The East Tennessee Catholic Catholic Charities of East Tennessee (CCETN) continues to lead emergency-response efforts to assist individuals and communities impacted by Hurricane Helene. Deacon David Duhamel, CCETN executive director, provided an update on Oct. 1 on the areas of upper East Tennessee that are dealing with devastation from record flooding as Helene swept over the region Sept. 27-28 and the nonprofit agency’s “life-saving supply-chain efforts.” The hurricane dumped record amounts of rainfall in the mountains of western North Carolina, which caused the French Broad, Pigeon, and Nolichucky rivers to overflow their banks in historic fashion and overrun Unicoi, Cocke, and Greene counties in East Tennessee. The rain turned these normally serene mountain tributaries into raging rapids that washed away most everything in their path, including part of Interstate 40 between Newport and Asheville, N.C. Interstate 26 between Johnson City and Asheville also was forced to close. The resulting floods... Read more →