deep in my feelings about hurricane helene, wondering if people even know about cherokee, nc, and the res that was affected there
i went to college in north alabama and frequently took trips into the mountains, coming in via the "tail of the dragon," a winding section of hwy 111 connecting tn to west nc. it spits you out near tapoco dam and about an hour away you can loop through cherokee and bryson's city to get to clingman's dome, the highest point in smoky mountains national park. i went through there probably a half-dozen times in college and went back for my honeymoon in june.
i just saw a video of the flooding at cherokee island park and it just broke my heart. as far as i know, the res in that area depends largely on tourism. there's a lot of emphasis on cherokee cultural heritage, some of which does seem over-emphasized because it's good for tourism. there's dozens of absolutely beautiful waterfalls, some of them 100+ ft, near the town. there's always elk nearby, especially in the fall the road from cherokee to bryson city has a field where there's almost always entire herds of elk and cars lining the shoulder for miles as people take pictures.
and i don't know how bad the damage is there but i know their economy is going to suffer so intensely. the damaged roads are preventing people from getting there. local musicians are hosting free concerts with donations to help the town and people can't get there to donate. my heart was already aching for asheville and boone, places incredibly special to me from the years i lived in south carolina and would travel up there for mountain vacations, but seeing floods in cherokee just broke my heart.
i've never a single time posted to tumblr asking people to donate but please, if you can, help these communities recover. the cherokee people in nc have such a rich, beautiful display of who they are and it's agonizing to think of them losing that, after losing so much else, because of the economic repercussions of helene blocking transportation to the area and resource scarcity in the mountains making it detrimental for tourism to happen right now in many areas. cherokee has said they're open to visitors, but be watchful if you visit the mountains of where you travel through and where you take resources from.
anyway here's a video from the chief of the EBCI (eastern band of cherokee indians) in cherokee nc talking about relief efforts and progress and from the link in bio he says you can find more info about how to help
