Danny speaks with American Prestige's own producer Jake Aron, who lives in Asheville, North Carolina, and which is among many places in the region devastated by Hurricane Helene. Jake shares his observations from the city over the past few days, including the state response, people's access to basic needs, and how this catastrophic event at home mirrors our foreign policy.
@producer Jake. I am an Asheville native who just evacuated to Virginia on Monday so it was insane to hear that you were the guest and lived in town. It was also so interesting hearing your story because it was similar but so different to mine out in Alexander. Like you our house was a best case scenario so overall blessed but my brain is still scrambled.
Hearing you talk about 40 confirmed dead also resonates because in the no information bubble it didn't seem that bad and only after I evacuated the news just got worse and worse and worse and we are still learning the true extend of the devastation in the most rural areas and as they find bodies in the more urban areas.
I'll be going back into town with supplies on Friday and going to try to put some work in. My best friend has been working non stop at mission on the IT side and it is so true that your wife is a true hero for what she does and the difficulty they are dealing with. The hospital is kinda a shit show on a good day.
I love the show so best wishes to you and your wife as you figure out what comes next.
I can also confirm that the first day I saw one emergency vehicle, no news from the govt, no utility workers or anything. Just black out and confusion. It wasn't until day 4 that I really saw an official duke energy truck and on day 5 the fema and state aid stations weren't set up yet.
Nice to hear from a local, hope you and yours are safe. We're returning on Sunday, so we'll see what the situation is then, but what I'm hearing on the ground isn't great. My friend's road 20 minutes outside of town got a temporary fix from FEMA, but the communication still seems dreadful.
@producer Jake. I am an Asheville native who just evacuated to Virginia on Monday so it was insane to hear that you were the guest and lived in town. It was also so interesting hearing your story because it was similar but so different to mine out in Alexander. Like you our house was a best case scenario so overall blessed but my brain is still scrambled.
Hearing you talk about 40 confirmed dead also resonates because in the no information bubble it didn't seem that bad and only after I evacuated the news just got worse and worse and worse and we are still learning the true extend of the devastation in the most rural areas and as they find bodies in the more urban areas.
I'll be going back into town with supplies on Friday and going to try to put some work in. My best friend has been working non stop at mission on the IT side and it is so true that your wife is a true hero for what she does and the difficulty they are dealing with. The hospital is kinda a shit show on a good day.
I love the show so best wishes to you and your wife as you figure out what comes next.
I can also confirm that the first day I saw one emergency vehicle, no news from the govt, no utility workers or anything. Just black out and confusion. It wasn't until day 4 that I really saw an official duke energy truck and on day 5 the fema and state aid stations weren't set up yet.
Nice to hear from a local, hope you and yours are safe. We're returning on Sunday, so we'll see what the situation is then, but what I'm hearing on the ground isn't great. My friend's road 20 minutes outside of town got a temporary fix from FEMA, but the communication still seems dreadful.