Certain residents in North Carolina’s Avery and Mitchell counties are at risk of facing winter without the ability to heat their homes, after Hurricane Helene dismantled the area’s only kerosene station.
Rhonda Jean Kowald and her nonprofit, the Western Carolina Emergency Network, stepped up to help deliver heating fuel to local firehouses in the area to distribute to those in need, but supplies are already running out.
The volunteers are now racing against the clock to supply emergency fuel before winter sets in, which would pose an even greater risk to vulnerable residents, according to Kowald.
“They’re going to be in a really bad situation,” Kowald said. They started out with over $271,000 in donations. As of Wednesday, they have $50,000 left, which would only cover a week and a half of fuel, Kowald said.
“Donations are dried out because most of the news cycles have moved on,” she said.
Paul Buchanan, emergency management director for Avery County, said the dismantled Quickmart station, serviced by Exxon, supplied kerosene to local gas stations in the area. It also did home delivery.