We had been getting heavy rains since Wednesday, September 25th. The C9 students had come home from their rained-out Adventure Challenge just over a week prior. The ground of Western North Carolina was already saturated with water. The Wednesday the rains started, there was already some minor flooding in the streets of Black Mountain - and it was only a taste of what was to come over the next 48 hours.

As the outer rain bands fell throughout Thursday, the stores started seeing masses of people realizing the gravity of the storm, stocking up on food and water “just in case”.

Overnight, an unprecedented amount of rain fell. Those who stocked up were proven wise. The “just in case” came to light as a hard reality as Friday morning showed floodwaters that had risen to roofs, mudslides that had swept away homes and destroyed roads, and trees blocking people’s paths out and in.

For us at Excel, there were downed power lines tangled in the trees that had fallen on them, flooded basements and roads, and a glaring lack of power. Cell service went out around 10am for most people on campus, disconnecting us from outside news and the ability to connect with loved ones. We spent the day sheltering in place, looking out our windows and at our phones as the emergency alerts kept coming.

DAM BREACH

TRAVEL PROHIBITED

FLOOD WARNING

GET TO HIGH GROUND

By the grace of God, we were already on the high ground. Our campus sits in a neighborhood right across the highway from Ridgecrest Conference Center, a high point as you drive up and out of Black Mountain. Most of the flooding split to one side of the other of us.

As the shelter in place slowly lifted, and we started getting word back of the extent of the damage around us, we found God’s hand more and more on our campus. 

The laying of new gravel roads and a concrete pad just two weeks prior to get ready for orientation turned out to be a saving grace in preventing worse flooding on our campus. 

A brand new tent that had been put up as a gathering space since we had outgrown our old one now serves as our distribution storehouse for all of our disaster relief resources. 

The camping gear that we used on the Adventure Challenge allowed us to cook meals on camp stoves and filter water from our nearby creek. 

The two wells that had been dug for our two newest buildings served as our drinking water sources once we got generators up and running. 

Our gas-fed industrial kitchen allows us to feed over 150 students and volunteers 3 times a day.

The bridge right outside of the community was home to the only spot with signal for miles in those first few days.

Even the fact that there were alumni in town who jumped in to help out after the storm.

There have been so many little things that have come to light as God’s perfect timing and provision as we have gone from sheltering in place, to quickly becoming a distribution center sending out relief teams to our local community.

We’re on day 7 after the storm, and the relief efforts are still going strong as we try to walk with our community into the rebuilding phase, and the testimony of God’s goodness is only just beginning!

We’ve got people and organizations that are donating literal semi-truck’s worth of food, water, and other necessary resources. We’ve got helicopter’s bringing in medical supplies and helping get people out that need medical attention. Volunteers from all over have shown up and reached out to see how they can help - and help they have!

One student’s family showed up when they heard that their son, Colin (a C9 student), was helping out in the storehouse and with distribution to our community. His parents came with a load of supplies and his dad went out with search and rescue teams while his mom worked to get funding for fun activities to give the students a break. And this is just one story of how this community has shown up for each other! There are many more families who have donated, brought supplies, volunteered their time and their hands, and shared our story.

To add to this operation we have going on, we have a conglomeration of medical professionals that have parked their medical trailer in our lower parking lot to be able to treat patients. This group has also been sending teams into hard-to-reach areas way into the rural mountains to be able to get supplies to people in need, and have been an incredible crew to collaborate with and be able to send those in need of medical care!

Over the next 9 months, we’ll work with organizations like Adventures in Missions, Crisis Relief and Recovery, and more to begin the long journey of rebuilding Western North Carolina. We’ll clear debris and roads, muck out buildings, replace belongings, rebuild homes, and hopefully help heal hearts. We’re so thankful for the outpouring of support thus far. All the alumni, the volunteers, the supplies - we’re here for it.

To help us help rebuild, donate at:

excellife.org/disaster-relief