I just attended a conference in Cherokee, NC. If you have been following the news, you probably know about the ‘little’ weather emergency we encountered.
My travel companions Garrison York Schmidt, SHRM-CP Deborah "Debi" Reynolds, SPHR, SHRM-SCP Cheryl Jeffries, SHRM-SCP, SPHR and I left the conference at about 10:30 am on Friday. We knew there may be some issues but had no idea what we were in for-multiple road closures, trees and power lines down, flooding, and mudslides. We got routed into Asheville where there was no power or Wi-Fi and lots of destruction. It was a bit reminiscent of a cross between the Walking Dead and Survivor (okay, that may be a bit dramatic but not pleasant ).
We parked in an Ingle’s parking lot, a tad bit sketchy, and were almost out of gas. We found out that a Publix store down the road had power and Wi-Fi (the only place around) and got in the car to go and our car battery was dead.💀 We ended up spending the night in the parking lot and had some better luck and assistance from others the next day.
This experience restored a little of my faith in the human race. I don’t remember all the names but here are some shout-outs:
▶️Brian and Jen who helped transport several of us to where we could text our loved ones.
▶️The group that took several of us to find jumper cables and jumped the battery.
▶️The lady at Ingle’s that gave us some of the gas from her can (and there wasn’t gas anywhere to be found).
▶️The truck driver that stayed in the parking lot overnight as a watchful eye.
▶️Robin who gave us toilet paper and water.
▶️Juan who brought a power strip to Publix and was offering to charge people’s devices.
▶️The nurse that offered to let 4 strangers stay in her townhouse on Saturday night.
▶️The Publix in Asheville that did an outstanding job serving the mobs of people who came there for wifi and groceries.
❗ And to W. Noah Reynolds, CPA MBA who came to pick us up armed with gas, a new battery, and water to give out to the people we were leaving behind!
And most of all to God who answered our prayers! 🙏
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