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- [00:01]
A
Even if you feel fully prepared for an emergency like a wildfire or a hurricane, there may still be aspects you haven't considered in this episode. Judy Davis joins us to share her experience navigating Hurricane Helene and its aftermath with vision loss. I'm Ricky Yenger and this is Hadley Presents. Welcome to the show, Judy.
- [00:23]
B
Thank you. I'm glad to be back.
- [00:25]
A
Yes, it is so good to have you. We've had a great time together on this show. We've talked about support groups, we've talked about audiences, video description and today we're going to talk about something a little more serious. But I'm really looking forward to it. I think it's going to be very informative. So before we jump in, why don't you just give us a brief little intro for those who maybe haven't heard the other shows that you've been on.
- [00:51]
B
Sure, of course. I have retinitis pigmentosa. I lost vision fairly quickly, so no useful vision. And I live alone, so that can be more challenging at times. And I have no local family, but I have a great group of friends who really pitch in along with neighbors to help me do things I might need help with. And then I live with my retired guide dog who is 11, and then I have an active guide dog who is five. So I do have family in my home. They're just the four footed kind of.
- [01:26]
A
So we did a podcast on disaster preparedness and just going through some general things that you might think about with vision loss that are in addition to those typical things that we do to prepare for an emergency or a disaster or whatever. And it was such an odd thing because we recorded that episode and a week later Hurricane Helene hit. And then as we were about to release that episode, another hurricane hit Florida. So it was really quite the summer. But you were in Helene and thought we'd give you a little time before we recorded sort of an aftermath kind of thing, you know, what kinds of things did you learn? Because what we went through was very practical and very general and I think it's very useful information. But it helps so much to hear from someone who's been through it. So I'm kind of curious. Before Helene hit, how well would you say you were prepared for a hurricane or really anything?
- [02:42]
B
I guess I felt like I was somewhat prepared because I think Asheville, which is in western North Carolina, which is where I live, it's an older city, so occasionally it has some water outages, but we're just talking for like part of a day. So I, I had on hand, like 2 gallons of water and then probably a flat of water besides that. And I had low maintenance food. You know, I had nuts, I had dried fruits, I had cereal, I had apples. So I felt like I had a lot of food and water supplies. And then a friend to give me a power bank a couple years ago. So I had that. So I had certain things that made me feel like I was reasonably prepared for things. But you never know what you're getting into until the disaster actually arrives.
- [03:31]
A
Yes. And were you expecting a hurricane where you are? Because a lot of things that we talk about is get to know what, where you are and what sort of disasters might happen. You know, if you're in the Texas panhandle, you could be prepared for tornadoes and that kind of thing.
- [03:50]
B
Yeah, that's a really good point. So one thing I want to mention is this happened in western North Carolina. So we are probably 400 some miles from the ocean. So it's not like they evacuate us on a regular basis because we're not close to the ocean. And where I live, I'm like 50 miles from Tennessee. So I just want people to understand that it's not like we're at a high risk area.
- [04:17]
A
Yeah. So you were in this area where it was not reasonable to expect a hurricane, but you had a little bit of warning, like they're telling you to get some food and get some water. And so from that perspective, you probably went into this thinking, oh, it'll be a day or two of power loss and then we'll be okay. Is that about right?
- [04:40]
B
Yes. And exactly that's what we were told. Prepare for three days of chaos, but it was going to be minimal.
- [04:48]
A
Yeah. And so this was a surprise to everyone and certainly for the people living there going through it. And as it happened, you know, you get through what you think is the worst of it, where finally the winds take die down for the last time and things are much quieter. And one thing I always think about with this sort of thing is now it's time to investigate. But I don't want to go running toward the danger. You know, I want to do that safely. So for you, you mentioned you've got two dogs and dogs got to go outside at some point. So when it was time to get out and let them do what they needed to do, how did you approach that, making sure that you were going to be able to do it safely?
- [05:45]
B
Yeah, the night before the temperature was good, so I had my windows open. So, you know, all night I was listening to things Falling, and that is scary. And then my power went out like at 3:45 on that September 27th in the morning. And you know, I got up like at 7 and it was still raining really, really heavily. And I still had connections with my cell phone. And so I FaceTimed my daughter who lives in Charleston, and I tried to get her to tell me what was happening outside just so I would have a feel what I was getting into. Not just that I knew it was pouring, but it was just raining so hard. She. She couldn't help. So it's like, okay, it's like you said, dogs have to go out. So we went out in the pouring rain. I do not have a fenced in backyard. And you know, I took them out with my cane one at a time and I got drenched. I stayed close to my front door because I had no idea what was happening further out the parking lot. So that was my first experience. And then around, you know, midday, the rain had slowed down and was almost stopped. You know, at this point, I had no connection with anything. It's like, I don't know if this. There's still an eye to this hurricane storm so that I need to take them out now or what. So I took one of them out and conveniently, my neighbor, who lives right next door, it's a duplex, he came out at the same time. And so I asked him, it's like, what. What do you see? What's. What's happening? He said, well, there's a lot of trees down, not underneath the buildings that are part of my apartment complex. And then we walked up to the street and it really felt like that disaster movie thing where people are coming out just aghast at what they saw and things and they wanted to check on each other. And I asked my neighbor, I said, look, can we walk up to the street to see, you know, what happened to our street? And he said, oh, there's, you know, two or three trees down across the street. And everybody was just checking in with each other, which was just a beautiful thing.
- [07:51]
A
Absolutely. And if you didn't have the dog, so if it was just you and you didn't have to venture out, how long do you think it would have taken you to decide to step out and have that chat with the neighbors and kind of be among the community, would you have stayed inside or would you have gone out still?
- [08:12]
B
I probably would have waited a little longer because like I said, I didn't know if we were on the lull of there was going to be another you know, brand, another ring coming through again. But I probably would have gone out shortly because I am a huge, huge get out and go person. As far as walking in my neighborhood, it's good for my mental health. I love connecting with people and just having that experience in your environment. So I probably would have gone out maybe not quite that soon, but fairly soon.
- [08:41]
A
Yeah, yeah. And you know, you talk about going out and walking in your neighborhood, that was a routine that you had that you no doubt missed. But really nothing was routine for a long, long time. But you still had to figure out what was going on. So figuring out where is a safe place to get water, where supplies available, what's generally happening in the community, what kinds of tools did you use to kind of keep up with what was going on? Because, you know, cell connection, spotty, all that stuff.
- [09:22]
B
Oh my gosh. Not just spotty, just basically not there. Yeah, I mean, I think with my text I had like a 95% failure rate. I mean, it was just, you couldn't get a text out because cell towers were down. But luckily the neighbors were really communicative about what they saw. And then also I remembered that I had an emergency radio that I'd never used. So one of the times I crossed paths with a neighbor, I said, look, I have this emergency radio, if you all can figure out how to work it. And it was one of the hand crank ones. And so we learned pretty quickly that the county was doing community briefings twice a day. And as a group we got together and listened to that for the first couple days as people found out how they could connect on their own. And it was just again, nice to check in with my neighbors and have that community sharing of how everybody was doing, what people needed, those kind of things. So that emergency radio was just key.
- [10:20]
A
Right?
- [10:20]
B
Right.
- [10:20]
A
But in that respect, I guess getting the info was pretty accessible. So it's not like sometimes now where if you are figuring out things, they're showing it on TV and there's a call, the number on the bottom of your screen, or there's something scrolling past, but this seems like because it was audible, it was accessible for you. So I know that I am a huge technology person and you at least to some degree rely on it. You use it as a tool in your daily life, but in this instance it's so integral, but suddenly it's missing either because that connection is spotty or you have to conserve power or whatever the reason, maybe a tool that you are accustomed to using wasn't there anymore. So were There some things that you used and were happy to have that weren't your traditional tech stuff.
- [11:23]
B
Yes, that's a really good point because I did have all my devices charged, but you just don't know when you're going to have that option to use them. So you start rationing. You're talking book player, you ration your computer, you ration your phone. So two things that were very valuable to me is I still had a talking clock that I keep on my bed with me. And then braille. Braille was just a lifesaver for me. I'm one of those people that can't read a book in braille. But for self communication, it was just wonderful because I could no longer walk into my kitchen and say, you know, Alexa, put this on my to do list or put this on my shopping list. You know, so I had to have some other way to do things. It was really great. You know, I had a couple of my neighbor's phone numbers, but I didn't have everybody's. So as things got connected, I wrote down people's cell phone numbers in braille so that I could not slow them down while I added them to my contacts.
- [12:24]
A
Right, yeah.
- [12:25]
B
And then, you know, list of things to do and phone numbers for resources and things like that. Because as I mentioned, I lost power on September 27, and I did not get it back until the night of October 9th. So I did have friends or neighbors that would take my book player to get charged to somebody's home that had a generator. And you know, it was just that loss. But braille and my talking clock really got me through this.
- [12:56]
A
And was there any tool that now that you're looking back, you're like, oh, I wish I had had that and I will have it from now on.
- [13:05]
B
One thing I wish I had, I think I would like some kind of solar power generator so I could have charged my talking book player. You know, you don't realize my days are walking with my dogs, listening to my books, doing things on my computer, talking with friends. And none of that was easily done.
- [13:26]
A
Yeah, all of that was affected. So one of the biggest, I suppose a silver lining to any cloud is community tends to come together at times like this. It's a shared experience and you have all gone through the same thing and there's a sense of camaraderie, I guess. You've mentioned several things throughout this. You know, your neighbors would help you charge your book for player. You walked with them to, to the street right after the disaster to see what had happened, and you would all come together and listen to the briefings and just so much of that togetherness. So it does feel like you were all helping each other in a way. Was there something in particular where, you know, your neighbors helped you and then a way that you were able to give back as well?
- [14:22]
B
Yeah, a couple ways that I gave back is there was one person that ended up having a family come stay with her, and they had small children, and small children need to be entertained. And when you don't have electricity, that makes it difficult. So I had some old, large print calendars that I kept for my grandchildren to use for coloring on, so I gave them that. And then I'd also found some chalk when I'd done some tidying up before Helene, and then I also offered them some toys. And then that first day, when I could kind of get connected with my daughter, I let one of the neighbors try to use my phone to try to call some of her family, because that's, you know, what we all needed to do. We wanted to tell people we were okay.
- [15:02]
A
Yeah.
- [15:03]
B
One thing that happened is there was a big pile of debris on the street where a tree had come down and taken down power lines and taken down a transfer. And because of that blockage on a main street, everybody was driving on our quiet little street. And so, you know, I am very confident walking with my dogs on my quiet little street. But once it got flooded with traffic, it's like, okay, Judy, you hear one car, there's probably going to be three or four more behind it. So I knew I couldn't count on drivers being attentive. So I actually asked one of my neighbors, hey, can you use this? And I gave them one of my big, thick markers that I used to be able to see with. I said, can you please create signs that say, blind pedestrian. Drive slowly? And so the neighborhood really took that to heart. So not only were those signs created, but another neighbor had tape that said, attention, please. So that was taped above these signs. And so that made me feel safer when I was out walking. You know, like I said, they just. They just care, you know, and I care, you know, so that really did help. And another thing that was really great. My daughter in Charleston was very willing to come up and get me. And it's like, oh. But we all know as people with vision loss, we are so much more independent in our home, and I didn't want to leave because I could manage things here. So it's like, okay, if I go to Charleston, I'm going to Be in a place where I'm not very comfortable, cannot be very independent. It has an open floor plan, it's a four story townhome, no sidewalks, and just a lot of difficulties of what to do. But as the lack of water continued, it's like, okay, I just need to think about going to Charleston for a couple of weeks. My daughter had getting donations from friends and family members because they knew she would eventually be coming to the Asheville area. And two people in that support group that I helped run do not live in the Asheville area. So they had been trying to reach out to the support group people to say, how are you doing? Are you okay? What do you need and what do you want? And so the plan was my daughter was going to bring supplies from Charleston through those donations of money that she gotten. And so when she came to Asheville, she brought supplies and she and I delivered the supplies to the people that we'd been able to reach. And it was so sweet because those two people, Tara and Mark, that do not live in North Carolina, they checked in with people and they would get things that the people would like because they needed them. But it's like, okay, but what do you want? And one person in our support group has said, if I could just have some yarn so I could crochet, why I'm stuck in this challenging world. And another person said, oh, if I could just have some Reese's peanut butter cups, my world would be brighter. And so what was happening in the community, like, somebody brought me a box of canned items, which was really sweet. But as people with vision loss, it's like, okay, what's this a can of? What's this a can of? And I, you know, they said, okay, there's a bag of beans in here. It's like, well, I already have beans. Well, just take it. It's like, but you're just adding more chaos to my chaotic life. And it happened to a couple other people in the group where they kept getting all these supplies. You know, one person's table was full, full of stuff that she couldn't identify. And so the fact that my daughter was able to bring things that people specifically asked for made a difference.
- [18:59]
A
And this is actually such a good point though, because when a disaster like this happens to some degree, maybe feel like you are at the mercy of what other people choose to do. So some of the ways that you, you generally get things done, maybe that's instacart or, you know, getting things delivered as you shop online or going to the grocery Store and knowing that there will be someone there to walk with you and help you pick out things, those things maybe go out the window. So just having that moment where people are willing to say, what do you need? What do you want? What's going to help in a way that doesn't add to what you're already dealing with, that had to help so much.
- [19:50]
B
Yeah. Yeah. And that was the neat thing about the community. And I think other places that have disasters find that, too. You know, that that flush brigade was great. And there was another way that volunteers would go to a certain place in downtown Asheville and get, like, assignments of places to go and everything. And it was just really, really sweet about how many people jumped in to help. And, you know, and other people just chose to leave because, you know, no water, no electricity. You know, if people can easily leave, then they go.
- [20:23]
A
That probably makes the most sense.
- [20:25]
B
Right.
- [20:25]
A
If they can, why not? So I do think that you can make something like this a learning opportunity. You're bound to discover some things just by facing that challenge that you didn't know about yourself or you didn't know about the people around you. Were there things that you found out from going through this that you were really surprised by or didn't expect?
- [20:54]
B
You know, I am naturally an organized and detailed person, and I'm usually, I kind of go with the flow. You know, it's like, okay, you know, I can get through this. It's going to be okay. You know, I don't panic, things like that. But when you lose your comfort places, you know, the ability to go out for walks, the ability to listen to, it's just a hard hit on your mental health. And trying to find substitutes was tricky.
- [21:22]
A
Yeah. Yeah.
- [21:23]
B
And, you know, like I said, what can you replace that? You know, because I enjoy cleaning, you know, because I'm listening to my books, and so it's not a big deal. But when I can't listen to my books and I can't really clean, then that's a challenge.
- [21:34]
A
Yes.
- [21:35]
B
And, you know, just that disruption of scheduling.
- [21:37]
A
Yeah. And those are things you don't really think about, because what we always hear is make sure you have supplies, make sure you have food and water and contact info and your meds are okay, but you don't often hear someone say, plan for some disruptions to your routine, and are there alternatives that you can occupy yourself if this goes on for a while? So it's a really good point.
- [22:10]
B
And the other thing that surprised me, because, again, I feel like one of those people that usually let things go. It's like, okay, I got through that, I'm okay. But myself and other people in our support group have talked about how now we are more nervous once we hear that the wind speed is going up. And we know there's a lot of trees that are down and trees that should be coming down. You know, the storm has made them vulnerable to any kind of wind that might come. And so it's like, okay, that. And then like recently we were supposed to have some snow and they said, you know, make sure your devices are charged. Charged, make sure you have water for three days, make sure you have food for three days. It's like, oh my gosh. And I just, I didn't realize how I would have these flashbacks of, okay, there's this. So I didn't expect that to happen. And another thing, I feel like I'm usually a pretty good advocate for myself, but it's just hard in an, you know, and I know that that's something you talked about on the previous episode. You know, you have to be prepared for that. But it's hard, especially when you don't know. And so just learning that. And I think female tries hard. But again, with people with disabilities, I don't think they actually get it because I talked to them initially because they said, you know, even if you didn't have any damage, you should contact them. So I contacted them and then I got a denial. It's like, okay, well then I contacted them again to see if they would help with where I, you know, where I was staying and things. And even though I explained to them, look, I have a vision loss, I can't go stay at a hotel unless you're going to send somebody with me to show, show me, you know, how to navigate and get food and things like that. I got a pre recorded message saying you've been approved for, you know, staying at a hotel. Like, okay. Because they made it sound like they were going to make, you know, some kind of accommodation. You know, I didn't know if they were going to pay for travel to Charleston, you know, just for gas or something. But anyway, I think they need to be made more aware and so that's something I need to do as well.
- [24:19]
A
Yeah. And they are assuming that it's a cookie cutter situation where everyone needs the same thing, but you have to figure out how to ask for what you need.
- [24:29]
B
Yeah, exactly. And then there was another situation that I tried not to advocate for myself for the longest time because just again, to have a feel for what happened in my community is that there was 10.5 million cubic yards of debris from helene in my county. And to visualize that one of the things we heard on the community briefing was to picture a football field without the end zones. And debris would go about a mile up into the air, up into the sky.
- [25:03]
A
Yikes.
- [25:04]
B
There was three piles of debris. There was a pile of, like, wires, and then there was two piles of trees and things like that. So they finally moved that first debris pile so I could walk to the first sidewalk in 20 more steps, and then I'd have to turn around because the debris was taller than I was. And walking on the yard side, you know, I couldn't get around it that way. And walking in the street would have meant that traffic would have not been able to see me until I stepped into the street. So I was told by several friends, like, no, don't even try that. So I had to do these endless loops in my neighborhood, which got tedious, no doubt. And I kept thinking, it's like I could call the pedestrian safety people and say, hey, could you get this debris piled? But they kept saying, be patient, Be patient, because again, 10.5 million cubic yards of debris. And so it was actually kind of sweet. I went to Guiding eyes for the blind, and they call it dog day, the first day you meet your new guide dog. So on January 18th of 2025, I always think, oh, I want to email his puppy raisers and just say, hey, this is what's been happening. It's, you know, we're doing okay. That kind of thing. And so we walked to that first driveway on that sidewalk, and then we walked our 20 steps, and my dog did not turn around. It's like, oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh, we can keep going. And we walked on the side street that has a cul de sac. And then I kept walking and texting people and just. I was just so excited and so thrilled. And then I turned around and came back, and I got back to that block where the debris pile was, and we were walking along, and all of a sudden, we brushed up against something. It's like, oh, did they put up, like, a temporary retaining wall or something? And it's like I reached out, and it. They had just cut the trees off the sidewalk. So what I was touching were trees that had come down.
- [26:59]
A
Oh, wow.
- [27:01]
B
And it just broke my heart because for people who haven't had vision for a while, we can't visualize these kind of disasters. So for me encountering these trees, it just Reminded me of how many trees we lost. I mean, it's just, you know, western North Carolina, we're known for our mountains, we're known for our nature. I mean, it's just such a lovely area. And trees are just so important to me. And just hearing about all these trees and then finally touching these trees.
- [27:30]
A
Yeah, that really brings it home. Because you're right. You can't watch what's happening on the news. You don't get those visual images. And so hearing about it is one thing, and then encountering that in your environment just.
- [27:49]
B
Yeah, and that was one thing. I asked my daughter when we were coming back from Charleston. I said, would you please tell me what you see? And she said, okay, there's some trees, trees down, you know, on the side of the road. And then she said, there's trees down now that have crushed, you know, the metal railings alongside the road. And then she said, oh, you know, there's trees that have been cut so that the road is open again. You know, this is highway. And so trying to find that reality, you know, and then the loss of life, you know, they. They know that hundreds, some people died in western North Carolina. And I. I am so afraid that as the year progresses that more bodies are going to be found because there was just so much flooding and wind and, you know, just. Who knows? I mean, it's just a hard picture to visualize.
- [28:33]
A
Yeah, for sure. So as we are bringing this to a close, we've talked about a lot of stuff, and in that first episode, we had some steps for disaster preparedness with vision loss. And now that you've gone through it, I know you've learned a lot. Are there points that were covered in that that maybe you would reiterate or things that you would definitely add or anything really, that you would leave people with who are listening that we haven't covered already?
- [29:08]
B
Yeah, there's some things that I think we're just right on with that podcast and then other things I would suggest, you know, that emergency management person, you know, reaching out to them before the disaster happens, just because it needs to be a two way street. They need to know how some of us didn't get what we needed. And we need to know what we could have done differently to get the things we needed again. I had that emergency weather radio and it was very blind friendly. Just be prepared that your smartphone may not work. I mean, that was one of the things. It's like we all depend on our smartphones now, but if the cell towers come down, they're not going to be there for us.
- [29:47]
A
Yeah.
- [29:48]
B
Another thing that I think is key, you know, you always hear about the go bag, but I think you also need to have, I call it now a stay shelf or a stay box or something. And, you know, it would be the water and the food and the batteries that you all talked about having in the go bag. But then it might also be, you know, the paper products, because, again, we didn't have water. You know, we were stacking up dishes and things like that. So having paper products made a difference. And, and, and to add to that, you know, you all mentioned having a contact list, and that is great. Two things that kind of was a challenge for me is I tend to give people my landline number. I still use my landline number more than I use my cell phone for personal calls. So not everybody had my cell phone number. And that was the case for other people in the support group. And like, the. Oh, this was really sweet. The talking books library director found a person who had my cell number. So the talking books library director in Raleigh called to say, what's going on? What can the library do?
- [30:54]
A
Wow.
- [30:54]
B
So making sure that people have your cell phone number is key if you're like me and still have both. The other thing that was challenging is that, of course, my family members knew how to reach me if they could because of the cell towers being down. But also, I wanted people to know, like, I have friends like you and Mark Arneson at Hadley. And so one of the times I was out and I was able to get a hold of my daughter is like, would you please let Mark, let them know that I'm okay? And again, it's just, you know, I was regularly brailling out people's phone numbers or railing out people's email addresses so that I could ask my daughter to reach out to these people that were, I'm sure, concerned about me, including, like, the puppy raisers for my dogs. Another thing, leave a message on your voicemail on your cell phone so that if people do try to reach you, put a message that says, I am okay. So that if they cannot get through to you, if they can get through to your voicemail, they know that you're okay.
- [32:00]
A
Yeah. Because you've had that opportunity to record it after things happened. And that's a really good point. Point.
- [32:07]
B
So, again, there's small things, but being ahead of the game before the storm hits is a good thing.
- [32:14]
A
Absolutely. Yeah. And that way, when something does happen, at least you've done all the things within your control while you had that opportunity.
- [32:24]
B
Yeah. And one more thing I want to add. I still remember the first phone call on my phone, on my cell phone that I got when I was in my home. It was just like a miracle, you know, because again, I'd been, you know, struggling, trying to connect with people, and finally my cell phone rang within my home and it was my daughter and my grandson. And I just stood very still and talked to them in my home.
- [32:50]
A
Like, don't move. Yeah, exactly the signal.
- [32:53]
B
But yes, I mean, it was, it was a life changing experience. And yeah, it's. It's scary.
- [32:59]
A
Yeah, no doubt. But you did come through it, for which we're all so grateful. And I'm so glad that you could share this with us because if someone else is in a similar situation, that wisdom can really be helpful. And much as we would like to say, yeah, I wish that had not happened. It has and you learned a lot. And now thanks to that, so have we. Thank you so much, Judy, for sharing this with us and just spending a little time kind of going through those little details that we don't really think about.
- [33:37]
B
Yeah, and there are so many little details. I mean, just. You just never know what all is going to be unfold.
- [33:44]
A
Absolutely. Well, thanks so much, Judy. We so appreciate it and thank you all for listening. Got something to say? Share your thoughts about this episode of Hadley Presents or make suggestions for future episodes. We'd love to hear from you. Send us an email@podcastadleyhelps.org that's P O D C A S T hadleyhelps.org or leave us a message at 847-784-2870. Thanks for listening.