One of the sole sources world wide for pure Quartz used by the chip industry is now underwater in Spruce Pines N.C. and the rail line that served the mine is destroyed. The other source is in Belgium and their out of production too.
The world wide highly optimized Chip industry and supply chain just got slugged in the mouth.
Praying for relief, but hello Mr. stock broker
https://www.techspot.com/news/104938-hurricane-helene-damage-may-threaten-critical-semiconductor-supply.html

Just got a call from Dee on Denise's phone. They are ok... no power, but their house is intact... Having to travel to get gas and groceries and to find cell service.

Excellent , thanks for the follow up Bill.

Unfortunately there are still hundreds of folks that are missing ! Very sad 😔

How are you guys making out that sustained damage? Is life back to new normal yet?

From local news reports, the state parks, etc. are just starting to reopen, and the region that is SO dependent upon tourism $$$ is trying .... while other areas are still digging out. A new abnormal .... the mountian region is going to need help for a LONG time...

Thanks to everyone who helps in any way ... it matters to those folks.

One of my friends went to Asheville the other day to check on her Mom and said it looks like a bomb went off.

A few photos she took.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1730576959.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1730576959.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1730576959.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1730576959.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1730576959.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1730576959.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1730576959.jpg

Update from NC DOT


Hurricane Helene Update As of 5 p.m. Oct. 28, 2024
We have 2,134 DOT employees responding: 1,475 from Divisions 11-14, 375 from our Central Units, and 284 in crew transfers from central/eastern divisions. There are now 128 Kentucky personnel assisting in the recovery. We have 925 pieces of heavy equipment – dump trucks, backhoes, loaders and graders – in the affected areas.
We have now reopened 891 roads, including 3 in the past 24 hours.
We are now reporting 402 road closures in our system – of which 73 are primary routes – along with 106 roads with partial access and 32 that are closed to truck traffic. We’ve identified 7,961 damaged sites, including 731 bridge sites and 764 culverts. At least 140 bridges will require replacement and expect this figure to increase.

Dayum!

It's been six weeks since the last hurricane, but today my siding is fixed! Now I need my awnings replaced and repaired.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1732229585.jpg

Nice, Dixie. That's a cute house.

Siding repair looks good .

Thank you. Things are starting to return to normal, or at least a new normal. About twenty in my neighborhood have sold
as-is. There's also a bunch of businesses that won't reopen, and entire neighborhoods being condemned forcing owners to sell to developers. So far my neighborhood has squeaked by. I'm sure many developers envision some luxury highrises where my house stands.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1732232458.jpg
Anna Maria Island Pier

Nice repairs. Almost as good as new. That house looks remarkably like my rental in Asheville, but mine has a front porch and a walkout basement. It was built in the 20's but renovated around 2007.

Asheville city water does not have to be boiled any longer starting this week. Parts of the outlying area is still impassable. Still pretty tough sledding for many.

I was lucky so far. I was billed about $4K for cutting a tree off a power line at my rental after the storm, but that is all so far. I still have some trees to cut up and remove at my vacation home there but luckily, the trees did not hit anything....so we only lost the contents of the fridge/freezer.

What? More info, please?

It's the 50% rule. If repairing your house exceeds 50% of the dwelling's cost, less land value, you must bring the dwelling up to current building codes. Using my house as an example, if repairing my house, including labor, was $100,000, I'd have to raise the building, put in hurricane windows, a hurricane rated roof system, new electrics and plumbing, and more. The net is I'm looking at a new $500,000 building. I can't afford that, so my only option is to sell the dirt.

Now consider that every house in the neighborhood was built about the same time, and all are damaged, it's a perfect opportunity for a developer to swoop in and buy everyone out at a discount. What goes up next is new high-rise million dollar condos.