Supplies for Helene victims being collected and flown to disaster area

One of the volunteer planes taking supplies from Collegedale to Asheville in the wake of Hurricane Helene.

COLLEGEDALE, Tenn. (WDEF)- The death toll from Hurricane Hurricane is now at least 150 people according to CBS News across the Southeast.

In the wake of the horrific damage caused by the storm, local organizations are trying to help bring needed supplies into the region.

This process of aiding the survivors of Hurricane Helene is not just a matter of collecting items and sending them to our east.

It’s a matter of figuring how to logistically help an entire region, whose road infrastructure has been severely damaged.

The first supplies from Collegedale Municipal Airport took off for Asheville Tuesday afternoon.

All of the planes, piloted by volunteers, carried 15-hundred pounds of needed supplies into the disaster zone.

Ryan Byford, the director of operations at the Collegedale Airport, said, “Looking at the images that we see online is devastating of how fortunate we are and how unfortunate it was for them so seeing everybody come together in a team effort like this, putting our resources together like this, it’s a really great feeling.”

All of those donations that flew to Asheville on Tuesday are coming from the Collegedale Commons.

Thousands of pounds of supplies coming from hundreds of donors across our community who say the devastation they saw across the mountains spurred them into action. 

Leann Bartow, heading the drive at the Commons, said, “We have processed probably 25,000 pounds of donations that have come in from the community so far.”

Bartow says that the next step is getting the supplies, of which they need non-perishable food, water, and toiletries, into the disaster zone.

“We have people in need who are on the ground up there, and they are telling us how to reach them. So as we hear of a need, we find a truck, a trailer, a driver, and if we can get there we’re coming, we’re coming to help,” said Bartow.

East Ridge is also collecting non-perishable items and say they’ve seen a large response from their community.

Cameron McAllister, the director of Economic and Community Development for East Ridge, said, “We pushed out a release yesterday, Monday, and less than 24 hours later we have received a large bulk of items here at the community center as well as at city hall.”

Volunteers are needed in Collegedale to help sort through the thousands of pounds of donations.

Bartow said, “But we’re also looking for people with trucks and trailers, maybe with a small enclosed trailer with a heavy duty pickup truck, that might be willing to join our caravan on Saturday.”

East Ridge will be taking their donations through Friday at 2 p.m. and Collegedale will take theirs through Saturday.

They are asking people not to donate clothes because of logistical issues in the disaster area.