PROTECTED CONTENT

If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.

Username

Password

Login

Lost your password?

Username and Password Help

Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.

Email

Submit

← Back

TCAT Oneida student witnesses

Hurricane Helene’s destruction

When students in TCAT Oneida/Huntsville’s Power Line Construction & Maintenance program reported to class on the morning of Monday, Sept. 30, Christian Lett was among them.

That was impressive because Christian’s hometown of Hartford, Tenn. had been ravaged by Hurricane Helene that weekend, and he and other members of his community had spent several days clearing roads and making supply runs for neighbors and family members who were left homebound by the destructive storm.

“I didn’t want to take the chance of missing any class up here,” Christian said of his decision to return to campus that Monday morning.

It was three days earlier, on Sept. 27, that the remnants of Hurricane Helene caused unprecedented flooding in East Tennessee and western North Carolina. Christian, who is living on a campground in Oneida while working towards his certification as a lineman, left for home on Thursday, Sept. 26, not knowing what was about to happen to his hometown.

“My house is pretty much fine,” Christian said. “But the community, our little town, it flooded the gas stations. The road along the river to Newport is completely gone. The community of Denton, along the river, was all washed away. Houses were off the foundations, cars were in trees. I have a couple of buddies who lived next to the river and they lost everything.”

Almost immediately, members of the community – including Christian – pitched in and went to work.

“We used excavators and skid steers and we cleared the road out so we could get out to get gas and water,” he said. “There are a bunch of elderly people in Hartford and they were telling us the power might be out two or three weeks.”

Fortunately, power line crews – teams like one Christian might soon be a part of after completing TCAT’s lineman program – arrived more quickly than expected and power has been restored. Cell service remains non-existent in Hartford. However, one of the town’s gas stations has been able to reopen, and Elon Musk’s Starlink company donated a Wi-Fi setup to that gas station so there would be a way for residents of the area to communicate.

Although the flood waters receded on Sunday, Sept. 29, Christian wasn’t initially sure he’d be able to get back to Oneida for class on Monday. Law enforcement was restricting movement on public roads to prevent looting of damaged homes and businesses. “It was hard getting in and out,” he said. But once he made a run to get fuel for his elderly grandparents who live in Hartford, he was able to leave for Oneida and returned to class the following morning.

A graduate of Cosby High School in Cocke County, Christian is one of several students from outside the local area who are enrolled at TCAT Oneida/Huntsville to participate in one of the region’s leading training programs for linemen. Once his classmates at the Oneida campus learned what had happened to his hometown, they pitched in to provide him the assistance needed to help him and his family get through the next several days.

As recovery efforts continue in Cocke County and other mountain communities, Christian said a need remains for supplies.

“The people in Denton, their homes and stuff were ruined. They need basic things like clothes, baby formula, diapers, stuff like that,” Christian said. “I know a lady who lived in a trailer with two kids. The kids have health problems, with seizures and stuff. They lost everything.”

TCAT Oneida/Huntsville continues to collect items for victims of Helene’s East Tennessee floods. If you’d like to contribute, you can drop off water, diapers, formula or nonperishable food items (no clothes, please) at either the Oneida or Huntsville campus from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.