Community Comes Together in Crisis

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One year ago, on September 27, 2024, Western North Carolina became the epicenter of Hurricane Helene. She drove up through Florida and Georgia, mostly just passing through.  But when she got to Western North Carolina, she decided to stay a while.  It had already been raining nonstop here for 4 days.  The storm essentially stalled and let her massive force deconstruct our beautiful green, rolling hills, and the geography we call home will probably take a full 10 years to return to its former glory.  

When the rain and winds subsided, old, mature trees littered every space you could think of.  There was no power, water, internet, or phone communication.  We were totally cut off from any information.  We emerged from our homes and met up with neighbors walking around surveying damage.  It was dangerous.  Power lines were down on the ground.  

But we didn’t know what was coming the next day.  

Any part of our landscape that was near a river or even what we thought was a tiny creek stood in harm’s way.  In my little town, about 60 miles east of Asheville, NC, our Catawba River crested at a level I’ve never seen before.  

I couldn’t find a height that I thought was accurate in any reporting.  I’ll say this: there’s a bridge high above the Catawba River in one part of our town.  It probably crosses the river 75 feet above the normal surface height of the river.  The water was so high that authorities were afraid the river might wash that bridge away.

The above photo shows the aftermath a few days after Helene blew through Morganton, NC.

Within a short time, members of the medical community got together to ask colleagues from all over the country to help us.  Were those members of the medical community from CVS or Walgreens?  Nope.  How about the humongous hospital systems in our state?  Nope.  The “bigs” in healthcare seemed uninfluenced by what was happening.  It was the real community that stepped in and helped.  

Local, independent, community pharmacies and direct primary care practices from here and hundreds of miles away got together and decided to do something.  My DPC Story even did a podcast about it.

A clinically integrated network of community pharmacies, called CPESN, came together and sent supplies or money to purchase them, which were then delivered to Dr. Ann Gonzales and the team of volunteers at our regional airport.  From there, supplies were airlifted to our friends in the high country, as roads and bridges had been destroyed.  I made a short video about it.  You can watch that here:

Folks, this is what community means.  Neighbors helping neighbors, even if you’re not in the same geography.  We’re all in this together.  And we need each other.

Thank you for traveling down memory lane with me.  It’s important to remember these times.

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About Cristy Gupton

A nationally recognized employee benefits advisor, Cristy Gupton has endeavored to solve healthcare challenges for employers since 1998.  Cristy has been named twice to Employee Benefits Advisor Magazine's Top 20 Women in Benefits Advising list.   In 2017, Cristy was credentialed by the Health Rosetta and Mitigate Partners, groups of the nation's leading healthcare consultants who provide transparent, employer-built health plans with direct primary care at the foundation.  Cristy has a BS in Public Health from UNC-Chapel Hill, a MS in Health Benefits Design and Health Informatics from University of Lynchburg and a designation of Global Financial Steward from Wake Forest University’s Center for Board Certified Fiduciaries. Other highlights: Spokesperson of the Free Market Medical Association, Carolinas Chapter Contributor to Industry Publications like BenefitsPro Magazine, Physician’s Outlook Magazine and DPC News Speaker at Wingate University’s Engaged Citizen’s Series, VAHU, SIIA, DPC Summit, Health Rosetta Summit (now called RosettaFest), Free Market Medical Association, BenefitsPro etc. Creator of Healthcare Smartypants, an employee education series meant to help employees become smarter consumers of healthcare. Creator of Sunlight Health Plans, a self-funded plan design for employers who embrace Direct Primary Care Cristy also serves her community and fellow citizens through organizations like Scouting America, and her local chapter of Rotary International.