Helping the Nolichucky River Guides

The Nolichucky Gorge before Hurricane Helene

A lot of talk has been making the rounds about the Nolichucky River in this post-Helene era. Many paddlers are concerned about CSX’s activities in the riverbed. American Whitewater and the American Canoe Association have both addressed the issue, and the strife has even made it into several news broadcasts like this one.

At Wilderness Response Network, we are guided by our belief that all people want to help, but they are often stymied by not knowing where or how they can help. We also believe in being good stewards of the natural environment; without the wilderness, there would be no outdoor recreation of any kind. Outdoor conservation groups, paddling clubs, climbing clubs, mountain biking clubs, etc., do truly excellent work in caring for the natural environment… but they often seem to ignore or forget the fact that people are a part of those environments as well. At WRN, we seek to acknowledge “the locals” as being part of the places we love.

Our team put together a plan to send some volunteers to Black Mountain, North Carolina, and Erwin, Tennessee in the month of January. We aimed to help disaster relief centers and non-profit organizations better pursue their missions by providing them with specific items. We also wanted to talk to people directly, to better assess who we could help, and how.

We hoped to mobilize a team of six or more volunteers to travel from Chattanooga, Knoxville, and Nashville for our trip in January, but we weren’t successful in doing that. Maybe it was the lack of interest with the media moment having passed. Maybe it was a failure on WRN’s leadership (should we have promoted it earlier? should we have gone to TikTok? should we have reached out to celebrities and appealed to their philanthropic sides?), or maybe it’s something else entirely. In the end, only two of us made the trip. The good news is that we were able to move approximately $1500-$2000 worth of supplies to people and places who really needed it. We delivered propane, warm coats, cat food, cleaning products, and comfort items like chocolate and coffee. Some of the items went directly to river guides who were living in the Nolichucky Gorge when the heavens opened and Hell poured out of it.

During the flood, two of the guides had retreated to the porch at the main office, which is as far from the river as one can be on an ordinary day. From the porch, they watched as buildings from the business upstream were torn loose from their foundations, rolled over and through the trees, and slammed into the buildings on USA Raft’s property. Before Helene, there was a bustling network of cabins, geodomes, and campers that visitors could rent. They were all washed away, right in front of the guides.

“The Lodge” a couple of months after Hurricane Helene.

USA Raft has a large boat barn where their rafts are kept. The walls are very tall and the structure stands at a height that I would judge is greater than a typical house. The walls are made of lattice, creating a breathable space for wet rafts and gear to dry out. The two guides who had gone onto the porch and witnessed all of this destruction did not want to lose the rafts, so they used swift water rescue skills to swim across what used to be the parking lot, access the roof of the boat barn, and lash the walls back in place so as not to lose the rafts floating around inside.

From these guides, we heard stories of flaming propane tanks, buildings rolling into other buildings, and trees falling right in front of people as they attempted to get vehicles out so they could leave. This happened on the main campus of the business. At their satellite business, where most of the guides lived, the damage was worse. Luckily, everyone was able to leave before it was destroyed, but no one expected it to be this devastating. One guide told us that before he left, he tucked his camp stove under the van that he lived in. He intended to protect it from the rain that way. When he returned, the van was gone.

Before Helene, this was a vibrant community of hard-working people who loved where they lived.

Note the green brick building in the background; a portion of that is all that is left.

This is the same green brick building pictured above.

This is the same wooded campground pictured in the other images above.

There are guides who lost everything: cars, clothes, personal effects, and homes. Some of them have been able to get unemployment assistance at around $200/week, and some of have been able to access funds from Tennessee Cares. However, this assistance does not replace everything they have lost, and if you or someone you know is willing to help, here are some of the things they could use:

1) Vehicles. A Toyota 4Runner, a van that a guide lived in, and another car that had $1500 left in payments on it were all swept away.

2) Personal effects. Several of the guides lost all of their clothing, hygiene supplies… everything.

3) Rafts/Kayaks/SUP Boards. One man’s son lost his paddle board in the flood. A replacement stand up paddle board would probably help bring some healing to this young man, who might now look at the river with a good deal of circumspection. Several guides lost rafts, duckies, and personal kayaks. Insurance won’t cover these things, and while they aren’t a basic necessity of life, most of us who recreate outdoors know how much healing they can bring.

4) Money. Money is probably the best way to help. Imagine losing your house, needing a sleeping bag, and receiving six donated toothbrushes. Sometimes, it’s best just to get the money to buy what you need, when you need it.

5) Tools. A woodworker who lived in the satellite campus lost all of his woodworking tools. Tools are a means by which to earn an income, so if you have any old tools lying around or know someone who might, this guide could certainly use them. Another guide also needs micro Dewalt batteries. His tools did not float away, but most of his batteries did.

We hope to be able to deliver a small assistance package to these guides very soon. If you are interested in helping us supplement the package, you can donate here or contact info@wildernessresponsenetwork.org. Stay tuned for our future fundraisers, which we will announce on our social media pages and include in our master calendar.

Thank you!