MOVES Hurricane Helene Veterinary Relief Fund

Help the Hart Family Rebuild After Devastating Flood with Support from MOVES

On September 27, Christine Hart and her family faced the unimaginable when a flash flood triggered by Hurricane Helene tore through their home. With floodwaters rising faster than anyone could have predicted, Christine, her partner Andrew, and her children Aster (18) and Isaiah (14) made a daring escape, braving dangerous currents to get to safety. The family fought through the fast-moving waters, struggling to keep their footing as they clung to anything they could to avoid being swept away. After being rescued by neighbors, they made it out alive, but their home and nearly all their possessions were destroyed.

In addition to losing their home, two cars, and the tragic loss of two pets, Christine, a veterinary technician, lost her employment when Beacon Veterinary Hospital—where she proudly worked—was severely damaged in the storm. The clinic, which was less than a mile from their home, was washed out by the floodwaters, leaving Christine and her colleagues facing an uncertain future. Christine’s full story is listed below.

At MOVES, we believe in helping our community in times of crisis, and we are in a unique position to help with our Basecamp located in Charlotte, NC, and new MOVES veterinary specialists scheduled to start soon in Asheville, NC. With Hurricane Helene devastating the Appalachian region of Western North Carolina, many families like Christine’s need urgent assistance. To aid in the support and recovery of the veterinary community affected by the disaster, we are launching the Hurricane Helene Veterinary Relief Fund with a $10,000 donation. This fund will sponsor Christine and her family, providing them with financial assistance to rebuild their lives.

By donating to this relief fund, you can directly help Christine and her family recover. Every contribution will go towards getting them back on their feet, recovering, and rebuilding.

Thank you for your generosity and for standing with Christine and her community in this time of need.

Christine's full story:

I don't really know how all of this works. The sharing of tragedy. I've never lived inside the news before.

So I'm just going to share my experience and I hope you will find the nuggets of what you need inside.

I'm going to share too much detail bc I also just want the opportunity to get it all out, and I don't know what would be important or resonate with someone else. I'm going to attach a PDF of a piece our friend is working on that includes at least 2 photos of myself. I think he is a far better writer than I am! There are also a couple of news interviews out there with my neighbor who mentions my family but does not name us for our privacy.

Friday, September 27 was my father's 70th birthday. This was especially important bc he narrowly escaped death by cancer less than 1 year ago. My family canceled his party bc the weather was going to get bad and I remember telling my mother that my brother coming up from GA was a bad idea, fearing more for them in SC and GA than myself up here in the mountains.

Friday morning my partner, Andrew, and I woke up early like always. I was excited I snuck in cooking sausage and eggs before the power went out a 2nd time.

I watched the water rise in the street, all the while communicating with loved ones and friends. They said we were in an evacuation area but that's silly bc the water is so high in the road, our cars can't get out already. I think this is it. This is the flash flood. The water is still down there in the road and our foundation is up slightly higher than the neighboring lot. I watched our neighbor's house across the road and the water crept higher but we were still ok.

The water continued to rise and the quickness is something you only see in movies. The water hit the foundation of the house and my partner and I went into action mode and got my kids, Aster 18, and Isaiah 14 into the kitchen which he felt would be safest. The water gurgled in with sick gushing sounds under the crawlspace, and through the heating and air ducts. You never forget the sound of your home filling up.

I grabbed my kid's photo albums and put them on top of the double-stack washer/dryer. Our kitchen counters are covered with the usual canisters and spice racks I imagine everyone owns but that day we were pushing them all aside to climb out of the water.

There were lots of little moments of unprepared panic. Where are the cat carriers? Under the bed of course which is now underwater. Where are the dog's collars? Andrew narrowly avoided the washer dryer as it came crashing down from the force of the water filling the laundry room while trying to retrieve those collars. Our 2 dogs and 4 cats had to be safely put where?? 3 of the 4 cats had already been in the water. The rabbit? She has a 2 story hutch and we have to just hope for the best. One my of 19yo cats were put into a soggy carrier, and the other 19yo cat was placed inside a picnic basket. The other 2 cats thankfully stayed in place along with our chihuahua mix on the top of the kitchen cabinets. The big dog is on the stove in the kitchen island.

We have called 911 twice. We do not get good signal or good advice. The water has risen higher and longer than we were told. Isn't it past the time we were told the flooding would last? We would find out later that the Ridge Crest dam has been released so that it wouldn't break and cause further damage but we don't know that. All we know is that there is a river that wasn't there before with a storm water current ripping along my home.

My family is huddled around the kitchen window, peering out, calmly trying to figure out our next move. We can't get to our roof or the neighbors. A neighbor is coursing along the road river and yells at us through the window to get out and get out now. It's bad and it's getting worse. He rushes past so quickly.

We decide we have to get out bc soon, we could be really trapped inside. We make quick preparations and put all our phones inside bags bc communication will be important. I tell them I love them.

Andrew goes out first, then Aster, and then I held onto the window bar so Isaiah could grab onto my shoulders. He's nearly my size, but he has never gone into the deep end of a pool.

There was very little controlling our directional "swim". I pushed forward to try and grab onto trees and find spots to catch my breath but we were being ripped up the road by the current. A neighbor screamed directions at us from a higher porch of which way to go. We bounced from one thing to another. Andrew grabbed a rope from a child's tree swing, we all got swept away more, and then caught each of us by the arm at the neighbor's fence line and all four of us staggered just a few steps into water that was shallow enough to not get knocked down.

We were 2 houses down and it was the most harrowing experience of my life. We staggered up the flooded driveway, hugging one another, with no idea where we were going. Another neighbor, Tissica, shouted down from a 2nd story detached garage to get up there quick. Margie, our next door neighbor, came out of the door of her garage quicker so we went inside and while her garage was flooded up to the knees still, that was as high as it got and we went upstairs to dry clothes, blankets, towels, and company. We were alive. We were ok. We waited for the water to stop.

As quickly as the water rushed in, it seemed to rush out.

The next hours are a blur. Andrew braved the water while still waist deep to get back to the house to the pets. They were ok. Right where we left them. We had been convinced our dog was going to jump off the stove and swim after us. She loves swimming. She has jumped off of waterfalls with people on purpose before. She stayed. Good girl.

Margie and her 2 young children were evacuated by military vehicle to the offsite shelters. She gave us access to anything we could use in her home. Jessica and her husband Andy offered whatever they had to help us. We moved our soggy selves into their 2nd story garage studio where we would sleep on blankets and pillows on the floor for the next 4 nights. We gathered supplies and surveyed our swollen, mud caked, disaster of a home. Almost everything was ruined, and our 2 cars totally flooded.

Margie's home had been flooded but we had access to things like baby wipes, paper towels, nonperishables.

The next day we knew we had to get up the road to see the neighborhood and Beacon Veterinary, where I proudly worked 0.3 miles from home. I would have bottled water there, gallons of distilled water, I may even get cleaned up somehow! I turned the corner where my office used to stand and my world crumbled once again. The building was torn apart. A large sinkhole right next to it, the bridge and road washed out entirely. My entire reception area, desk, and benches, just all gone, presumably out a hole in the side of the building. I felt like I was the only one that knew bc no cell service still and all the roads are washed out.

The first charity on the ground in our neighborhood, World Central Kitchen, partnered with Blunt Pretzels and was offering whatever food they could cook for a multitude of displaced flood victims who had no power, no cell service or internet, or running water. I cried while eating bites of warm food. It felt too normal in a world ripped apart in such a short time.

The rest of my story is so intertwined with my neighbors who banded together and constantly check in on one another, fetch what is needed to survive, and share stories of our experiences and trauma. It's not just my story. Shared stories of escaping to the roof, then rescued by kayaks, people clinging to light poles, children crying.

All the material destruction you could imagine. Cars and buildings where they don't belong and debris everywhere. People's life contents strewn along the yards of mud. Sewage mud. Unsafe toxic mud. 4 days after the hurricane, one of our 19-year-old cats passed away while we sat with her in the neighbor's garage. She had been scheduled for a peaceful at home euthanasia, but the hurricane had other plans. We had no peace, no home, and no Dr. could get to us safely. The mud proved difficult, but Andrew dug her little grave next to the rabbit's and we had a double funeral.

Then we knew once again, we had to move. Basic supplies had started to come into the neighborhood, spotty cell service restored, and my 22yo daughter Alyssa had found enough gas to get us to a safe home on the other side of Asheville where they had not sustained damage. The electricity was even on!

The friend that offered their rental home to us to live in while we figure out what comes next, also blessed us with basic toiletries, changes of clothes, air mattresses, water, and food in the house when we arrived!

My family has what we need to restart with just the basics. We are well fed and clothed, etc. Almost no one here has running water yet, so we do what we can. There's been no rest yet. Salvage trips back to get what sentimental treasures we could find in the muck and then straight to demo and reconstruction on the house.

I'm determined to get back home and help restore our neighborhood. My neighbors brought their pets to the veterinary office that I loved working at. I lost my home, my car, my employment, almost all of my possessions, and sense of security in one terrible day. It feels like life will never return to normal again.

I feel lucky to be alive, but dream of the day I can be back home in a big housewarming block party with all of the neighbors I have bonded with through this experience. We would not be here, in as good spirits as we are, without the outpouring of support and love from our community. We could not do this on our own. They say it takes a village, and it's more true than ever now.

Stay safe,

Christine Hart