Hurricane Helene Impacts Licensees

Hurricane Helene is being called a 1 in 1,000 Year storm; she wreaked havoc on some of our WMA licensee families, their loved ones, their communities, and the areas surrounding them. Some places fared better than others.

We want to share with you what we have learned from some licensees and how we can help today. The needs for our fellow licensees may change or grow as the days and weeks unfold and as more clarity is added to the devastation at hand including the rising death toll.

Our thoughts and prayers are with our Wilbert family who has been impacted, some facing complete devastation in their area. Thank you to the licensee network for checking in and reaching out. Together, we will help weather the storm.

Beth Cooper

Cooper Vault | WMA Board of Directors, President (2024-2026)

Jim Bolton from Bolton Concrete confirms that the plant, his family, and the team are all safe. The surrounding mountainous areas have experienced complete devastation. Those who are able to go into the mountain communities to help are coming back emotionally devastated.

Fuel is a Critical Need

Jim is sending hundreds of gallons of fuel from his plant to power generators, addressing the most critical need in the area. Tens of thousands are without power, and there's a severe shortage of water and medical supplies. Hygiene and baby-related products are also in short supply. Delivering supplies to the hardest-hit areas requires four-wheelers and off-road vehicles. Jim and Amie are personally using their SUVs to transport supplies to the remote mountain areas.

How to Help Eastern Tennessee

Jim recommends donating to the Summit Leadership Foundation which helps pay for the fuel and provide other basic necessities to the devastated areas.

Photo: Taylor and team forded the washed out access to open a grave.

Taylor Sword's family and team at Asheville Wilbert are all safe. Power and communication have been restored at their plant. Communication remains limited throughout his area. Taylor, family, and friends had many trees that fell down on their property and on houses, however they are all are safe. On Saturday, September 28th (just 1 day after the storm), the entire Asheville Wilbert staff showed up ready to work. Taylor expresses his gratitude to all of the Wilbert family who have reached out offering to help and checking in.

Deathcare Needs

From a deathcare perspective, it is too early to know the needs. One cremation facility was washed away during the storm and another was destroyed by flooding. The 35 bodies from those facilities have been accounted for and have been sent to nearby facilities. They are aware of 75 deaths in the county thus far.

How to Help Asheville Wilbert

We're still unsure about the extent of assistance needed. Right now, Asheville Wilbert is able to stay operational. As needs evolve, the WMA Board will keep in touch with the licensee network.

How to Help Western North Carolina

Taylor believes the local community is currently fulfilling immediate food and supply needs. To support these efforts, Taylor suggests contributing to MANNA Food Bank which serves all of Western North Carolina. Although they are closed due to the flood, they are able to run food drives remotely. Here is a news story with Al Roker and the Today Show assisting MANNA Food Bank in recent days.

Here is a link to Janet Sword's Instagram post if you want to learn more about how they were directly impacted.

Found Safe! We are thankful that Margie Hoffman’s daughter (Jessica) and two children were found safe after they were missing in North Carolina in the aftermath of the storm. Margie is the former owner of the license that Wilbert acquired in Cayce, SC.

Ninety-seven percent (97%) of Greenville County experienced power outages and widespread damage from fallen trees, leading to extensive destruction throughout the area. Schools are closed for at least a week until roads are passable, cafeterias are restocked, etc. For those who were in Greenville for the midterm meeting, the Reedy River at Falls Park was raging and caused flooding in parts of downtown Greenville. Areas that are usually 1 ft high rose to 14 ft.

The Greenville area has been doing everything possible to send supplies to Western, NC. We know we are fortunate with few lives lost and infrastructure that can be repaired. Read more about these efforts in this news article where supplies are being flown out of the Greenville Downtown Airport.

Wilbert Greenville Plant

The Wilbert Greenville plant is in good shape, as well as their employees and families. While power has been restored at the plant, Wi-Fi remains unavailable or spotty. Traffic signals are being run from portable generators around town. Everyone is focused on returning to normal operations as soon as possible.

See Jeff Bagwell's Facebook post for additional information.

Peacock Marketing Team

Like the Wilbert Greenville employees, most of the Peacock team also has trees on and/or through their homes. Lisa & Boyd counted 32 trees down at their house while 3 others on the Peacock team have gaping holes through their houses. The cleanup effort in the whole city will be massive, however, our roads and lives are intact. Power is anticipated to be completely restored by Sunday night. Wi-Fi remains unavailable creating issues with credit card transactions, among other things. Despite these challenges, everyone is safe and in good health and able to move around a bit.

Both the Waycross and Savannah plants and family are safe! DePue had a lot of limbs that were down and some power outages but are back up and running. The Waycross plant also experienced power outages. They have been using a generator which enabled them to use their water pump for the well and provide water to their community.

As we hear from others in the impacted area, we will do our best to make updates on our WMA Facebook page. Please Like Us so you will receive our push notifications when a post has been made.

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