I keep seeing comments about reports from WNC that come from people on the ground, and I want to say a couple of things.
The area of the disaster out there covers roughly 12,000 sq miles - a full quarter of the state. There is NO WAY to generalize about what is happening across the entire area based on what you see or read on social media. No way.
The folks that talk on camera are going through a lot of stuff. They maybe frustrated, shell shocked, grieving or frightened. Their experiences are very real, and should never, ever be discounted. But strong emotion will color what a person might believe, what they might say, and how they say it. Words like “never”, “always”, “nobody” or “everybody” are a good clue that strong emotion is at play. Furthermore, even those folks cannot know what is going on all over the area. They may not know what is even going on in the next town, especially if they still have spotty communication. They are the most accurate about RIGHT WHERE THEY ARE.
Even worse, there are now not only fake first person news stories being posted, there are inaccurate or false first person accounts that are being put up under a photo of someone who has died! 🤬 I’ve now seen at least two posts where the family has begged it to be removed.
So try to verify the stories you see. Listen to the ones that are genuine. Grieve with those people. Send them caring and hopeful messages. But don’t, for one min, believe that their experience is the whole story of Helene in WNC.
I am reminded of the proverb of the three blind men and the elephant. Each man had a different part of the elephant, but could not describe it accurately because none of them could see the whole. It’s going to still be awhile before ANYONE has a view of the whole elephant out there.
