Nearly two weeks after Hurricane Helene made landfall, carving a path of destruction through North Florida, and parts of Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina, some areas along that route look like a war zone and will for some time.
Homes, businesses and roads have been washed away. Helicopters hover overhead still searching for survivors in the wake of the storm that has been blamed for more than 200 deaths, and left an unknown number of people missing or homeless. Trucks bringing everything from supplies to linemen working to restore power sport license plates from states near and far.
As a small army has mobilized to help however it can, golf industry professionals from throughout the area also are reaching out to provide assistance to those in need.
To that end, the Carolinas GCSA is accepting donations of much-needed items for superintendents, their families and their teams affected by Hurricane Helene.
It's overwhelming when you see it. Where do you start? I've never seen anything like it. This area is going to look a lot different when the pieces get put back together.
"We're just trying to get back to normalcy," said Mark Semm, a former superintendent in Texas who now is a strategic account manager for BASF's turf and ornamentals division in Charlotte. "Whatever normalcy is."
Several drop-off and pick-up locations have been established throughout North and South Carolina for Carolinas GCSA members, their families and their teams impacted by the storm that has been blamed for at least 227 deaths in six states.
"There were a lot of industry professionals who initiated a group chat, gathering and transporting supplies to communities in (western North Carolina)," said Nate McKinniss, superintendent at Carolina Golf Club in Charlotte. "I donated to the group they started, but really my donation was minuscule compared to those whose efforts truly made an impact for folks that had been affected by Helene.""
The Carolinas GCSA says there is a need for non-perishable food and water as well as the following items: coats and jackets, blankets, wool socks, gloves, toboggans, sleeping bags, toys, hand warmers, extension cords, duct tape, laundry detergent, N95 masks, flashlights and batteries, lamps and oil, lighter fluid, propane heaters and propane tanks, charcoal grills and charcoal, motor oil and premixed fuel.
Donations can be dropped at the following locations:
South Carolina
- Inman – Helena warehouse – 120 Settle Road. Please contact Marc Allen (864) 706-3977 – open 8 a.m.-4 p.m., Monday-Friday.
- Liberty — Carolinas GCSA — 103 Edgemont Ave. Please contact Tim Kreger (864) 616-2910 to arrange drop-off time.
- Hilton Head Island/Bluffton – Please contact William Brooks (910) 968-6751. He is arranging transport to the Charleston location.
- Charleston — Smith Turf and Irrigation Store — 1110 Jack Primus Road. Please drop off during normal business hours.
- Columbia – Please contact Lori Carey (770) 375-6527 to arrange.
North Carolina
- Winston-Salem – Green Resource warehouse – 191 Budd Blvd. Donations can be left anytime. After hours leave on loading dock
- Winston-Salem — Advanced Turf Solutions — 1136 Louise Road #120. Contact - Matthew Carver (336) 829-0511
- Charlotte — Smith Turf & Irrigation — 4355 Golf Acres Drive.
- Durham — Hope Valley Country Club Maintenance Shop — 3803 Dover Road. Contact Ford Baker (919) 614-4376 for directions to shop and coordinate drop off.
- Pinehurst – SiteOne – 4930 US 1. Please drop off during business hours.
- Raleigh — Site One warehouse — 8890 Park Drive. Please make drop-offs during normal business hours.
Those in need can pick up supplies at Southern Ag warehouses at 395 Brook Hollow Road in Boone, North Carolina and at 511 Maple St. in Hendersonville North Carolina. For more information, contact Brandon Hicks at (336) 906-0803, or Nathan Biggs at (802) 999-4510.
Volunteers are transporting donations from the drop-off to pick-up locations. More locations will be added for those in need as they become available, said Carolinas GCSA executive director Tim Kreger.
"It's overwhelming when you see it," Semm said. "Where do you start? I've never seen anything like it. This area is going to look a lot different when the pieces get put back together."
Helene made landfall as a Category 4 storm Sept. 26 near Perry, Florida with sustained winds of 140 mph, making it the deadliest U.S. hurricane since Katrina resulted in 1,392 deaths in 2005. Officials still are unsure how many people are missing in Helene's wake, according to The Associated Press.
"This one just hit differently," Semm said. "You just help where you can help."