Helene Impact and Recovery
Our hearts are with everyone across WNC and the surrounding areas impacted by the destruction and devastation of Hurricane Helene. At Lake Logan, we are counting ourselves blessed. While there was a massive movement - acres and acres worth to say the least - of boulders, trees, rocks, sand, mud and debris across our campus, overall we are ok! Most importantly, our staff are all safe and well. No one lost their homes or loved ones. We are all indeed incredibly thankful for this blessing. On campus we had a few leaks in cabins, several buildings experienced basement flooding and we subsequently lost a furnace and several hot water heaters. The West Fork of the Pigeon River carved out the entire field above the Alpine Tower and the road to our maintenance shop on the east side. The entire athletic/camping field became the river and when the waters receded about a third or more of the field was left covered in boulders, trees, rock, sand, etc. Our recreation sheds are now somewhere in the lake and the fencing around the courts and backstop are all down. The stage survived with some damage to electrical and wifi boxes. We have a new “barrier island” in front of the boat house. All of the boats and docks we saved thanks to staff and volunteers who worked rapidly to prepare for the storm. The lake is covered in trees and debris and, thank the Lord, the dam held up well and did its job to hold back countless downed trees from the river banks below.
We are so thankful to all the volunteers who have been working since day one of recovery efforts. We’ve had folks from across the country show up to lend a hand, including our friends from the Episcopal Camp and Conference Centers national office and a sister center in Maryland (Camp Wright). We’ve had strangers (now dear friends) show up from across the Carolinas stop by and ask how they can help. We have troops from Kentucky staying in Camp Henry dorms and working to restore the safety of our riverbanks. And most recently we hosted a volunteer weekend with over 100 volunteers of ages accomplishing the work of giants. Our heroes indeed!
What lies ahead? We have miles to go! We have tons and tons of boulders, sand and silt to remove from the field and in front of the boathouse and waterfront swimming areas. This will require renting and operating heavy equipment throughout the winter to get our campus ready for the Spring and Summer ahead. Please consider a donation to Lake Logan’s Hurricane Helene Restoration Fund. Every dollar makes a difference as we work around the clock to restore this beautiful and inspiring retreat center, outdoor school and camp. We have an incredible amount of work to be done and know we’ll be back stronger and better than ever before!
With faith, thankfulness, and love,
Laura Elliot and the whole Lake Logan / Camp Henry crew
