LORENA, Texas (KXXV) — “It just — it hits home when it is home,” Lorena resident Brian Buckner said.
Brian Buckner lives in Lorena, but he's a North Carolina native gathering supplies for victims from Hurricane Helene.
After speaking with his sister, Tina, who lives in Burnsville, North Carolina, he knew he had to help.
“I was trying to make a Facebook post to help the people that I grew up with, because I know the folks that are there that's lost,” Buckner said.
He says they raised about $50,000 in the first 48 hours.
They drove two trucks to Burnsville on Monday, filled with donations from our neighbors in Central Texas.
“People lost homes,” Burnsville resident Tina Buckner Cody said.
“They've lost family members — the body count keeps rising,”
“No way to keep warm, no way to bathe, nothing to drink, nothing, you know, not a lot of food to eat. And there's so many small communities that's been affected by this that's just not getting the help,” Buckner said.
Cody says Yancey and Madison County is their primary focus.
“Some don't have families, and they've lost everything, and to see what they do have is in a couple of trash bags that they picked out of the donation box,” Cody said.
Their goal is to help our neighbors in North Carolina feel more comfortable and a sense of normalcy — preparing to overstock homes.
Cody says it could take up to six months for some areas to get power back, businesses are cash only and the main town is still without water.
“It's like total destruction. It's just it's really bad. They called yesterday and said, there's no way possible to prepare us for what we're about to see,” Buckner said.
“It looks like a war zone. This is not something's going to be over with next week, this is a marathon,” Cody said.
TO DONATE:
VENMO:
Sonya Buckner
@Sonya-Buckner-2
Items needed: Heat sources, generators, blankets, extension cords, empty propane cylinders
