Catamount Resiliency: Campus Response
Catamount
Resiliency
Hurricane Helene tore through the mountains of Western North Carolina in late September, leaving unfathomable destruction and devastation in its path. Despite facing their own daunting circumstances, the Catamount community stepped up to help the communities of WNC during an unprecedented time of grief, loss and the unknown, displaying their resiliency and fighting spirit.
In the hours and days after Hurricane Helene hit, students were asked to stay put as traveling outside of Jackson County was unsafe. The loss of internet and cell service made traveling hazardous, and the surrounding areas were unknown.
Students on campus and off were kept safe and fed during this unprecedented time thanks to Student Affairs, WCU鈥檚 Campus Activities, Campus Dining, Residential Living, The Division of Information Technology, Administration and many other campus departments and employees who worked around the clock to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all.
In the first 24 hours after the storm, with internet and cell service out, landline phones were set up in the University Center and the Campus Recreation Center for students to call family members and let them know they were safe.
One student's request to use a landline led to several phones being made available in a makeshift phone bank, where students lined up to call home.
WCU is fortunate because it has its own water and power and did not run into any issues during the storm. The water remained safe to drink on campus despite the boil water advisory in and around Jackson County. While WCU lost cell and internet briefly, power remained on.
For the brief period the internet was out, Richie Ritter from WCU鈥檚 Division of Information Technology brought his personal StarLink internet system from home to get WCU back online and distribute critical information.
He also fired up the grill to cook hamburgers and hotdogs for fellow employees on campus.
鈥淚鈥檓 a former firefighter and come from a family of first responders, so it is just instinct to cook for people when something bad is happening,鈥� Ritter said. 鈥淚 knew I could help with internet connectivity and feed people, so that was how I contributed.鈥�
Emily Moss, a graphic designer in the Print Shop at WCU, was grateful to have her children within eyesight during the storm but knew other mothers and loved ones did not know if their children were safe.
WCU could not send information via social media, email or even the website when all communication channels went down.
鈥淚 felt for those mothers, not knowing if their children were safe when all communication went down,鈥� Moss said. 鈥淚 realized that I still had my satellite internet connection, so I got online and started commenting that 鈥榗ampus was safe, but we had lost connection鈥� on every thread I could where parents were worried about the safety of their WCU students.鈥�
Moss continued easing the minds and hearts of parents by sharing updates and photos of campus.
鈥淚 kept reaching out until I got ahold of someone to get photos of campus and send them to me so I could share them online. It doesn鈥檛 matter if your child is 8 or 48; you want to know they are safe. Especially when these parents saw images of the harder-hit areas of WNC and thought WCU was underwater. It takes a village, and I am so thankful I was able to help during this time.鈥�
