheville hotel. The shell-shocked little family walked to the desk, and an unsuspecting clerk asked them about their day.
“Well,” said Cordelia, “our daddy’s quit us and the river’s in the house.”
"Life throws bricks and you duck. I can't explain everything that happened to us since the flood, but we are very, very grateful."
The rattled clerk didn’t know what to say, but managed to come out with the sentence that always soothes a 6-year-old: “Well, we have a pool you can swim in!
And things began to shift for the Pressleys. The girls spun and chorused, “Did we remember our bathing suits?” and the situation made their mother laugh. The next morning they had a dip in their underwear, and then it was home to start cleaning up.
The time since then has been a whirlwind. Their house was a mess.
“It was a tiny house when we bought it,” said Donella, “nothing special about it, just a collection of nooks and crannies, but even then it felt like home, and it’s really home now. We just hope it feels like home again.”
The house had been shoulder-deep in water throughout, and as the family began to try to deal with the inconceivable mess, people started to drop by: neighbors, the Red Cross, church friends and also strangers. Bruce Crawford happened in. He’s a retired building inspector for the county – although Donella didn’t know it at the time – and he helped make things happen. A team of volunteers stripped away the home’s interior, salvaging what little furniture they could.
Soon, a group from N.C. Baptists On Mission came in as well. With broad experience in disaster relief, they’re partnering with Mountain Projects, Haywood County and the United Way in a rapid rehab program designed to get homeowners back in their houses as soon as possible, and on the way to restarting their lives.
Volunteers from Baptists On Mission make damaged homes safe and sanitary through moisture and mold abatement, utility repair and new sheetrock and floors, among similar things. They do the work at cost, which is an average of $17,500 per house, and local charities and donors sponsor the repairs. A strict formula and series of inspections is part of the process.
The Haywood County Rapid Re-Housing drive has raised money for about 40 houses so far, with more in the pipeline. The original goal of 10 houses has been raised to 50 after a strong local response. The total number of houses in need isn’t yet known, but educated guesses say about 150.
And where does all this leave the Pressleys? Their house was one ofthe first in line to be helped by Baptists On Mission, but Donella’s had a tangle with insurance adjusters for weeks now, some of whom told her not to proceed with repairs until the paperwork comes through.
“I have the worst string of luck sometimes,” said Donella. “It’s been an excruciating waiting game.”
But she’s received tremendous community support – so much so that she started turning down help and referring it to others.
“I can’t say that my needs aren’t being met,” said Donella. “I’m very frugal.”
Still, she’ll lose her temporary rental this month and is looking for another, and said “we might have to go toward Asheville, there just isn’t anything around here.”
But before long they’ll have a dry, safe place to start over, and many dozens of people to thank.
“Life throws bricks and you duck,” says Donella. “I can’t explain everything that happened to us since the flood, but we are very, very grateful.”
