People shared their stories about the storm and its impacts. (Gabriel Swinney)

SWANNANOA, N.C. — About 200 people lined up outside St. Margaret Mary Church in the small mountain town of Swannanoa, one of the area’s hardest hit by the Sept. 27 floods. They waited for a visit by Bishop Michael Martin, OFM Conv. – some with smiles, but also many in tears or shocked despair.

They brought the bishop stories of ruined houses, lost possessions and life without electricity or water – and no idea when those things would be returned to them. Many also knew of worse stories from farther up the Swannanoa Valley, where some people went looking for family members or friends and discovered they were missing, their houses washed away.

The bishop comforted people and prayed with them, listened to dramatic and frightening stories of living through the storms, and blessed babies and children.

A look at the devastation just outside St. Margaret Mary Church in Swannanoa.

To get to the church, many had to make a grim drive through downtown Swannanoa, where the town’s namesake river exploded from its banks a week ago and left much of the area looking like a war zone. Houses, trailers and cars were torn apart by the water and flipped upside down. Roads have washed away into jagged small cliffs, water pipes and propane tanks litter the riverbanks, and people’s possessions – bed sheets, clothing, a child’s wading pool, a picnic table – dangled from trees along the river.

“The bishop has lifted a lot of people up by coming here,” said Claudia Graham, secretary at St. Margaret Mary Parish, who has been leading relief efforts as they await the appointment of a new pastor. She announced Bishop Martin’s visit on Thursday afternoon and by Friday morning people had come from all around the area – many taking long circuitous routes because their usual roads were wiped out.

Whole families came out to greet the bishop, who wanted to survey the damage firsthand and offer spiritual comfort.

Parishioners Joe and Mary Lewis drove 40 minutes instead of their usual 10 from Scenic Mobile Home Park, a senior citizens community in east Asheville, just for a moment of prayer with Bishop Martin. While their home and most of their neighbors wasn’t destroyed, the complex is without power or running water, and residents have been collecting buckets of water from a community swimming pool to flush toilets.

“This whole thing is devastating, but I know we’re going to get through it,” Joe Lewis said.

Mary Lewis wiped away tears and said the couple is coping by providing what help they can. They own a generator so have opened their home to neighbors who need to charge cell phones or get some cool air.

“Those who help people don’t realize how much they’re doing for others,” she said. “We had some people show up the other day who had a carload of dog food. They don’t realize that with a gesture like that, they’re not just feeding somebody’s dog but also feeding people’s souls.”

Candy brought by the diocesan team was a hit with local kids.

While the bishop greeted people outside, inside the small church some people prayed, seeking a moment of peace against the constant buzz of helicopter blades above the Swannanoa Valley. A fleet of helicopters – Chinooks from the U.S. Army, Coast Guard search and rescue, Forest Service and some privately owned ones – crisscrossed the sky overhead, some surveying damage and others transporting supplies and flood survivors.

Parishioner Cecilia Meredith was happy to see the bishop and said her faith has helped her get through the past week as she’s worked on one of the medical response and search-and-rescue teams in the area.

The bishop joined in prayer and offered spiritual consolation to those who had gathered on the church lawn. (Gabriel Swinney)

“We’ve been doing wellness checks, looking for some missing people, and bringing supplies to people,” Meredith said. “I woke up crying this morning because I know people who have died and I’ve had to see people suffering.”

Directly across from the church, Grovemont Park is serving as a green island of peace in the middle of the flooded valley. For the past week, area residents have met there daily for support and fellowship. Volunteers cook free hot meals and others offer supplies including fresh vegetables, household cleaners and toiletries.

“This is one of the good things that has come out of all of this,” one woman said, gesturing at the crowded park. “People are connecting with each other again.”

You can make a disaster relief donation to Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Charlotte through this link.

— Christina Lee Knauss

Reprinted with the permission of the Catholic News Herald