Sunday AM Update

[(Sunday 8am) from David]

More rain hasn't fallen, and the four storms developing in the Atlantic are predicted to have little or no impact.

• The Bookwalters' neighbor chainsawed the oak off the roof, removed it, and used our tarps and tools to cover it up.

• The town announced water distribution for yesterday afternoon but later canceled it, leaving about 100 people, including Jen, disappointed.

• There's still no schedule for water, electricity, or food distribution (I'm optimistic they’ll resolve this in 48 hours, but…).

• No flights made it into Asheville (AVL) last night that I could see.

• US 26 has been cleared from the South Carolina state line—whoo-hoo! However, it's currently the only non-aircraft route for about 1 million people, so I expect it to be tightly controlled.

In bigger news, an anonymous donor funded a trip to REI last night, allowing me to buy as much freeze-dried food as I could check as luggage. Now, I’ve got thousands of dollars worth of food packed into two big duffle bags, along with three solar-powered battery packs for computer and phone use (the electricity is expected to be out for weeks).

I’ve secured a flight to Charlotte, which is more likely to land than the canceled Asheville flights. I’ll meet my dear friend -retired physician and cyclist Susan Casar - and take the Enterprise pickup truck I’ve reserved.

We’ll try the US 26 route (the same one Fitzalan and Ian tried on Friday night to reach Jen and the Bookwalter’s but couldn’t get through). Susan and I will bring as much water, diesel, and gas as the truck can safely hold. My first responder credentials might help us get through any control points. We’ll also need to be off the roads before the 7 pm curfew, so it’ll be a race against time.

Again, I’m not sure if there’s anything you can do to help, but keep the ideas coming. The freeze-dried food run wasn’t my idea (shout out to the REI manager in DC for giving a huge discount and helping load everything).

Thanks to Jason for offering help with insurance claims—we’ll surely need it.