OLD FORT, N.C.—On a brisk January afternoon, Scotty Swann stands inside a shed equipped with a mattress on the floor, a TV on the wall, and a stack of clothes and supplies on the floor.
Along with an RV that was donated that day, the structure serves as a temporary home for the United States Marine Corps veteran in an Old Fort, North Carolina neighborhood that was devastated by the floodwaters of Hurricane Helene.
Helene made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region on Sept. 26 as a Category 4 hurricane. It left a swath of destruction throughout the Southeast extending to western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee.
Raging floodwaters and landslides from the disaster reached western North Carolina on Sept. 27, leveling urban and rural communities and severely damaging roads, homes, and power sources.
Flooding from nearby Mill Creek forced Swann and his family to seek shelter on the roof where a rescue team evacuated them with a raft.
When the flooding receded and they returned to the house to see what was left, they found piles of debris and a Bible impaled on a post and opened to Revelation 14:7.
“Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters,” the verse reads.
“Of all the things destroyed, that was left open. It was sitting there, and we weren’t gonna touch it,” Tracey Swann, Scotty Swann’s brother, told The Epoch Times.
“Everyone’s got their own thoughts on it, but to me it’s God giving us a wake-up call. Stop acting like a bunch of foolish men. We’re all here together. Ain’t nobody better than anyone else,” Scotty Swann added.
A South Carolina native who lives in Anderson, with his wife, Barbara, Brown is making handcrafted wooden crosses and delivering them to different points in western North Carolina in the aftermath of Helene.
“The Lord is turning us to where we need to go,” Brown told The Epoch Times. “With all the stories from people who have been impacted by what happened here and people who are overcoming difficult circumstances, I can’t make enough crosses. I can’t imagine there being enough trees.”
Brown carved a cross for Swann’s property and placed it by the impaled Bible, which remains on the post and is covered by a case. The street where the Swann family resides remains in ruins three months after Helene struck.
Scotty Swann told The Epoch Times that he would likely have to tear down the house from where he and his family were rescued. That structure sits next to the shed, which is beside the cross and the Bible.
Behind the house, on the shores of Mill Creek, tattered mobile homes rest among cars covered with debris.
A shed carried by floodwaters still sits atop a Mercedes-Benz.
Reminders of Helene’s fury surround the Swanns, who plan to repair a longtime family home across the street and live there. The family is inspired by the outpouring of help and is hopeful for what is ahead.
The cross and the encased Bible on the post have brought visitors who are fascinated by the story. The Swanns welcome them.
“When God speaks, we should listen,” Scotty Swann said. “There is a lot of hurting and struggling around here, but this is one thing that gives people hope—seeing this cross and seeing that Bible and where it is opened to.”
Swann not only lost his home. He also lost most of his belongings. He received a camper from a veterans organization before getting the shed and the larger RV.
He plans to move into the family home located across the street when repairs are made.
A self-described “motorhead,” he collected old cars, and most of those were washed away in the disaster. Like many residents of western North Carolina, he’s received no help from his insurance company and FEMA.
He remains optimistic about the future and praises people who have assisted.
“One positive is this has brought out people from all over the country showing that they love and care. The only thing I care about is getting y’all back into your house. People want to help. It’s the people who are helping, not the government,” Swann said.
“Man, it doesn’t matter where you’re from, it’s how you were raised and where your morals and values live.
“I’ve had people here from everywhere, from Louisiana to New York to New Jersey and New England, I’ve had help from other Marines.
“They brought tools, lumber, propane heaters, drywall sheets, and other necessities.”
Swann admits that it is difficult to know he needs assistance. Appalachian people are taught to be self-sufficient, he said.
“The hardest thing for me is accepting the help. I’m a giver. It’s odd being in this situation, but in the situation I’m in, I really have no other option,” Swann said.
“You go and you clean, you dig piles of debris and you do this stuff all day, man. There’s a lot to do and sometimes it seems like it all looks the same no matter what you do. It gets a little bit demoralizing from time to time, but you just got to stay motivated, man.
“I get up every day and know the day will come when I’m back in that house that has been in my family for over 100 years,” Swann continued, pointing to the two-story white home across the street.
As Swann told his story, the Browns stood nearby and listened.
“It’s inspiring because people have lost so much here, and the only thing they can do now is look at the future,” Barbara Brown said.
“They go to bed with whatever material possessions they have left, their children, their dog and cat, and the roof over their head if they still have one. And they are concerned about how you are, and how their neighbors are,” she said.
“That represents the spirit of Appalachia.”
When Helene arrived and passed through the region, Joey Brown was stunned when he saw the aftermath on TV and social media.
He noticed a piece of wood on his property and felt compelled to carve it into a cross to take to someone in need in western North Carolina.
“It was like the Lord slapped me on the back of the head and said ‘You need to grab that log right there,’” he said.
“It was just an old log in the bushes all grown over with briar. I had a cell phone in one hand and I was trying to dig the log out of the ground with the other hand. Before I knew it, we were headed to North Carolina with a cross.”
Initially, Joey Brown planned to just build one cross, which he titled “To Western North Carolina.” He soon realized that wouldn’t be enough.
“This town needed one, and that town needed one,” he said. “These crosses symbolize hope that life will somehow be better tomorrow, and there is reason for that hope because you’re alive today.”
“Giving people hope is what drives me,” he said. “I’m just a dumb country boy raised on a dairy farm. I never thought anything I would say or do would make this kind of impact. I keep going because the Lord is telling me to keep going, and the reaction from people inspires me.”
He gets wood from trees on his property, leftover materials from building custom furniture, and a local lumber company.
Brown noted that it takes him around a week to make a cross. He includes weather sealing to withstand the elements of the four seasons.
“I believe these crosses will stand the test of time and give people a reminder of the sacrifice that Jesus made for us years down the road,” he said.
This weekend, Brown is placing the 10th cross he has crafted at Haven on the Hill in Waynesville, N.C., where 100 displaced families are living in campers.
Brown and his wife are also collecting and delivering disaster relief supplies to groups in western North Carolina.
On the morning of Jan. 31, they climbed into their truck and headed for a supply drop to Bat Cave Disaster Relief in an area that is affected by wildfires.
“I’ve been doing this trying to help heal other people, and they’ve been healing me,” Brown said.
“I’ve shed so many tears because of the people who have had an impact on me. These are people I wish I had in my life a long time ago. Though I wish I would have met them under better circumstances, I thank God that I know them, and I thank God for their influence.”
