The floods in North Carolina have indeed been ‘biblical’. It is frightening to watch the rivers rise and take away houses, once with people still asleep inside it. Or to watch a woman point to the seventh step in their store where the waters finally stopped rising.

There has been much coverage, including a great deal about the many rumours being spread about FEMA, the agency in the US that is charged with coping with disasters.

But I have been focusing on the way folks in Appalachia have been working hard to rescue and help their neighbours. Those are the stories that give me hope that America remains a country where neighbours help neighbours. Where people care about each other, no matter their political views.

And we’ve shared quite a few of them on Karuna News. For example:

• Helene Ravaged North Carolina’s Mountains. Its Citizens Are Hollering Back.
• Retirement Communities Race To Help Their Mountain Counterparts
• Lineworkers Hike Miles To Restore Power To Veterans Hospital
• Dolly Parton Partners With Walmart To Help Helene Flood Victims
• Shelters Jump Into Action To Rescue Cats And Dogs

This is what people do when disasters hit. They do what they can – and all of it matters, to individuals or to a community. 

They get help from the helpers, or they are the helpers. And increasingly, these grass roots heroes seem to be organizing themselves in more formal ways, say researchers who have been studying them.

The folks at the Good Good Good newsletter were part of a team of sociologists, urban planning scholar and emergency management specialists who worked alongside eight civilian volunteer search-and-rescue groups from Louisiana and Texas between 2017 and 2022 during and after hurricanes.

Something has changed in the past few years. They wrote:

“Following the landfall of Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast region of the US in 2005, boat owners from northern Louisiana convoyed to New Orleans and the surrounding areas to assist in search and rescue (SAR) operations—earning the moniker the “Cajun Navy”. Like most emergent groups have been conceptualized in the past, this group of volunteers dissolved after boat operations were completed.”

“In August 2016, the greater Baton Rouge, Louisiana, US area experienced catastrophic flooding. Similar to 2005, boaters gathered to make rescues under the popular Cajun Navy name. In this instance, however, volunteers began to formalize and create official organizations and non-profits that lasted beyond 2016. This diverges completely from the prior conceptualization of emergent groups and volunteerism.”

There is a difference between disaster and non-disaster volunteerism, the researchers said. But there hasn’t been a lot of research on the differing motivations of these folks.

“While we volunteered with these organizations, we observed them in action and interviewed their leaders and volunteers to learn why they were making the time and taking personal risks to save others,” said Good Good Good. “Many cited their personal values, expressed their need to belong to a group, and said it had helped them find a sense of purpose.”

Cover image: North Carolina Army National Guardsmen and local emergency services assist with evacuation efforts in Fayetteville, N.C., Oct. 08, 2016. Heavy rains caused by Hurricane Matthew led to flooding as high as five feet in some areas. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Jonathan Shaw, 382nd Public Affairs Detachment)