@@kimmy_j_kinz There's a long history of this sort of record keeping and warning system. Hundreds of year old markings in Japan indicate tsunami zones, for example. It does indeed seem like a good thing to do for future generations. That said, we've drastically affected the climate such that the near future is likely to be far more chaotic and dangerous than it has been for the last 10,000 years, so historic records are only the starting point for preparing for what's to come.
Thank you for sharing before & after the physical catastrophe and the effects on your mind & heart & your family. Thank God you & your family is safe..
The lifestyle you chose, the preps made, the way you have raised your family all AMAZING! You have shelter, clothing and food. I have seen allot do not. I 100% believe this sets a clear example of what we need to do and get back to being a self sustaining as we can. I am starting today to change this in my families life. Praying for yall!
Having been through a similar storm, I have some advice for you guys. Remember that you can now prepare for the next big weather event. Look at how the water flowed and where the damage was. You will be able to build levee's, floodwalls and swales to prevent as much future damage as possible. Make the list of things to do now when the damage is fresh and you can see where things need to be done. Probably the main thing would be water diversion near the pole barn and house. Prayers and blessings to you and your family during this awful time.
Good advice. We had a huge event a couple of years ago, and we retooled our drainage so now the barn doesn’t typically flood…but instead the water zips down the road into the field making a mud fest….more work to do there. Lost a shed and pieces off the house and some fence lines on that one. Storms are getting pretty crazy.., Glad to hear the family are all ok…praying for folks down there is about all we can do.
People are still without food and water A WEEK LATER. Your first thought is to tell them to do better next time? You forget he mentioned that this hasn't happened since the 1700's? You're telling them to prepare for a 300 year storm when they just lost everything. They're worried about surviving right now.
@@CletusJonesURLHe said he had a storm before not as bad to learn from. Of course they can learn from this one to be better prepared. Why bad mouth them over it. Some people haven't been through storms or doing without and have no clue. The ones not prepared in many cases lose their life. They have told people to prepare for disasters since the 60s. You should heed storm warning and have a week supplies that you can move to your car or in a pack pack to higher ground. These people are the lucky ones because they knew some ways to prepare. Storms are getting worse. We have been through floods on our hillside farm. You learn to better prepare with experiences. We have only got 5" in an hour and one died near us. The next one could wipe us out if like the one they just went through.We learn more to prepare with every storm. It isn't taking away from the ones who are suffering. It's being happy they are alive and have learned what mother nature can do to prepare for the next one.
@@reginafetty6374 I hear you. I'd like you to consider a similar situation. Say a parent is dying of cancer and one of their kids hasn't talked to them in decades over something insignificant. Then on the parent's deathbed, they make amends and of course both wish they did it sooner. Would you butt in to drop some advice on that person and tell them they should have cherished their loved ones and made amends years ago? While their parent is dying in front of them? No. Because it is not the right time. And anyone who thinks it is the right time in this situation does not understand the significance of the devastation. 3 days before landfall, Helene wasn't even a hurricane and was predicted to "possibly reach category 1 before landfall". So 700 miles away from landfall, 3 days before, and it "may" be a hurricane when it hits land 700 MILES AWAY. Of course people in NC thought they were safe at that point. And employers almost never let people off work when hurricanes hit here in the south unless those counties have been issued evacuation orders. We didn't even get evacuation orders here at the bottom of Georgia, so of course NC didn't. Are you suggesting that average citizens should be able to predict this kind of stuff when the government couldn't even figure it out in time to tell the people to leave? Look up the plastics factory in NC that made 11 people work that day, 5 of which died trying to escape the floods. If this could be predicted, why wouldn't employers be ordered to give time off to non essential workers? And I'm telling you from experience, we've been ordered to evacuate our county probably 5 times in the last 15 years and every single time the damage was negligible. The first time I remember we evacuated in the 90s, traffic was stuck on evac routes all across Florida and Georgia, bumper to bumper. We were all sitting ducks and didn't even get half way across Georgia in a day. That was just when South Georgia and below was driving up. Imagine all of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina on those same recommended routes that HAVE NOT been updated in over 20 years. On top of that, if the government recommends evacuation for Florida and Georgia at the site of impact, just 2 days prior to landfall, then why would anyone think the damage would be worse a whole state away? Do you think people in Atlanta should have evacuated? They were closer to the storm, but they were fine. So several hundred miles inland from the impact site, people between the impact site and NC aren't evacuating, and your boss tells you that you have to come in to work that day. If you left work every time that happened you wouldn't hold a job for long because we get way more false positives than you realize, you just don't hear about them because nothing happens.
@@CletusJonesURLYeah but he's telling them to make note of the areas before it dries up and everyone forgets where things happened Us country folk can handle multiple things at once.
My heart was breaking watching all of your efforts and knowing it was just not enough. You couldn't have prepared for what was coming and the loss is just unimaginable. I am so thankful that your house was not washed away and your family is all safe. There was so much devastation and loss of life so close to you, it is an answer to prayer that you all are okay. I'm sure your mind is reeling and your heart is aching but if you are trusting God you will come through.
How are you doing now? I heard Trump is sending resourses for y'all. I'm over the line in VA. We had damage too, but nothing like what you got. Hope things are getting better for you.
When you just can’t imagine what is ahead. The bridge. The tomatoes. The creek changing course. Oh my. So much. But you are blessed with tools, skills and manpower for clean up and rebuilding.
I love your family👍 reminds me of how much joy I had in my family. There is nothing more important in these times than family and children. God bless you guys.
All I can say is to be resilient. Hang in there, 1 step at the time, things will solve, slow but they will. We got Hurricane Maria in 2017, entered PR Cat 5 and went down to 4 over us. In our house, power returned 7 weeks later, using generators 12 hrs a day, potable water returned 4 weeks later, did several gas station lines for 9 hrs to get only $35 in gasoline, Internet took 4 months to get it back, house damages into the thousands. Wasn't easy, specially with small kids. But we pulled through. And you'll too will! Best of luck!
when I was 11 years old, we lived through a hurricane as a me and my family. I never saw so much rain in my life and where we lived, and there was alligators and there were alligators swimming under our home. Never forget it. I’m glad you’re safe so sorry for the loss of your animals and the farm losses remembered God has a plan 🙏
Justin, Rebecca, and family..... I thank God you guys are ok!! I was so worried about you all after realizing your area was hit so hard. I prayed for you guys and was relieved your beautiful home is ok. From your friends in VA.❤
Good to see that our brothers from Nz and Australia flying in to help you all. We understood your government’s shut down private people to fly in. Well the call went out and we the people are flying in to help..
Actually the “shutdown” is a Conservative conspiracy theory myth. The government is limiting access to trained personnel only however because of lack of water and food. They don’t want disaster tourists.
I believe you when you say you couldn't prepare. Had you grown up in Florida maybe but for someone who never suffered from a direct hit from a living hurricane, not a remnant you could never understand the true power of the storm. No one in the hills or mountains of Appalachia could know that the beautiful little valley you live in would act like a giant toilet bowl and flush EVERYTHING down the side of the mountain. How can you defend against that much water, even if you had known that it was coming. As you saw with you pole barn, concert means nothing against the power of water. Your container full of family things was treated like a paper sailboat. Just give Praise and Thanks to God, that it wasn't worse.
I am glad you know that there was no way to even begin to understand what was going to happen. The devastation is horrific. You will recover. Prayers and love from Texas.
We here in Missouri pray for all of you. We had a devastating flash flood on our farm in 2015. The bridge up from our property jammed with debris and sent all the water back up our dry creek within a few minutes. We lost everything except our home. Water was raging within 6 ft of our back door. We lost 17 of our beloved goats, tools, fencing, generator, lawn equipment etc etc. thank god we have our home and each other. No help from government. I still have PTSD when they just mention heavy rain. Our hearts and prayers are with all of you in all the affected states. On a smaller scale we know what that devastation feels like. It makes me cry to see what all of you people are going through. I wish we were in a position to come help. We are seniors, have a farm with no one to help if we are not here, but if we were closer we would be there to help regardless. Prayers to all of you from Our hearts🙏❤️
I admit, I wondered why the turkeys and chickens were left out, but I wasn't there or getting the weather info they were to make that choice, so no criticism. I think Justin is right. There was nothing they could have done to truly prepare for what happened.
@@joycehaines2055 What’s the point of your question?? You really want to know the elevation of my home?? You do see how this makes you look right!? Go troll someone else.
I take it you haven't seen pictures or videos of stilts attached to nothing. The stilts often remain and the houses wash away. Storm surge, whether on the coast or flowing down a mountain, is usually worse than the other dangers of hurricanes. If you get up to thirty inches of rainfall, will your house flood? Are you on stilts, maybe you should be also? My heart goes out to all affected, be safe and smart through this unprecedented disaster.
Remember your family has inspired gardens all over the country. Even if yours is taking a tough season, you have planted more than you know. We will keep praying for you. The spring will come.
You are a survivor. Love how you turn a disaster into a fun time with the kids! I was the same way raising mine. They will remember this forever! No sense in stressing and panicking
Thank you for sharing. My heart breaks 💔 for my American fellow man. 🙏 s for North Carolina (my Mother land) Florida Georgia Tennessee South Carolina. God will work all this out.
You and your family did amazing dur8 g the whole thing!! You kept calm and were able to save a lot!! Your children really helped too and what a tribute to what they have been taught by you and your wife!! Praying you get electricity soon!! God bless🙏❤️
Watching after the fact, makes it more difficult, seeing so much death and destruction. In 80 years I've never lived through any thing like this and praying for our future. Montana gets hard rains, seen it flowing down our grade pretty hard, but breaks my heart for the SE of America.
Diese Situation war sehr gefährlich! Wenn Gidion ausgerutscht wäre, oder er mit Henry, hätte es schlimm enden können. Ich als Mutter hätte Streit mit ihm! Aber richtig stark! Das war unverantwortlich!
So glad you guys are safe and there’s still more hurricanes out in the ocean headed in so all I can maybe suggest is reinforce the little dams and barriers that you put up on this storm and hope and pray we don’t get the other big ones coming in sending prayers and lovehoping you guys are safe❤❤
I am glad to hear that you all are okay. And I know it doesn't seem like it but you will bounce back. And most likely you and your family will emerge from this event stronger in ways that you cannot fathom at this time. We went through Michael in 2018. It came ashore as a Cat 5 and was still a Cat 4 when it hit us. There are many lessons to learn from your experiences now and in the future. But you are all alive. That really is the most important. Godspeed my friends. I have watched hours of videos from you and I hope to watch much more from you as you all recover and emerge from these events. Looking forward to much more.
For those worried they'll forget the places where their infrastructure needs tweaking for any possible future events, I don't think you should worry. These folks are so mindful, and resourceful they were taking action to shore up areas even during the storm. Another benefit is that they live amongst a community of folks that will be discussing and planning, and..., they've got great video to reference. Awesome mentors for others.
Hi.... Thanks you for showing your video homestead, i really enjoy watching your video in raining also you are all enjoy your work nice to see you all keep it up bye 👋 bye 👋 bye 👋 bye 👋👍👍👍
Prayers for you all in the mountain and foothill area. I live in Tallahassee and was supposed to get straight hit, it turned. But l happened to be in my hometown of Spartanburg at the time and got damage my brothers home. 8 days with no power. We were so blessed. I left this morning back to Tallahassee. Prayers for you all.
It is beautiful to see how your whole family works together, you have raised very competent children, together you will all be able to weather the storms that life throws at you. I know it will be a lot of work. The poster below has a great point, mark the water paths, and high water marks so future generations will know the path water will take and how much you had.
You appeared on my feed and had been thinking of you. Sending all the love and light possible. We must care from our earth. We must care for each other. Make changes to care for air, soil, water.
By golly, y'all did everything you possibly could. You worked together so well, and I love to see it. Glad you're all okay and things are moving in the right direction now 💚
I'm just glad everyone made it through safe. Buildings can always be repair or replaced, animals are sad to loose, but they too can be replaces, but the lives of your family and friends can never be replaced.
I have been so busy with my own animals and you know things that happen around a farm that you have to tend to. I hadn’t watched your channel her a few weeks or so and all of a sudden today I’m thinking oh my gosh Justin Rhodes family is probably right in the path of that hurricane, so I turned on your channel and certainly as I see now it was I haven’t yet seen what happened I haven’t even finished the video. I just want to let you know that I am praying for you and your family And relief for every life that has been touched by this hurricane I live in an area of Southern California that doesn’t really suffer too much from crazy weather, but we did a lot of earthquakes now and then we’re strong winds, but nothing like that. I am sure everyone I know is feeling the same for everyone back in your area of the US end of the world in fact, I am so happy to hear that you and your family are OK.
Why in the hell didnt you pray for the ones who had gotten hurt or injured? If people had in fact prayed for those people this can only mean 1 thing! This would mean that nobody had in fact gotten hurt or injured for if they had then this would prove that God had gone back on his word and failed to keep people safe leading people to question the point of prayer if the lord is going to do what he wants anyways!
You did all you could. It's how and where you go from here that's important. Thank God Rebecca has blessed the family with all of those beautiful children! You're going to need them all now.
I still think what you did helped some. Every little bit helps. Sadly this dumped way more water than any of us thought would come. If I had 19” of rain we would be flooded worse than we have ever seen it here and our pasture is in the 100 year flood plain. Glad you guys are doing ok. Praying for everyone there.❤
Most important thing, you and your family are safe. ❤ So many others lost lives, loved ones, etc. So happy your beautiful family is okay. Heart felt condolences to all who lost loved ones. 😢
I'm so glad you guys are safe. I've been worried about yall. I'm in northeast Georgia and we were without power for 3 days but alls good now. Yall be safe. My thoughts and prayers are with you all. ❤
John Kitsteiner - East TN Hurricane Helene: A note to friends outside of the South. We live in Greene County, East Tennessee. Our county’s southern border is the Tennessee-North Carolina state line that runs along the heights of the Appalachian Mountains. We are within the hardest hit region of the U.S. The questions I have been hearing a lot is why was this so bad, and why weren’t people prepared. I’ll try to answer those questions in the following post. Hurricane Helene was the strongest hurricane (in recorded history) to hit Florida’s big bend region (on the eastern edge of the panhandle). It is the deadliest hurricane to hit the United States since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The death toll is over 160 so far. We are still finding bodies, and there are still many, many people missing as I write this today six days after the hurricane hit land. I work in the emergency department at Greeneville Community Hospital. The hospital itself has been evacuated because we have no water in the majority of the county. We are still running our emergency department as a critical access site for our community. Fortunately, I have a well and didn’t lose electricity for long. I was able to haul water in a 300 gallon tote in the back of my truck to the hospital for the first few days so we could flush toilets and wash hands. It took a few days, but we now have porta-potties and water tanks on trucks to keep the emergency department running. Under an hour from our hospital to the east, Unicoi County Hospital was flooded requiring patients and providers to be rescued from the roof via helicopter. Under an hour from our hospital to the south, over the mountains, Asheville, NC has been hit particularly hard. But why was this region hit so hard? First, we had a lot of rain before Hurricane Helene even showed up. Depending on the area, we had 7-11 inches of rain in the week before the first storm clouds of the hurricane arrived. This rain saturated the ground and filled ponds and streams. Then the hurricane arrived. She barreled her way up through the panhandle of Florida, quickly shot through Georgia, and then slowed down and stalled over North Carolina and East Tennessee. And that’s right where we live. The reason she stalled involves atmospheric pressure conditions that I don’t fully understand, but the result was that this hurricane dropped 20 inches to over 30 inches of rain in some areas… that’s an estimated 40 trillion gallons of rain. How much is 40 trillion gallons of water? 40 trillion gallons of water is enough to fill the Dallas Cowboy’s stadium 51,000 times. 40 trillion gallons of water is enough to cover the entire state of North Carolina with 3.5 FEET of water. 40 trillion gallons of water is enough to fill 60 MILLION Olympic-sized swimming pools. 40 trillion gallons of water is 619 DAYS of water flowing over Niagara Falls. So this is an unprecedented amount of rain already falling on an area that had just received ground-saturated rain. But it wasn’t just the amount of rain, it was the geography of where that rain fell. The southeastern slopes (of western North Carolina) and the northwestern slopes (of East Tennessee) acted as funnels or rain catchments that directed all this water downhill and concentrated it into streams and rivers running into the valleys. It overflowed these streams and rivers causing massive flooding. How much flooding? The French Broad River usually crests at 1.5 feet… but it reached 24.6 feet during the storm. The Nolichuckey River rose to almost 22 feet. The Nolichuckey River Dam in Greene County, during the peak of the flooding, took on 1.2 MILLION gallons of water per SECOND. Compare that to Niagara Falls which peaks at 700,000 gallons per second. Fortunately, this dam held… but barely, with damage. Consequences. The flooding, and all the things the flooding carried with it (large trees, vehicles, buildings, etc.) caused widespread damage. It destroyed homes and businesses. It destroyed roads and bridges. It knocked out power. This isolated many places for days and days from normal rescue efforts and evacuation plans. Here in Greene County, the flooding destroyed the intake pump for the county’s primary water supply. We hope they will be able to bring in a temporary pump to bypass the damaged system, but that still may take a couple weeks. In the meantime, most people in the county have no clean water for drinking, washing hands, or bathing, and no water for sanitation. I have taken care of people in the emergency department who had their homes literally washed away. Everything they own, other than the clothes on their back, has been lost. Many friends have had their homes almost destroyed by flooding and their houses are filled with mud and debris. And this is just in my immediate area. Other places around us have unfortunately been hit harder. Why weren’t people prepared? No one in the mountains of North Carolina or East Tennessee prepares for a hurricane. It’s kind of like asking why someone in Iowa doesn’t prepare for a tidal wave or why someone in Florida doesn’t prepare for a blizzard. It’s not what happens, like ever. This was a combination of already rain-saturated ground before the hurricane hit, the hurricane/storm stalling over this region dumping unprecedented amounts of rainfall in a small area, and the geography of mountains channeling and concentrating all this water into the valleys below that created a perfect storm, so to speak, of conditions that caused this disaster. It couldn’t have been prevented or prepared for. Please feel free to share this. Hopefully it answers some questions and provides a better understanding of what has happened and why it is so devastating.
Thank you kind person for such great details and for painting a picture of the volume of water that anyone can relate to. Continued prayers for all. ~ Rhonda ❤
In Florida one of the hurricane dumped 30 inches of rain and it stalled over the east coast of Florida. I think that hurricane happened in 2004 after Hurrricane Charley hit us. As flat as what Florida is it is the only time I have seen flash flooding in Florida. In the mountains you would have little hope.
I'm so glad you and your family are safe. Hang in there! Help is coming. I'm currently driving g from California with a bunch of supplies and clothes. Our government can suck it!
will now you know the natural flow of water off the mountain you can dig a creek bed that compensates for that. Grew up in upstate NY we had flooding every few years. creek bed usually dry, but when it rained it was full. huge culverts under roads were often washed out. we had three gully's though our property
That's right! And nothing will be able to prepare people for the Great Tribulation coming soon! This is just the beginning of sorrows. The only preparation that is sufficient is to make Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior! He's the only way out of what's coming!!!
Watched your prior prep videos and it was sad watching and knowing that what you were doing was not going to make much of a difference with a storm depositing so much rain. Our drive way washed out and water was bubbling up out of the earth. We lost a few large oaks and we have some apple trees that need staking from getting blown over. We are absolutely getting solar panels for our well pump. Alleghany County faired pretty well. Prayers for our NC brothers and sisters who got hit hard. Truly an apocalyptic storm of epic proportions.
You’re right, Justin. There’s nothing you could have done to prepare for this kind of natural force. Nature does what it is designed to do. Most of nature doesn’t think. It is to be respected not worshipped. God deserves the worship and thanks for creating us with awareness. We can be good stewards, but we aren’t here to force stasis on His dynamic creation, including each other. We can neither ultimately destroy nor usurp His tree of life. While we’re here we can use honest reasoning and true love to excel in relationship with our Maker, each other and all of creation. Keep going! So glad that all survived with the new home, and will be pitching in for restoration on the homestead and in the community. ❤✝️🙏
That much rain in that short period of time is catastrophic indeed. When you live in valleys with creeks running close by, there is nothing you can do to prepare for it. Most people that have not been in that part of the country have no idea how that happens. The same goes for out west just like late this summer. Just a few inches in parts of the country that don't get much rain is also catastrophic. My heart goes out to all of you. We live on flat ground on the prairie, but we got 8 inches of rain over night last spring and all our creeks and rivers were out of their banks. Also happens to the Mississippi and Illinois rivers close to here in the spring if there is a lot of snow and ice melt then rain added to the mix in late winter. Water will find its lower spots/points no matter what you do in a huge rain event. Praying for you all.
This must be hard to watch now. All the efforts were still good to do - it shouldn’t put us off from trying to get stuff ready in rough weather. So scary to see the lead up now seeing the aftermath in the news.
Don’t forget to mark the high water mark for future generations to reference should this happen again.
What a great idea! I know my town had a massive flood in 1964. They installed a plaque on the rocks where the high water mark hit. Crazy!
@@kimmy_j_kinz There's a long history of this sort of record keeping and warning system. Hundreds of year old markings in Japan indicate tsunami zones, for example. It does indeed seem like a good thing to do for future generations. That said, we've drastically affected the climate such that the near future is likely to be far more chaotic and dangerous than it has been for the last 10,000 years, so historic records are only the starting point for preparing for what's to come.
At some point civilization will have to move inland entirely, these places will not be habitable long term.
@@cmm3338 This is inland.
@@stuffbenlikes I live in utah. thats inland.
Thank you for sharing before & after the physical catastrophe and the effects on your mind & heart & your family. Thank God you & your family is safe..
The lifestyle you chose, the preps made, the way you have raised your family all AMAZING! You have shelter, clothing and food. I have seen allot do not. I 100% believe this sets a clear example of what we need to do and get back to being a self sustaining as we can. I am starting today to change this in my families life. Praying for yall!
Having been through a similar storm, I have some advice for you guys. Remember that you can now prepare for the next big weather event. Look at how the water flowed and where the damage was. You will be able to build levee's, floodwalls and swales to prevent as much future damage as possible. Make the list of things to do now when the damage is fresh and you can see where things need to be done. Probably the main thing would be water diversion near the pole barn and house. Prayers and blessings to you and your family during this awful time.
Good advice. We had a huge event a couple of years ago, and we retooled our drainage so now the barn doesn’t typically flood…but instead the water zips down the road into the field making a mud fest….more work to do there. Lost a shed and pieces off the house and some fence lines on that one. Storms are getting pretty crazy..,
Glad to hear the family are all ok…praying for folks down there is about all we can do.
People are still without food and water A WEEK LATER. Your first thought is to tell them to do better next time? You forget he mentioned that this hasn't happened since the 1700's? You're telling them to prepare for a 300 year storm when they just lost everything. They're worried about surviving right now.
@@CletusJonesURLHe said he had a storm before not as bad to learn from. Of course they can learn from this one to be better prepared. Why bad mouth them over it. Some people haven't been through storms or doing without and have no clue. The ones not prepared in many cases lose their life. They have told people to prepare for disasters since the 60s. You should heed storm warning and have a week supplies that you can move to your car or in a pack pack to higher ground. These people are the lucky ones because they knew some ways to prepare. Storms are getting worse. We have been through floods on our hillside farm. You learn to better prepare with experiences. We have only got 5" in an hour and one died near us. The next one could wipe us out if like the one they just went through.We learn more to prepare with every storm. It isn't taking away from the ones who are suffering. It's being happy they are alive and have learned what mother nature can do to prepare for the next one.
@@reginafetty6374 I hear you. I'd like you to consider a similar situation. Say a parent is dying of cancer and one of their kids hasn't talked to them in decades over something insignificant. Then on the parent's deathbed, they make amends and of course both wish they did it sooner.
Would you butt in to drop some advice on that person and tell them they should have cherished their loved ones and made amends years ago? While their parent is dying in front of them?
No. Because it is not the right time.
And anyone who thinks it is the right time in this situation does not understand the significance of the devastation.
3 days before landfall, Helene wasn't even a hurricane and was predicted to "possibly reach category 1 before landfall". So 700 miles away from landfall, 3 days before, and it "may" be a hurricane when it hits land 700 MILES AWAY. Of course people in NC thought they were safe at that point.
And employers almost never let people off work when hurricanes hit here in the south unless those counties have been issued evacuation orders. We didn't even get evacuation orders here at the bottom of Georgia, so of course NC didn't.
Are you suggesting that average citizens should be able to predict this kind of stuff when the government couldn't even figure it out in time to tell the people to leave?
Look up the plastics factory in NC that made 11 people work that day, 5 of which died trying to escape the floods.
If this could be predicted, why wouldn't employers be ordered to give time off to non essential workers?
And I'm telling you from experience, we've been ordered to evacuate our county probably 5 times in the last 15 years and every single time the damage was negligible. The first time I remember we evacuated in the 90s, traffic was stuck on evac routes all across Florida and Georgia, bumper to bumper. We were all sitting ducks and didn't even get half way across Georgia in a day. That was just when South Georgia and below was driving up. Imagine all of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina on those same recommended routes that HAVE NOT been updated in over 20 years.
On top of that, if the government recommends evacuation for Florida and Georgia at the site of impact, just 2 days prior to landfall, then why would anyone think the damage would be worse a whole state away?
Do you think people in Atlanta should have evacuated? They were closer to the storm, but they were fine. So several hundred miles inland from the impact site, people between the impact site and NC aren't evacuating, and your boss tells you that you have to come in to work that day.
If you left work every time that happened you wouldn't hold a job for long because we get way more false positives than you realize, you just don't hear about them because nothing happens.
@@CletusJonesURLYeah but he's telling them to make note of the areas before it dries up and everyone forgets where things happened
Us country folk can handle multiple things at once.
My heart was breaking watching all of your efforts and knowing it was just not enough. You couldn't have prepared for what was coming and the loss is just unimaginable. I am so thankful that your house was not washed away and your family is all safe. There was so much devastation and loss of life so close to you, it is an answer to prayer that you all are okay. I'm sure your mind is reeling and your heart is aching but if you are trusting God you will come through.
Thank God you are all safe! Thank you for sharing but so sad to see the damage! Love you all!🙏🙏🙏❤
So grateful you and your home were spared. Praying for your quick & complete recovery.
Rutherfordton NC here - 90% of our farm was under 35' of water 😪 it's a long road ahead for so many. Wishing you well.
Bless your heart. I hope you can get volunteers to help with clean up and build back.
May God multiply doble. I am sorry for the devastation.
Praying for you all
How are you doing now? I heard Trump is sending resourses for y'all. I'm over the line in VA. We had damage too, but nothing like what you got. Hope things are getting better for you.
I am glad you are all safe. Thanks for making this extra coverage for us. It is very interesting.
When you just can’t imagine what is ahead.
The bridge. The tomatoes. The creek changing course. Oh my. So much.
But you are blessed with tools, skills and manpower for clean up and rebuilding.
I love your family👍 reminds me of how much joy I had in my family. There is nothing more important in these times than family and children. God bless you guys.
All I can say is to be resilient. Hang in there, 1 step at the time, things will solve, slow but they will. We got Hurricane Maria in 2017, entered PR Cat 5 and went down to 4 over us. In our house, power returned 7 weeks later, using generators 12 hrs a day, potable water returned 4 weeks later, did several gas station lines for 9 hrs to get only $35 in gasoline, Internet took 4 months to get it back, house damages into the thousands. Wasn't easy, specially with small kids. But we pulled through. And you'll too will! Best of luck!
Thank you for sharing that helps to have a real sense of what recovery looks like timeline wise
Prayers for Daniel Arms daughter Emily. 🙏🏻 Surgery. Only 25% of her heart was functioning. God bless you all and many prayers 🙏🏻 Nurse Judi 🙏🏻
No matter how much you prepare you cannot prepare for everything. The only thing we have for certain is our Faith in Jesus. 🙏
Many blessings, Linda
So much joy in that house, even under harsh circumstances!
I didn’t even know you guys lived near Asheville but I just found out and wow I’m glad you guys made it, a lot of other people didn’t…
when I was 11 years old, we lived through a hurricane as a me and my family. I never saw so much rain in my life and where we lived, and there was alligators and there were alligators swimming under our home. Never forget it. I’m glad you’re safe so sorry for the loss of your animals and the farm losses remembered God has a plan 🙏
Saddest movies I've ever seen. Strength and fortitude for all.
Justin, Rebecca, and family..... I thank God you guys are ok!! I was so worried about you all after realizing your area was hit so hard. I prayed for you guys and was relieved your beautiful home is ok.
From your friends in VA.❤
Good to see that our brothers from Nz and Australia flying in to help you all. We understood your government’s shut down private people to fly in. Well the call went out and we the people are flying in to help..
Amazing!!
Typical of the great Aussie & Kiwi spirit. Always ready & willing to help others in need ❤
Thank God God bless Australia and New Zealand and all countries and people who have helped
The REAL HELP is PEOPLE HELPING PEOPLE GOD BLESS THESE SOULS.
HOWEVER OUR GOVT, FEMA IS DEEP STATE AND COULD CARE LESS
Actually the “shutdown” is a Conservative conspiracy theory myth.
The government is limiting access to trained personnel only however because of lack of water and food. They don’t want disaster tourists.
I believe you when you say you couldn't prepare. Had you grown up in Florida maybe but for someone who never suffered from a direct hit from a living hurricane, not a remnant you could never understand the true power of the storm. No one in the hills or mountains of Appalachia could know that the beautiful little valley you live in would act like a giant toilet bowl and flush EVERYTHING down the side of the mountain. How can you defend against that much water, even if you had known that it was coming. As you saw with you pole barn, concert means nothing against the power of water. Your container full of family things was treated like a paper sailboat. Just give Praise and Thanks to God, that it wasn't worse.
I am glad you know that there was no way to even begin to understand what was going to happen. The devastation is horrific. You will recover. Prayers and love from Texas.
What a beautiful family . God bless you dear ones . May the good Lord keep you safe ❤️ from Australia
We here in Missouri pray for all of you. We had a devastating flash flood on our farm in 2015. The bridge up from our property jammed with debris and sent all the water back up our dry creek within a few minutes. We lost everything except our home. Water was raging within 6 ft of our back door. We lost 17 of our beloved goats, tools, fencing, generator, lawn equipment etc etc. thank god we have our home and each other. No help from government. I still have PTSD when they just mention heavy rain.
Our hearts and prayers are with all of you in all the affected states. On a smaller scale we know what that devastation feels like. It makes me cry to see what all of you people are going through. I wish we were in a position to come help. We are seniors, have a farm with no one to help if we are not here, but if we were closer we would be there to help regardless.
Prayers to all of you from
Our hearts🙏❤️
God bless yall real good ! So grateful for all of the homesteaders we follow and have grown to love!
Here in Florida, when hurricane is expected hit us we bring ALL ANIMALS IN!!!! Definitely our birds.
I admit, I wondered why the turkeys and chickens were left out, but I wasn't there or getting the weather info they were to make that choice, so no criticism. I think Justin is right. There was nothing they could have done to truly prepare for what happened.
Good bless, stay strong during the clean up. I’m in FL we got 4ft of water in our downstairs. Clean up has been trying but we’ll get through it. ❤🙏💪🏼
Why so many build on stilts. Did you?
@@joycehaines2055 What’s the point of your question?? You really want to know the elevation of my home??
You do see how this makes you look right!? Go troll someone else.
@@joycehaines2055 Really?! People are going through difficult times and you gotta comment about a home’s elevation?
Bless Your Heart.
I take it you haven't seen pictures or videos of stilts attached to nothing. The stilts often remain and the houses wash away. Storm surge, whether on the coast or flowing down a mountain, is usually worse than the other dangers of hurricanes. If you get up to thirty inches of rainfall, will your house flood? Are you on stilts, maybe you should be also? My heart goes out to all affected, be safe and smart through this unprecedented disaster.
So grateful you guys are safe, sorry for all your loss. Love the camera❤
Remember your family has inspired gardens all over the country. Even if yours is taking a tough season, you have planted more than you know. We will keep praying for you. The spring will come.
Love from JAMS Organic Farms ( Nigeria)
You are a survivor. Love how you turn a disaster into a fun time with the kids! I was the same way raising mine. They will remember this forever! No sense in stressing and panicking
Thank you for sharing. My heart breaks 💔 for my American fellow man. 🙏 s for North Carolina (my Mother land) Florida Georgia Tennessee South Carolina. God will work all this out.
Praying for you and your family Justin. We love you guys and thanks for continuing to share so we all know what’s really going on.
All the digging and cleaning out might hsve saved the house. Im so happy you have those machines.
Praying that all those so badly affected by storm Helene can find some measure of peace ❤️🇬🇧
You and your family did amazing dur8 g the whole thing!! You kept calm and were able to save a lot!! Your children really helped too and what a tribute to what they have been taught by you and your wife!! Praying you get electricity soon!! God bless🙏❤️
Ahh my heart goes out to you. You guys tried to do what you could. But no one saw what was coming. God Bless y’all
Watching after the fact, makes it more difficult, seeing so much death and destruction. In 80 years I've never lived through any thing like this and praying for our future. Montana gets hard rains, seen it flowing down our grade pretty hard, but breaks my heart for the SE of America.
Just be thankful that no one got hurt. God won’t give you a problem that you cannot solve. My prayers are with you guys.
You and your family are amazing I'm just so glad you all made it out safe 🙏 thank you for sharing can't believe how heartbreaking it was x
Knowing that bridge got swept away and you were all ok I still got anxiety seeing Gidion on the bridge with the water going over it.
And Justin holding Henry while standing on it. Dangerous!
@@jeremymaccarthy1180 knowing what we know now yeah it’s scary.
Diese Situation war sehr gefährlich! Wenn Gidion ausgerutscht wäre, oder er mit Henry, hätte es schlimm enden können. Ich als Mutter hätte Streit mit ihm! Aber richtig stark! Das war unverantwortlich!
They always endanger their kids, hey it gets views.
@lauriekerze3461 seriously?? Do Better or BE quiet
Bless all of you.. Mother nature can be fearless at times.
So glad you guys are safe and there’s still more hurricanes out in the ocean headed in so all I can maybe suggest is reinforce the little dams and barriers that you put up on this storm and hope and pray we don’t get the other big ones coming in sending prayers and lovehoping you guys are safe❤❤
What a calm awesome guy you are man you should write a book on how you do it! Hero dad right there! Props! Bravo 👏 😎 as a 🥒
I am glad to hear that you all are okay. And I know it doesn't seem like it but you will bounce back. And most likely you and your family will emerge from this event stronger in ways that you cannot fathom at this time. We went through Michael in 2018. It came ashore as a Cat 5 and was still a Cat 4 when it hit us. There are many lessons to learn from your experiences now and in the future. But you are all alive. That really is the most important. Godspeed my friends. I have watched hours of videos from you and I hope to watch much more from you as you all recover and emerge from these events. Looking forward to much more.
Well this was intense to watch. I've seen how quickly flash flooding can catch you off guard and sweep you away...
This is nothing compared to tomorrow
how? lmao he didnt even get touched just rain and fun times this damn near feels like a mockery
I know this is your regular farm vlog, but I'm getting citizen journalism vibes. Well done capturing it all. Glad you all and the house are ok.
For those worried they'll forget the places where their infrastructure needs tweaking for any possible future events, I don't think you should worry. These folks are so mindful, and resourceful they were taking action to shore up areas even during the storm. Another benefit is that they live amongst a community of folks that will be discussing and planning, and..., they've got great video to reference. Awesome mentors for others.
Hi.... Thanks you for showing your video homestead, i really enjoy watching your video in raining also you are all enjoy your work nice to see you all keep it up bye 👋 bye 👋 bye 👋 bye 👋👍👍👍
Prayers for you all in the mountain and foothill area. I live in Tallahassee and was supposed to get straight hit, it turned. But l happened to be in my hometown of Spartanburg at the time and got damage my brothers home. 8 days with no power. We were so blessed. I left this morning back to Tallahassee. Prayers for you all.
It is beautiful to see how your whole family works together, you have raised very competent children, together you will all be able to weather the storms that life throws at you. I know it will be a lot of work. The poster below has a great point, mark the water paths, and high water marks so future generations will know the path water will take and how much you had.
You appeared on my feed and had been thinking of you. Sending all the love and light possible. We must care from our earth. We must care for each other. Make changes to care for air, soil, water.
I'm so glad, you guys are ok. Sending prayers
By golly, y'all did everything you possibly could. You worked together so well, and I love to see it. Glad you're all okay and things are moving in the right direction now 💚
Greetings from Northeast Ohio. I cannot believe how close you let Gideon get to the rapids. Please be more careful
I'm just glad everyone made it through safe. Buildings can always be repair or replaced, animals are sad to loose, but they too can be replaces, but the lives of your family and friends can never be replaced.
Sending love and prayers to your family and all affected by this storm. 🤗🙏
O thankful you all are ok. Sorry about the animals.,but thank God all are safe. Love what you showed us
oh my gosh i've been so worried about you. i'm so glad you're okay
This was so scary but thank goodness yous and the kids are ok
I have been so busy with my own animals and you know things that happen around a farm that you have to tend to. I hadn’t watched your channel her a few weeks or so and all of a sudden today I’m thinking oh my gosh Justin Rhodes family is probably right in the path of that hurricane, so I turned on your channel and certainly as I see now it was I haven’t yet seen what happened I haven’t even finished the video. I just want to let you know that I am praying for you and your family And relief for every life that has been touched by this hurricane I live in an area of Southern California that doesn’t really suffer too much from crazy weather, but we did a lot of earthquakes now and then we’re strong winds, but nothing like that. I am sure everyone I know is feeling the same for everyone back in your area of the US end of the world in fact, I am so happy to hear that you and your family are OK.
Thanks for sharing your family’s experiences. God Bless and protect you all ❤🙏🙏🙏
Why in the hell didnt you pray for the ones who had gotten hurt or injured? If people had in fact prayed for those people this can only mean 1 thing! This would mean that nobody had in fact gotten hurt or injured for if they had then this would prove that God had gone back on his word and failed to keep people safe leading people to question the point of prayer if the lord is going to do what he wants anyways!
You did all you could. It's how and where you go from here that's important. Thank God Rebecca has blessed the family with all of those beautiful children! You're going to need them all now.
I still think what you did helped some. Every little bit helps. Sadly this dumped way more water than any of us thought would come. If I had 19” of rain we would be flooded worse than we have ever seen it here and our pasture is in the 100 year flood plain. Glad you guys are doing ok. Praying for everyone there.❤
I'm SO GLAD y'all are ok. I've been worried about you and others in the path of that hurricane 🌀. So far so good. What matters is safe. God bless. 😊❤
Most important thing, you and your family are safe. ❤ So many others lost lives, loved ones, etc. So happy your beautiful family is okay. Heart felt condolences to all who lost loved ones. 😢
I'm so glad you guys are safe. I've been worried about yall. I'm in northeast Georgia and we were without power for 3 days but alls good now. Yall be safe. My thoughts and prayers are with you all. ❤
Glad your family is ok and praying for all the family's that have been devastated and who are hurting.
Thanks!
Wow, so kind!
John Kitsteiner - East TN
Hurricane Helene: A note to friends outside of the South.
We live in Greene County, East Tennessee. Our county’s southern border is the Tennessee-North Carolina state line that runs along the heights of the Appalachian Mountains. We are within the hardest hit region of the U.S.
The questions I have been hearing a lot is why was this so bad, and why weren’t people prepared. I’ll try to answer those questions in the following post.
Hurricane Helene was the strongest hurricane (in recorded history) to hit Florida’s big bend region (on the eastern edge of the panhandle). It is the deadliest hurricane to hit the United States since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
The death toll is over 160 so far. We are still finding bodies, and there are still many, many people missing as I write this today six days after the hurricane hit land.
I work in the emergency department at Greeneville Community Hospital. The hospital itself has been evacuated because we have no water in the majority of the county. We are still running our emergency department as a critical access site for our community. Fortunately, I have a well and didn’t lose electricity for long. I was able to haul water in a 300 gallon tote in the back of my truck to the hospital for the first few days so we could flush toilets and wash hands. It took a few days, but we now have porta-potties and water tanks on trucks to keep the emergency department running.
Under an hour from our hospital to the east, Unicoi County Hospital was flooded requiring patients and providers to be rescued from the roof via helicopter.
Under an hour from our hospital to the south, over the mountains, Asheville, NC has been hit particularly hard.
But why was this region hit so hard?
First, we had a lot of rain before Hurricane Helene even showed up. Depending on the area, we had 7-11 inches of rain in the week before the first storm clouds of the hurricane arrived. This rain saturated the ground and filled ponds and streams.
Then the hurricane arrived. She barreled her way up through the panhandle of Florida, quickly shot through Georgia, and then slowed down and stalled over North Carolina and East Tennessee. And that’s right where we live.
The reason she stalled involves atmospheric pressure conditions that I don’t fully understand, but the result was that this hurricane dropped 20 inches to over 30 inches of rain in some areas… that’s an estimated 40 trillion gallons of rain.
How much is 40 trillion gallons of water?
40 trillion gallons of water is enough to fill the Dallas Cowboy’s stadium 51,000 times.
40 trillion gallons of water is enough to cover the entire state of North Carolina with 3.5 FEET of water.
40 trillion gallons of water is enough to fill 60 MILLION Olympic-sized swimming pools.
40 trillion gallons of water is 619 DAYS of water flowing over Niagara Falls.
So this is an unprecedented amount of rain already falling on an area that had just received ground-saturated rain.
But it wasn’t just the amount of rain, it was the geography of where that rain fell.
The southeastern slopes (of western North Carolina) and the northwestern slopes (of East Tennessee) acted as funnels or rain catchments that directed all this water downhill and concentrated it into streams and rivers running into the valleys. It overflowed these streams and rivers causing massive flooding.
How much flooding?
The French Broad River usually crests at 1.5 feet… but it reached 24.6 feet during the storm.
The Nolichuckey River rose to almost 22 feet. The Nolichuckey River Dam in Greene County, during the peak of the flooding, took on 1.2 MILLION gallons of water per SECOND. Compare that to Niagara Falls which peaks at 700,000 gallons per second. Fortunately, this dam held… but barely, with damage.
Consequences.
The flooding, and all the things the flooding carried with it (large trees, vehicles, buildings, etc.) caused widespread damage. It destroyed homes and businesses. It destroyed roads and bridges. It knocked out power.
This isolated many places for days and days from normal rescue efforts and evacuation plans.
Here in Greene County, the flooding destroyed the intake pump for the county’s primary water supply. We hope they will be able to bring in a temporary pump to bypass the damaged system, but that still may take a couple weeks. In the meantime, most people in the county have no clean water for drinking, washing hands, or bathing, and no water for sanitation.
I have taken care of people in the emergency department who had their homes literally washed away. Everything they own, other than the clothes on their back, has been lost. Many friends have had their homes almost destroyed by flooding and their houses are filled with mud and debris.
And this is just in my immediate area. Other places around us have unfortunately been hit harder.
Why weren’t people prepared?
No one in the mountains of North Carolina or East Tennessee prepares for a hurricane.
It’s kind of like asking why someone in Iowa doesn’t prepare for a tidal wave or why someone in Florida doesn’t prepare for a blizzard. It’s not what happens, like ever.
This was a combination of already rain-saturated ground before the hurricane hit, the hurricane/storm stalling over this region dumping unprecedented amounts of rainfall in a small area, and the geography of mountains channeling and concentrating all this water into the valleys below that created a perfect storm, so to speak, of conditions that caused this disaster.
It couldn’t have been prevented or prepared for.
Please feel free to share this. Hopefully it answers some questions and provides a better understanding of what has happened and why it is so devastating.
Greetings from Northeast Ohio. Thank you for the service to your community. Thank you for the explanation that you have given.
Thank you kind person for such great details and for painting a picture of the volume of water that anyone can relate to. Continued prayers for all. ~ Rhonda ❤
Thank you for spelling things out!
In Florida one of the hurricane dumped 30 inches of rain and it stalled over the east coast of Florida. I think that hurricane happened in 2004 after Hurrricane Charley hit us. As flat as what Florida is it is the only time I have seen flash flooding in Florida. In the mountains you would have little hope.
Thank you for explaining the situation. Since I live in Kansas, it was hard to understand what happened. 🤯
I'm so glad to see that you and your family are doing well! I got very concerned when I heard about the flooding in North Carolina.
Sad to see the loss but you are fortunate no one was hurt and your beautiful new home was spared.
Lots of prayers coming. For your family and everyone around you
You did great! Now you know how to prepare for the next time.
Thanks to you and your family for letting us know if you are ok ❤😊
God bless you and your family. I am so sorry and I pray god may still protect you all. Much love and stay safe. ❤️🥺🇺🇸
I'm so glad you and your family are safe. Hang in there! Help is coming. I'm currently driving g from California with a bunch of supplies and clothes. Our government can suck it!
God help these families. I watch while you fighting it. Breaks my heart for you. Thank God our ok.
you're young son is a blessing he was a hard worker through it all
will now you know the natural flow of water off the mountain you can dig a creek bed that compensates for that. Grew up in upstate NY we had flooding every few years. creek bed usually dry, but when it rained it was full. huge culverts under roads were often washed out. we had three gully's though our property
Oh, Justin! So very sorry! 🙏🙏🙏❤❤❤
Prayers that you guys and all the family are ok. God be with you guys
Thank you for sharing. There was only so much y'all could prep...
Prayers from Costa Rica.
💚 so glad your family is safe.
Wish I had a family like this god bless you all I respect your ability to handle all that stress like nothing
That's right! And nothing will be able to prepare people for the Great Tribulation coming soon! This is just the beginning of sorrows. The only preparation that is sufficient is to make Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior! He's the only way out of what's coming!!!
❤ watching from San Antonio Tx
Glad you all are ok. Bless
Watched your prior prep videos and it was sad watching and knowing that what you were doing was not going to make much of a difference with a storm depositing so much rain. Our drive way washed out and water was bubbling up out of the earth. We lost a few large oaks and we have some apple trees that need staking from getting blown over. We are absolutely getting solar panels for our well pump.
Alleghany County faired pretty well. Prayers for our NC brothers and sisters who got hit hard. Truly an apocalyptic storm of epic proportions.
You’re right, Justin. There’s nothing you could have done to prepare for this kind of natural force. Nature does what it is designed to do. Most of nature doesn’t think. It is to be respected not worshipped. God deserves the worship and thanks for creating us with awareness. We can be good stewards, but we aren’t here to force stasis on His dynamic creation, including each other. We can neither ultimately destroy nor usurp His tree of life. While we’re here we can use honest reasoning and true love to excel in relationship with our Maker, each other and all of creation. Keep going! So glad that all survived with the new home, and will be pitching in for restoration on the homestead and in the community. ❤✝️🙏
Huh?
I'm so sorry Justin. Bless you all.
That much rain in that short period of time is catastrophic indeed. When you live in valleys with creeks running close by, there is nothing you can do to prepare for it. Most people that have not been in that part of the country have no idea how that happens. The same goes for out west just like late this summer. Just a few inches in parts of the country that don't get much rain is also catastrophic. My heart goes out to all of you. We live on flat ground on the prairie, but we got 8 inches of rain over night last spring and all our creeks and rivers were out of their banks. Also happens to the Mississippi and Illinois rivers close to here in the spring if there is a lot of snow and ice melt then rain added to the mix in late winter. Water will find its lower spots/points no matter what you do in a huge rain event. Praying for you all.
Prayers your all ok and keep at it xxxx😢😮❤
God bless , glad you’re all safe .
You all are amazing. Blessed to be able to work together .
Good evening always watching you 💖
Wishing you well from upstate South Carolina we got hit pretty hard as well ❤️🩹
@IllogicalThinker we sure did! 😞
I am glad your family is OK. It was scary to watch. Come on so strong.
Thank God you all are ok.Everything else can be replaced.
I love the insta360 footage. Gives your editor a lot of possibilities to add interesting angles.
This must be hard to watch now. All the efforts were still good to do - it shouldn’t put us off from trying to get stuff ready in rough weather.
So scary to see the lead up now seeing the aftermath in the news.
So weird to watch
So glad you’re all ok except for the trauma of go through This.🙏 for you all