When Facebook identified my account as having “the potential to reach a lot of people” (look Ma, I made it?) it was the beginning of a massive headache – not the additional security. I started to have my posts censored, no longer able to post links, post in groups, or even comment on posts for a while. The “two days” restrictions ended up lasting nearly two weeks – and I was never shown what post(s) or comment(s) allegedly violated Facebook’s terms of services, either.
These are FREE apps I recommend to folks on the ground in the western Carolinas and eastern Tennessee:
– WLOS ABC 13 – local news for the WNC region.
– MyRadar Weather Radar – localized weather notifications, pull up a radar quickly.
– Police Scanner Radio – this also includes frequencies being used by amateurs for coordinating volunteer efforts. I’m currently listening to the American Red Cross in Rutherford County discuss efforts to bring wifi up for residents and Billy Graham Rapid Response Team Chaplains distributing supplies in Burnsville.
– Offline Survival Guide – what it sounds like.
– AllTrails – popular with hikers and bikers, still being updated with current reviews about physical conditions on trails in the affected areas.
– Trailforks – similar as above, but you can download a map for offline reference.
– onX Hunt – property lines, elevations, really helpful geographical data in general. (PS deer are running out in front of traffic like crazy right now. Be careful.)
– ReGrid – similar but less offroad-focused and more property ownership focused, using satellite imagery.
– RV LIFE Trip Wizard – locate RV parks
– PictureThis – identify plants and fungi you may come in contact with. (Remember, southern Appalachia is one of the most ecologically diverse regions in the world.)
– Life360 – share your live location via GPS with a trusted person.
– Google Maps – obviously. But seriously, this is your best bet for staying updated on road closures.
I saw people in this Appalachian Americans group talking about holding off heaters and sending chewing tobacco instead to distribution sites, and using their experiences in Florida to criticize the response in the mountains, and I have well and truly lost my patience this morning. Lord forgive me but you ain’t gonna tell me from social media that DIP is more important than HEATERS right now.
ETA some are now claiming these photos are AI. The ignorance is incredible.
If you attended the benefit show at Tommy’s Pub the other night with Queen City Rejects, The Body Bags, and October, this is what your money went to 
we got a lot of cold weather clothing for young’uns, some toiletries, some work gloves, some bulk chips and drinks. These and the donations were taken to Spruce Pine today.
I-26 is clear up to Mars Hill – I passed by some army convoys headed that way as well. From there, Hwy 19 is a straight shot to Spruce Pine, but the road itself is gonna struggle with heavy vehicle traffic and I recommend keeping to the inside lanes, especially heading east. Hwy 226 IS NOT CLEAR PAST SPRUCE PINE 
QUIT DRIVING PAST ROADBLOCKS. I saw multiple out-of-state personal vehicles coming down past the roadblock, and the road even as far as I could get was NOT in good shape. Too many visitors are gonna end up causing highways to be re-closed and that’s not going to be a good thing for the folks who live there.
As for everything I saw today… that’s gonna come tomorrow. I stopped through Asheville on my way home. I walked through the River Arts District. I am honestly weighing whether or not to even share those photos.
Ya’ll be safe and THANK YOU 
keep supporting Appalachia!!! There is so much good being done all over, and we are going to keep that going no matter what.
**Please let me know if you were involved in the event and need an uncensored copy of the receipt!!**
Well… this is something…
Ground Force Humanitarian Aid
10/20/24Spruce Pine North Carolina for SAFE Camp operations was absolutely spot on.
We chose our location in Little Switzerland, and landed our base through a mutual connection at the Switzerland Inn & Chalet Restaurant because it’s right on the county line right between Mitchell and Yancy county. These two counties were ground zero for the largest rainfall amounts over the four day period of September 24 to September 28, after Helene moved past.
The rain that fell into the highlands of Mitchell County NC and Yancey County, North Carolina converged into cauldrons around high mountain streams which began bursting and flowing downward through the hollars, creeks and bubbling streams, funneling into a torrent of deadly water 30 – 50 feet high as it washed through small towns, family settlements and down the beautiful pristine mountain forest hillsides. The rain caravined downhill through long scenic valleys creating over 600 deadly avalanches of giant trees, mud, debris and water.
The crashing torrent swept away businesses and homes with entire families who had gathered and were riding out hurricane Helene together. Hundreds died, including one of the front desk employees at the Little Switzerland Inn where we are being graciously housed.
I hope I’ve painted a picture that remains with you forever, this is the most complete, complex and destructive natural disaster our organization has seen since hurricane Katrina. The work to be done will take decades… unless, you take action now. The more people that roll up their sleeves and help the faster these beautiful communities recover. So, we encourage you to show up, help us cleanup and donate. ~Rob
Donate here – GoCajunNavy.org
-‘We are using your funds for direct cash giving to individuals. -Supply purchases. -To ensure team members can remain and help for long periods of time. -To secure equipment needed to work on properties. -To cover fuel, meal and living expenses.
Show up, we have housing and will feed you – Volunteer.GoCajunNavy.org. Choose Ground Force Humanitarian Aid as your team when you register.
Here are the official rainfall amounts from the National Weather Service.
– 1. Busick in Yancey County had the most recorded rain in the period of time at 30.78 inches.
– 2. At 24.12 inches Spruce Pine in Mitchell County came in second.
Hendersonville: 21.96 inches
Mountain Home: 17.09 inches
Candler: 16.18 inches
Tryon: 15.78 inches
Grandfather Mountain: 15.42 inches
Highlands: 14.86 inches
Banner Elk: 14.85 inches
Mills River: 13.26 inches
Swannanoa: 13.21 inches
So I went down to the River Arts District yesterday in AVL, on my way home from Spruce Pine.
Jesus Christ.
Yes I did take photos and I’m not even sure I should post them tbh. It IS that bad. And there are people sleeping in tents out there by the river last night.
Asheville, I love you all so much. Your music, your art, your culture, your beauty, but especially your people. 
I am so sorry. It’s gonna be amazing when you rebuild.
ETA 10/22: I posted them.
Fox Carolina News got it pretty wrong here unfortunately. I’ve been to a lot of these locations in the past few days. Let’s talk about them.
Asheville 
– WAVL is coming back, businesses are re-opening, they could definitely use some income to help their surrounding community. But you saw what I said this morning about the River Arts District. Biltmore Village is also decimated.
Black Mountain – sits immediately next to Swannanoa and took some of the very worst damage from the storm. The army was at the FEMA camp in the Ingles parking lot helping distribute supplies on Friday.
Little Switzerland – Hwy 226 is CLOSED past Spruce Pine and is extremely dangerous to try to access. Utility crews need to be able to access and fix the power lines, and I’m concerned the road will crumble further under all those out-of-state vehicles I saw driving right past the supply distribution site I was at, towards the Blue Ridge Parkway. If the roads fall apart any more it WILL re-isolate communities and cause massive issues. STOP DRIVING THROUGH ROADBLOCKS!
Spruce Pine – I passed by the tourist attractions myself. They were not open. The Skyline Village Inn is being used as a supply distribution site. The army was showing up as I was leaving. I was still driving over downed power lines. You can access via Hwy 19, but for the time being, they do not seem ready for tourism again.
Lake Lure 
– things are improving, businesses are slowly opening back up, yes it’s true. But I’m still hearing that you will probably have to pull over somewhere and hike up that way. Remember, the whole town exists along one tiny, windy cliffside road. The speed of rebuilding in Lake Lure and Chimney Rock has been absolutely incredible.
Marion 
– been back open for business for a few weeks actually. McDowell County did get hit super hard, and 221 is still not clear from the north, but I-40 and hwy 221 are both clear routes to access downtown and support some local businesses to help give the rest of the county some tax income.
Rutherfordton – also been open for a few weeks now; they’re closer to SC on hwy 221, so they had the road cleared maybe a week before Marion.
–
Please let me know if there’s any dispute or update. I haven’t seen FOX or any other journalists at all in WNC, so really listen to the locals if you wanna know what’s going on anywhere. Drive safe – seriously, the most dangerous thing in WNC right now might be the traffic from outsiders. If the traffic light is out, treat it as a four way stop sign. Thanks ya’ll
My account is restricted with NO explanation.
There are false rumors from outsiders that are exploding about FEMA and militias and I am no longer able to do much right now about them.
After a lot of thought and talking to some folks, I have decided to post the photos that I took Sunday evening at the River Arts District in Asheville. Posting unedited, raw photos since folks in the Appalachian Americans group falsely accused me of posting AI images the other day. I saved the worst ones for the end.
At the end, I posted some photos I took last year in a nearby area – not the exact same location, but I wasn’t able to walk very far without being blocked by debris and mud. Just so ya’ll know how beautiful this place will be again one day.
There were people sleeping in tents. There were people searching up and down the river for bodies. And there were people walking their dogs and playing Frisbee. It is surreal. I sat on that couch by the river for a bit. Around the corner on Haywood Road, businesses are starting to re-open and still helping their city in any way they possibly can. In the other direction at Biltmore Village, there is a lot more cleanup that still needs to take place.
Support BeLoved Asheville, Samaritan’s Purse, ZeroWaste, Nanostead, Silverados, United Cajun Navy, Restoration Church, and local artists and musicians
Appalachia Strong 
[see original post for photos]
Screenshotting this here because FB will not even allow me to share posts from a group right now, apparently. Wally Graeber – thank you and please let me know if I should edit or take this down.
I want to add something: this is FAR from the first time I have heard about physical aggression and threats towards locals or volunteers, from folks coming into the area. I have also seen (and been on the receiving end) of a lot of nasty comments from those who feel entitled to say whatever they want, or hold assistance over people’s heads until they get the response they’re looking for. I have NOT experienced ANY of this from local communities themselves.
Wally has patience and compassion I should aspire to. These folks have been through enough.
This is the one that hurts me the most – because this is where I live. This is the magical place I’ve shared photos of so many times, walking through the trees where the barred owls call for each other and art pops up in the most seemingly random places. I haven’t shared the photos of poles down on the roads or the massive trees on my neighbors’ homes or the businesses that will never re-open.
It could have been so, so, so, so much worse if the Lake Lure dam had failed. I wouldn’t have a home and I don’t think I would even have a neighborhood right now. There’s a whole lot of “That could have been me” running through my head in the last few weeks.
Ya’ll please pray for Spartanburg too I fell in love with this city and made it my home because the people here are the strongest and hardest working I have ever known. And these photos, taken by me 3 weeks after the storm, will show you how much effort has gone into cleaning up this Greenway. I was not involved in any of it. God bless this Burg. I love you all so much. And we will ALWAYS stand with our northern neighbors.
Part 2 coming in a little bit due to the number of photos. Luckily, no ripped up RVs or destroyed buildings this time. We’ll be okay.
[see original post for photos]
Pt 2 of 2
The videos and photos at the very end were taken hours after the storm hit. The rest were taken on Saturday, October 19. All by me.
I could have told you the names of every single plant and tree along this stretch of Lawson’s Fork Creek. Sometimes I picked the blackberries for food when I didn’t have much money, or foraged passionflowers and vervain for tea…
Appalachia strong look how much volunteers have already done to clear the path forward. So we WILL keep moving forward.
[see original post for photos and videos]
At this point, Facebook started to notify me that I would have my account privileges restored in 38 hours. It took 10 days.
Remember when I was targeted in late August/early September by a network of fake profiles and bots on every political meme that got attention? After a few weeks, it stopped as suddenly as it started? Facebook’s own quarterly Threat Analysis reports have really interesting things to say about disinformation networks – they call it CIB (Coordinated Inauthentic Behavior)
https://transparency.meta.com/metasecurity/threat-reporting/
I’m seeing entirely different tactics this time around, but I’m seeing similarities as well. Lots of folks showing up in the same public forums, coming from groups they refuse to publicly name; acting the same way, using the same language; claiming to be people they are not – all in order to derail public discussions for political reasons, and make people believe there are a lot more of them than there really are.
This was what I posted after I lost my job.
As a contractor, you get used to it.
I turned down the next contract I was offered in order to keep supporting the recovery in Appalachia.
There are a ton of folks right now reaching out to reunite their neighbors with family photos, quilts, urns, Bibles, even pets – and people. Or trying to get RVs and generators to those who need them most. It’s pretty amazing to witness.
So I have a theory now about why my account keeps being restricted –
I’ve been reporting A LOT of spam and bot accounts. You’ve seen my posts, you’ve seen the comments and fake profiles all over the place. In some cases I’ve even gotten in touch with real people whose profiles were being spoofed.
Meta’s own AI does not appear to be capable of distinguishing bots from real profiles, or spam from genuine comments. I just went through my support inbox – NOT ONE SINGLE PROFILE OR POST was taken down. That’s pretty shocking. This includes hiring scams to get people’s personal info, fake profiles to swindle unsuspecting users, and bad info that could put WNC hurricane survivors in serious jeopardy. Some of it is extremely obvious. Also, REAL threats of violence, disturbing content, and dangerous conspiracy theories are being ignored. Some of these were reported to real organizations and authorities who took them very seriously, but Meta is leaving them up.
The more Meta cuts their human staff and relies on bots to police bots, the worse things get on this platform. And with all of my “unsubstantiated” reports piling up, I suspect the AI is now putting restrictions on me that don’t make any sense. They also keep being renewed, instead of expiring like they are supposed to. It is preventing me from commenting directly on scam posts to warn others, or sharing good intel from groups and pages – and at this point, I can’t always even respond to comments on my own posts. It seems to change hour by hour. In 14 years on this platform I have NEVER experienced moderation this bad and inconsistent.
It’s not about my profile, it’s about what Facebook is allowing to perpetuate while they continue to cut corners and eliminate human staff in favor of the doomed AI projects they keep pushing out – just weeks before Election Day when scams and false rumors are causing more harm than I’ve ever seen before.
If they can’t get it together, when all is said and done up in the mountains, I will finally be done with Facebook once and for all. They need to suck it up, take some of those billions they are wasting every financial quarter on “virtual reality,” and put it towards human reality – eyeballs and brain cells that can distinguish between fact and science fiction where AI cannot. Hell, they could hire people from WNC on a temp basis, I know folks need it. (Unlike those fake links about Pepsi now hiring that Meta refuses to take down.)
In hindsight, I don’t know if this theory had any truth to it or not. However, the restrictions on my profile didn’t go away until after I stopped reporting scams, bots, harassment, and the like.
And not one of them ever apparently resulted in a removal, so how I ended up being censored instead is… still a question I wish I could ever get an answer to. But of course I won’t.
This was posted in a Spruce Pine FB group. And when I got some dirt on my arm for just a moment in Spruce Pine (picking up a box that had been on the ground), I washed it off with hand sanitizer, but that was not enough to prevent a rash. I’ve also gotten blisters from the flood mud before. PLEASE take this seriously.
Note: some agencies/orgs right now are testing for biological contamination, but NOT chemical contamination. Be mindful of that.
I went to Lake Lure and Chimney Rock today… and I was SHOCKED at what I found!!
It’s beautiful! The roads are accessible! I drove straight in from Highway 9! There’s live music and celebration! Halloween costumes, kids playing, live music, homemade sweets being offered for donations. And oh God, the mountains are so beautiful right now, the fall colors are peaking, nature is sloooowly healing from the damage.
There is still a lot of rebuilding to be done…
God is real good. And a lot of real good things are happening in the Hickory Nut Gorge to wash away the pain and the loss.
Celebrate tonight. Sing, dance, be glad to be here. We’re glad you are. 
P.S. just to be clear – Chimney Rock is still NOT accessible unless you are local or with an organized aid group. And that is how the community wants and needs it to be right now while they focus on rebuilding – and oh yes, they are doing an incredible job of rebuilding. Keep to safe, accessible roads! You’ll be able to see and enjoy plenty. 
[click here for more photos of Lake Lure before and after the storm]
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