Alex Ware had lived in the Boone area for a little over a year, having moved to be with his girlfriend who was getting her master's degree at Appalachian State while he pursued his associates at Caldwell Community College. During Hurricane Helene, they were living at Bavarian Village, a complex notorious for flooding though Alex didn't know this as he was new to the area. Like many others, they were told on the news the storm wouldn't be that bad. The morning started normally with school canceled, so they decided to stay in and watch a movie. About an hour into the film, they lost power, and 45 minutes later water started coming into their townhouse. They frantically hauled belongings upstairs as a foot and a half of water flooded in. Alex managed to save their cars by pulling them onto the sidewalk, though his girlfriend's car died a few months later from everything getting soaked.
They were displaced until halfway through December—nearly three months of staying at Airbnbs, friends' couches, and going back to Alex's family in Greensboro on weekends to avoid paying for lodging. The first night they paid $245 for a hotel room in Blowing Rock that normally cost $115, driving through deep water, mud, and trees across roads, sometimes driving off-road to avoid obstacles. Their landlord offered to refund their rent if they could move out immediately, so by Sunday evening they had the entire place cleaned out, receiving less than $300 (three days prorated rent plus security deposit) since it was the end of the month. They lost everything downstairs—washer, dryer, couch, and a nice electric fireplace. They received FEMA aid, though it didn't make up for Airbnb costs and replacing furniture. Despite both continuing school without anything slowing down, Alex didn't feel back to normal until they moved into their new place in mid-December and got everything unpacked. He successfully earned his associates degree and is now pursuing his bachelor's, while his girlfriend graduated and works at App State full-time. Looking back at the one-year anniversary, Alex reflects that those first three months of going back and forth—sometimes staying 30 minutes away and driving back daily—felt like much longer than a year, though he considers them very lucky to have found a place before year's end.
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