Interview of Kat Perry
Story
This story was submitted on October 27, 2025 by Janice Pope
- Title
- Interview of Kat Perry
- Description
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All right, we're rolling.
Good afternoon, Kat. My name is Janice Pope, and I'm here today to interview you, Kat Perry.
It is September 20th, 2025, about 1230, and we're recording this interview at the Blowing Rock Art and History Museum in Blowing Rock, North Carolina.
I'm going to interview you as part of an oral history project documenting personal experiences and memories of Hurricane Helene.
Thank you so much for taking the time to share your story with us today.
You're welcome.
Thank you. So to begin with, just tell us a little bit about yourself and your ties to this area.
Okay. I have lived here about 13 years.
I went to the local university at Washington State University in the 70s, and my husband and I have come back and forth many, many years.
And then we bought our house in 2016.
So I'm very familiar with the area.
At the time of the hurricane, we lived on the golf course in Blowing Rock.
We have since sold that home, but last year during the hurricane, that is where we were living.
And it is about 4,000 in elevation feet, 4,000 feet in elevation.
And what was your experience of the storm in that house?
Well, it rained and rained and rained.
And it's not that it rained ferociously or harder than I've ever seen it.
It just lasted and lasted and continued for hours.
And so our house set down off of the road.
And at the top of our driveway is a drain.
And that drain in just normal rains clogs up.
It's not very big. It probably should be larger, but it clogs up.
It will cause a flooding kind of water down our driveway, which could go into our garage.
So my husband and I were keeping an eye on that drain, and about every 30 minutes we would go out and clear it.
And that way we were circumventing the flood.
And then I decided that I was going to walk around the neighborhood, which was very small.
It's a small neighborhood, just two streets to check on neighbors and make sure that they were okay.
This was probably after it had been raining two hours.
And so that's what I did.
Unbeknownst to us, my husband and I, we had no idea what the larger consequence of all the rain was going to be, or maybe even was at that point.
So the next day, well, okay, back up. We didn't, we never lost power.
Wow.
But we did lose internet, which caused me to about lose my mind.
And I had to reckon myself with the fact that a lot of what we do is on the internet, and that we didn't get good sales service at our home.
So we had to Wi-Fi call, so we couldn't call out. We weren't getting texts. We couldn't text out.
And so when the rain subsided, we decided that we would find some spot that had some internet, and it was the food line and parking lot.
And so we went and we, so many friends from all over were asking, how are you?
So that sort of was our first indication that things were being reported and we're not good.
So we felt isolated in a way.
In not knowing. So the next day, we were in the food line, parking lot, because we would go periodically.
And I saw a fellow town council member and a couple of other people we knew, and they were saying that it was really bad.
And so my husband and I drove to Hickory to Sam's and bought a lot of water. We didn't know what else to do.
To help. And we came back and just across the street here from Braum is the Presbyterian Church.
And they have a food pantry. And so we decided we would take water there.
And they had already gotten so many supplies that they couldn't take anymore.
And they were looking for another place to move all of their pantry items that would hold them.
And so I started helping them try to locate. And so I got involved in that.
And later that day, they were able to locate a secondary spot.
And then we went over to the American Legion and saw that that had already gotten to be a pretty smoothly operated endeavor to collect supplies and things.
So but, you know, it wasn't until much later that we knew and from hearing stories that people had lost their lives and there were mudslides and some friends of ours who lived outside of Boone near Meek Camp.
Were up on a hill. They have a lot of acres, close to 50 acres, but up from them behind them at the top of the hill, a house had slid down in a mudslide and all four people who were in the house died.
So that, you know, is just it's so strange because in a way blowing rocks seem to be sort of spared.
Like we were in a bubble. I mean, we didn't lose power. There are a lot of people who did. But then just miles from us.
Total devastation and the mudslide consequence and aftermath of the storm was just devastating.
It really was. It was.
I think that nobody anticipated that there would be mudslides like that.
How could you predict it? And so it's just awful in terms of, you know, that is what got this whole area of the western part of the state. It wasn't flooding as much as what's like.
It's just it moved the earth. Of course, the water moved the earth.
And it happened so quickly. Yes. Yeah. Without warning. Yeah, that's right. Exactly.
How did you feel your community responded to the storm?
I felt like we responded splendidly. I mean, I really do. I mean, from the very beginning, people just rolled their sleeves up and found out what was needed and chipped in.
It was almost like just spontaneous. It was. Yeah, it really was.
Would there or can you tell me about any meaningful acts of kindness or community like that that you experienced or witnessed?
Well, I. Quite a few people were taking supplies long distances and filling up vans and trucks and they were going long distances for months, months.
And and I just felt like, you know, I didn't do very much as compared to many, many people.
What do you think? So you're on the Blue and Blue and Rock Town Council, right? Is there anything y'all are doing in the wake of the storm to think about how you would prepare for a future event like this?
Yeah, not interesting. Yeah. Maybe that's because you didn't have the effects as badly here in town. Maybe. Yeah.
Do you feel or how do you feel changed by this event? Do you feel changed by this event in any way? Absolutely. Absolutely.
I just. Oh, well.
I mean, my heart goes out to all of the people who lost loved ones or neighbors and.
In places that are isolated somewhat because you have a lot of that in the mountains.
I feel. You know that that we all need to look out for each other.
It has given me more of a sense of community on a larger scale than just my neighborhood or whatever that these these things can happen.
I mean, you think, well, we're not going to get an earthquake or tornado or hurricane.
I mean, who would have thought that our part of the state would experience a hurricane and actually blow and rock had a tornado a couple of days before the.
We did. So it's.
I guess I mean, these things are unpredictable.
And.
Having some sense of community and knowing that that we can get organized quickly means a lot.
And we've given in the library club and our our slogan is.
Others before sale service before sale.
And we've given a lot of money to charities and also organizations that were very involved in trying to rebuild.
That's good. Yeah. Everybody plays a role. Yes. Yeah.
So what are your hopes for the future with regard to this event? If there are ways you wish things would be different or better or whatever.
Well, I think, gosh, if if there was any way to have a better.
Emergency.
Announcement system.
I have I can't get my brain around what that would be or what it would look like.
But that to me is.
And maybe already have organizations that are just ready and prepared.
With supplies for those who get cut off from.
Their town or whatever. But really, that is a very difficult question.
And I hope somebody who knows more than I do.
Is working on emergency notification systems.
But in the mountains you have particular challenges because of the train and.
I was reading a series that a journalist did.
She was in Columbia, South Carolina, I think, and then came up and interviewed quite a few people that were out from the Spruce Pine area.
Mitchell County. Yes. And.
Really describing.
I mean, it's like they had no clue and they then they went out on their porch and then they were just washed away.
One of them survived. Maybe the other one didn't.
And so in those kind of.
They're not even remote. You wouldn't consider that remote.
But in those areas, how do you get information to people if you can't.
Text or.
You know.
Yeah, you have no electricity and no cell phone signal.
Yeah, yeah.
I don't know what could be done if anything.
I mean, it was sort of a phenomenal.
Happening occurrence and.
A phenomenon and we don't know if it'll ever happen again.
Could.
It would happen once it could happen again.
So I don't know.
I think that being prepared means so many different things.
It means.
There's a woman in the Rotary Club who.
Used to be an emergency first responder and she.
Showed us at one of the meetings all these things that you can buy to put in like a case.
That would provide certain things if you were in an emergency situation.
I mean like washcloths that are that small and when you add them then they become.
I mean it's just.
It's very.
Materials are out there.
Equipment is out there.
And I don't know if even if people have had emergency kits like that if it would have addressed what they needed.
Because it was just.
Yeah.
Well is there anything else you'd like to share with me anything you know that we haven't talked about.
No I just.
Story core and I think that.
I was telling our story even though you know my wasn't like severe still adds to the context.
For people to understand somewhat.
You know what happened.
Thank you.
Yes and I do think that.
You know you talked about this journalist.
And so often I think what happens is that we have what we call parachute journalism where you know the national state journalists show up they cover an event like this and then they leave.
And yet here are all the stories.
Real people and how.
They have been responding and recovering and you know.
I think it matters a lot.
And we appreciate you taking the time to come.
Well my pleasure.
My pleasure.
Thank you.
Me too. - Spatial Coverage
- Blowing Rock Art History Museum
- Date
- Interviewed September 20, 2025
- Item sets
- Unknown
