Several families in Pittsylvania County and surrounding areas were left devastated after Hurricane Helene spun through.
Some lost some of their means of livelihood, while others lost nearly everything.
“It wiped out nearly my entire crop,” Clarence Emerson, owner of Emerson Road Farms, said. “Several fields of tobacco were ruined by the wind and heavy rain.”
“We’ve had people in the church who have lost their houses in the flooding,” Taylor McKinnis, volunteer at Hope Church Danville said. “I can’t imagine going through that–losing everything but the clothes on your back.”
“We got up to three tornado warnings in one day,” Abigail Chivvis, freshman, said. “I don’t know why they didn’t cancel school that day. I feel like it was dangerous driving in the midst of all that. I think the tornadoes actually damaged or destroyed multiple houses in Dry Fork.”
Others, while unaffected themselves, were simply distressed by the terrible effect the hurricane had on others.
“I just can’t believe it happened,” Jaden Farris, junior, said. “There are houses in my district still heavily flooded. That’s a scary thought.”
“We’ve had nothing this bad since Hurricane Katrina,” Robin Emerson said. “It is devastating what happened. It is devastating what is still happening. I hope this next storm they’re saying is going to blow through isn’t nearly as dangerous. It’d be awful for anything like this to happen again, especially so soon.”
