'Not alone in this experience': UNC students reflect on impact of Hurricane Helene

Community members came together in a vigil to remember those impacted by Hurricane Helene at the Old Well on the night of Oct. 3.

Sitting in a circle, UNC students from western North Carolina and the organization Sunrise UNC offered comfort to one another as they sang songs and shared stories. The candlelight vigil was organized by the University's chapter of the Sunrise Movement, a youth movement to stop climate change.

First-year student Seven Skinner grew up in Asheville and Burnsville, N.C. surrounded by a community that she said was filled with art, love and culture. While at the N.C. School of Science and Mathematics-Morganton, she met Lily Solomon, another first-year at UNC, who has lived in Sanibel Island, Fla. and Hot Springs, N.C. 

Skinner and Solomon said that their communities have faced immense, unfixable damage from the hurricane, destroying local businesses such as Solomon’s family's coffee shop. Skinner said she and Solomon had lost a couple of places they called home to the hurricane.

“I think the community is still there and that's what makes me hopeful,” Skinner said. “But the foundations are gone. Almost completely gone.”

A group of students from Sunrise UNC observed the damage caused by the hurricane first-hand. They traveled to Tampa Bay, Fla. two weeks ago in anticipation of extreme damage from the hurricane, distributing food, water and sanitary products. Shiva Rajbhandari, co-founder of Sunrise UNC, said it felt hard to not be able to help more. 

“We can't give people back their houses,” Rajbhandari said. “We can't get people back their loved ones. We can't give people the health insurance they'll need for the next six months while they look for another job because their business or their place of work was destroyed.”

In the coming weeks, Sunrise UNC said they plan to deliver aid to towns in western North Carolina. 

Artivista Karlin, a sophomore at Duke University, is from Homestead, Fla. They traveled with Sunrise UNC to their home state to aid with hurricane relief, bringing back with her debris such as doors, rugs, wooden panels and cabinets that were torn apart from homes in Tampa. The debris was displayed in and around the Old Well.

Karlin said marginalized communities, such as senior citizens, people with disabilities and people of color, were affected more than others. They also said that these communities are being left out of the conversation in the media.

“They don’t have the financial resources, accessibility [or] means to evacuate during these disasters,” they said. “And that’s all by design.”

Skinner and Solomon said that this was not a time to blame rural communities for being unprepared for the disaster regardless of education or political standpoints, saying that this was a time to be compassionate toward people experiencing unimaginable loss at this time.

“It’s not a matter of uneducation, it’s not a matter of ignorance; this is a disaster,” Skinner said. “This is no time to be pointing fingers at the victims.”

Karlin said that in spite of the devastation, it was inspiring to experience love and community during the clean-up, “beyond political beliefs, beyond class, beyond anything.” They also emphasized the importance of compassion, which they said they witnessed at the vigil.

“I think this has been really nice because I feel like all our little islands came together,” Solomon said. “We got to really bond and tell each other it's going to be OK, and hear that we're not alone in this experience.”

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