# @blueamberphoto on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DCzQdZdpsAm
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/25258733-blueamberphoto-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/19729ac99c.jpg
- **Posted:** 2024-11-25T16:22:34.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** B l u e  A m b e r (@BlueAmberPhoto) — https://gondola.cc/BlueAmberPhoto

## Caption

// Hurricane Helene Recovery: Ward’s Carp Lake // 

This week, I went up to volunteer in the N.C. Mountains and met Cookie and Jeff Ward. They’ve been married for over 40 yrs and had lived and owned a fishing pond where they made their living.  Jeff’s dad built the business in the 60’s and they had continued the family business and had first met and fell in love with each other at this lake. They made their living setting up people to fish and had four campers that people could rent to spend the night in the mountains on this beautiful property.  The people in the community and those traveling made memories here. 

When the hurricane hit, Jeff stayed up all night to keep an eye on the lake as the waters started to rise. He got a phone call in the middle of the night saying, “The dam is breaking, get out now!” He immediately called his neighbors and told them to get to higher ground. 

He saved 5 people that night. 

Within minutes the water rose into their home waist deep as they grabbed what they could to get out. A week went by before Jeff could allow himself to take in what had happened to his livelihood. When he was able to face it, he courageously went and saw the utter destruction of the two lakes that were now completely gone. The water had came through, breached both ends, and took all the campers, fish with it and destroyed part of the fishing building. Jeff still has no idea where any of it ended up after two months. 

Today, Jeff and Cookie are living in a borrowed camper as they have kind hearted volunteers helping to gut their home and fix it up before Christmas. Because winter has arrived in the NC Mountains and people need shelter. But they need money to put their lakes back so they can get their livelihoods back and provide for their family.  Here’s how you can help now. You may not have time to go physically but you can donate a small or larger amount to help them work towards the goal to get back what was taken from them with this storm.  See below to donate…

📸: blueamberphoto 

#hurricanehelene #hurricanehelenerelief #hurricanhelenerecovery #swannanoa #wncstrong #wncmountains #ncmountains #wardscarplake #helenesupport #nchurricane

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## Tags

hurricanehelene, nchurricane, swannanoa, wardscarplake, hurricanhelenerecovery, ncmountains, helenesupport, hurricanehelenerelief, wncstrong, wncmountains

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