The Holmes family began preparing for Hurricane Helene as soon as meteorologists started warning the storm was headed their way.
Beth Holmes, a real estate lawyer in the small North Carolina mountain town of Spruce Pine, told the staff at her law office to head home. Her husband cleaned their gutters. But most importantly, she checked on her 87-year-old grandmother.
Carolyn Livingston lived in an even more
remote mountain community called Bandana nestled in the Appalachian Mountains. It was only 12 miles from Spruce Pine, but she had no plans to go stay with her granddaughter during the storm. Independent and strong-willed, Livingston felt certain she could weather the rain as she had many times before — alone.
“Are you ready for the storm grandma?” Holmes, 45, texted Thursday.
“As ready as one can be, I guess,” Livingston texted back.
Bandana is the type of place where neighbors check in on one another. People there take pride in being resourceful and resilient. They also tend to have practical skills, like knowing how to repair a roof or patch up old plumbing.
“These are hardy people,” Holmes said.
“Grandma’s a hardy person.”
All of that was put to the test recently...read more or listen
