A North Carolina family whose home was flooded out by Hurricane Helene found a 108-year-old letter that recounted with stunning detail the last time a similar tragedy struck — and now they feel like history’s repeating itself.
Shirley Rhodes told ABC 13 News in Asheville that she found the handwritten letter some years ago — and she believes it was written by her grandmother’s friend.
The stunning message paints a chilling picture of what locals went through in the tiny town of Bat Cave, when 22 inches of rain fell there back in 1916.
“We have had a distressing time, such rain and floods,” the letter said. “The slides were something terrible … the water came in our house, it tumbled down while we were in it, we made our escape through the kitchen, all ran out through the rain.
“We waited and scrambled until we got up on the ridge. We sat in the rain from 11 p.m. until light the next morning. It rained all night. We couldn’t get to anyone’s house.”
The storm ruined buildings and killed 50 people — and left the survivors with nowhere to go.
“We can’t get out our houses and wagons out of here,” the letter said. “We had to carry everything we brought to eat from Edneyville.”
It’s an all-too-familiar story for the residents of Bat Cave, an unincorporated community of just a few hundred who have been taking stock of the shocking destruction wrought by Helene.
The normally-lazy Rocky Broad River — which rarely reaches higher than a person’s knees — tore through the town during the September storm, ripping up homes and businesses as its swollen waters went on a wrathful joyride, according to The News & Observer.
Landslides, washouts and downed trees have blocked or destroyed the roads in and out, and one resident told the outlet that it could be months before anyone gets there.
Workers are still trying to restore local bridges, which is the first step to rebuilding the little community’s vital system of roads.
Shirley Rhodes said it was gut-wrenching to watch people go through the same crucible that North Carolinians had to endure more than a century earlier.
“You always want to learn from other peoples’ experiences and history and what they’ve gone through, but nothing teaches you like your own circumstances and experiences, and you see so much that’s similar with houses destroyed, and people having to evacuate and some people made it, and some didn’t,” she said.
Her daughters, Jennifer Rhodes and Nikki Barnett, along with their friend and tenant, Yasmin Prince, have spent the last week wading back and forth through a front-yard creek as they try to salvage whatever they can.
“I love that house, and it’s really been a piece of peace for me and now that I can’t be there, it’s just kind of devastating,” said Prince, who had been renting the home. “All I can do is try to stay strong and positive, just doing my best, honestly.”
Barnett is just glad her pal is alright.
“Honestly, I’m overcome with thankfulness because Yasmin is OK, and it’s just a home,” Barnett said.
Still, Shirley Rhodes said it’s hard to fathom the depths of the destruction.
“It’s unreal,” she said. “It’s just heart-wrenching to think of people who have lived in this area and have lost everything.”
Still, they persevere — with help from each other.
“This community is amazing,” Barnett said. “God is amazing and he is going to get us through this.”