Posted on 12/03/2016 7:46:19 AM PST by Freedom'sWorthIt
GATLINBURG, Tenn. Charlotte Moore needed a phone charger.
Then she remembered that her home was gone.
The realization came as she made the familiar drive up to the top of Laurel Mountain in the Roaring Fork neighborhood of Gatlinburg on Friday, where what lay ahead was anything but familiar. On the first day officials let property owners return to assess the damage from the wildfire that devastated their homes, the eastern Tennessee tourist destination was headed toward an uncertain future.
As people were allowed into the city, Sevier County Mayor Larry Waters raised the death toll to 13 and said the number of damaged buildings now approached 1,000. He also defended the response to the wildfires that spread rapidly Monday, saying it was not the time for "Monday morning quarterbacking." He promised a full review later.
Gatlinburg residents and business owners, meanwhile, got their first look at the wildfire destruction Friday, and many walked around the once-bustling city in a daze, sobbing.
(Excerpt) Read more at wral.com ...
Well - I have no idea how these fires began. I guess any theory is as good as the next one.
You're not being paranoid. The longer I live, the more amazed I become to see just how rotten human beings can be. Rotten in so many ways too.
And anyone can donate to that effort; I’m going to put a few dollars in myself. The site says 100% of donations will go to people who have lost their homes.
https://dollywoodfoundation.org/
My sistet, who is ill, was living in my son’s cabin and evacuated on Monday. She is staying with a cousin who lives 2 hours from Gatlinburg.
The cabin is gone along with her cat and 6 chickens.
The insurance company told my son he had been cancelled. He never got notice of the cancellation.
I’m upset for my so and sister, but I’m thankful that she’s safe and sending prayers for families that have lost loved ones.
“People can be very resilient.”
We had an F5 Tornado that destroyed (to splinters!) the town just east of us 30+ years ago.
Today, you’d think it was any other Bedroom Community on your way into The Big City.
https://www.weather.gov/mkx/060884-barneveld-tor
Let me take this time to recommend (if you haven't already) setting up a page on GoFundMe. It seems several already have.
Our prayers are with you FRiend.
Prayers for all of those who lost so much.
Be strong and steadfast; have no fear or dread of them, for it is the LORD,
your God, who marches with you;
He will never fail you or forsake you.
Deuteronomy 31:6
As stated in some other comments to your comments, it's conceivable that the government was involved in these fires, but if you lived in Tennessee this year you would be very very hard pressed to get someone to believe that. It has been so dry in east and central Tennessee that you could easily start a fire just by flicking a cigarette butt into the grass, whether the wind was blowing or not. It's just damn dry in the eastern part of Tennessee, I've heard a lot of farmers aren't even plowing or even doing anything in their fields to keep from creating a spark with their plows or disks running over a rock or something like that. I've seen pricky pear cactus dryed up/dead. It's really dry, I've lived in Tennessee for over 20 years and never seen it so dry.
Gatlinburg mines tourists and it is pretty lucrative although many of the tourist type stores come and go due to competition. The property owners will rebuild. Real estate is very limited there due to being surrounded by the National Park.
Fond memories and prayers to those affected by this.
Thank you so much for that link!
Broken clock, right twice a day?
So sorry to hear of your son’s and your sister’s loss. God bless them and keep them and so glad they are at least safe.
Wow! Good people can do remarkable things...this is the way it is in most of America! Thanks for that info.
These good people helped us save our country a month ago...we need to help them out now.
No, not, haven’t heard if Fema has set up shop yet, if it is like the bad flood West Tn had when Nashville did, we had 1 lone Fema bus to service a whole town.
That did not include the Navy Base, which took care of it’s own. Exchange, Commissary, Housing, entire south side was under white cap water. Navy called in big city bus size cleaning units, but you could see all the equipment and records just soaking wet sitting in piles, when they finally let us back on base. Millington, stunk of sewage for at least a month. 1 Trailer park was totally condemned with those Katrina orange X’s. 300+ trailers. 2 of the others had lesser damage. That did not include brick and mortar businesses or homes.
Heartrending and so sad. RIP, the ones who perished and prayers that the people from there will be given the strength and courage to go forward and rebuild....their town and their lives. |
...God bless dolly pardon...Dolly Parton loves Tennessee and her neighbors. The feeling is mutual.
You’re not being paranoid, I’m a native North Carolinian and have wondered the same thing. Radical environmentalists can be drawn to the Park Service. Burning down the “tacky tourist trap” to save the wilderness sounds just like something they’d do.
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