KRusty Gamble and his family love Halloween. But this year, as his community in Asheville, North Carolina, was still dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Helene—a Category 4 storm that devastated the city last month—he made sure She wanted families in the area to be able to enjoy it. holiday
“It’s shocking a lot of things that some of these kids have seen or learned,” Gamble says of Helen. “It’s important to let these kids be kids. They’ve had a tough month.”
Helen reached Florida on September 26 and tore southeast. The storm wreaked havoc in western North Carolina — about half of the deaths attributed to Helene occurred in North Carolina, and 42 occurred in Buncombe County, where Asheville is located, according to the Associated Press. Less than two weeks later, Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida as a Category 3 hurricane, wreaking havoc on communities that had just begun to recover from Helene. Officials are still tallying the damage from the two storms, but the cost is estimated to be in the tens of billions of dollars.
Gamble says he and his family were lucky to have only minimal flooding in their basement, but they were left without power and running water for a few weeks after Helene hit. Gamble says much of Asheville is still under a boil water notice as of Tuesday.. But as the community embarks on rebuilding and cleanup efforts, people like Gamble are also coming together to help each other — like celebrating Halloween.
North Carolina celebrates Halloween despite Helen
After Helen, Gamble began collecting Halloween costume donations and brought about 150 of them to a local community space in Asheville, which held a freefall festival on Oct. 27 that included face painting, candy, and more. , and included a costume drive. Gamble was one of several people who organized costume donations or Halloween events for children and families.
Nearby, the Monte Vista Hotel and a local restaurant, Goldfinch, hosted their first fall fair on Oct. 26, featuring a trunk or treat, hayride, and even therapy horses, among other activities. . There were also about 400 clothing donations for people to choose from. Everything served at the event was donated from home and abroad. The hotel in Black Mountain was serving free meals in the days after Helene hit, and housing people whose property was damaged by the storm and who were receiving assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Eligible as co-survivors. FEMA is providing assistance and coordinating relief efforts to states — such as North Carolina — that were affected by Helene.
But still, the hotel staff wanted to do more.
“I don’t think any of us thought it would last this long in our small town,” says Chloe Green, the hotel’s assistant general manager. Black Mountain, like Asheville, was one of many communities devastated by Helene — the storm brought severe flooding and damaged numerous properties in the area. Black Mountain is also under a boil water notice until Tuesday, according to Green..
“We just wanted to provide relief for the parents who were so worried,” says Ken Floyd, the hotel’s general manager. He says that about 1500 people participated in the event.
“We gave away about 200-plus pounds of candy. And to see the kids’ faces light up when they pick up their dress…” adds Floyd. Got to see the kids have a great time and it was really … what it was all about.”
Read more: How you can help Hurricane Helen victims
Morgan Stenzler, like Gamble, wanted to collect clothing donations to help the Black Mountain community, where she and her family have a second home. After Helene, she began collecting decoration kits for the Monte Vista Hotel’s Trunk or Treat and costumes for the fair’s costume drive.
“I love this place,” Stenzler says. “In the wake of a tragedy like this, I can’t rebuild the roads, there’s not much I can do. … [But I wanted to help] The community gets a little bit of joy in the middle of something that’s really devastating.”
After back-to-back storms, Floridians came together
Shortly after Helene ripped through Florida, residents had to start preparing for another storm: Hurricane Milton. Authorities issued evacuation orders for millions of people in the Tampa area. Although not as severe as meteorologists had expected, Milton brought more destruction to the state—tornadoes hit parts of the state, and storms flooded neighborhoods and downed trees.
After Milton, Karen O’Quinn — who owns an event and wedding venue in Largo, Florida, in the Tampa Bay area — decided to go ahead with her business’s annual Halloween event. Studio 131, has hosted it for the past few years, and this year’s event includes a trunk or treat, a vendor market, and a haunted mansion on the site of its event on October 13. Most of the event was free. The haunted mansion had a $5 fee, but Aucoin says they waived it for those who didn’t have it. Aucoin estimated about 100-200 people attended the event. Studio 131 is also working with local organizations to collect donations for those affected by the hurricane.
“I just knew that, no matter what, we had to do something really good for the community — give everybody a sense of normalcy,” says Aucoin.
Read more: How to Help Hurricane Milton Victims
Some Halloween-themed events in the area helped raise money for victims of the storms. Jerry Caccia, in Seminole, Florida — parts of which suffered storm damage from Helen and Milton — organized the Rotary Club of Seminole Lake’s Haunted Cemetery event this year. In the past, proceeds from the event went to help foster children in the area, but this year, the club decided to donate half to hurricane relief efforts.
The October 26 event included a haunted graveyard, candy booths throughout, and a costume contest in the parking lot of a local shopping mall. Kechia dressed up as “The Pumpkin Master”, wearing a pumpkin suit and a pumpkin mask. He hoped the event would help take people’s minds off the storms and give them a little break. And he says he thinks he did. About 1,200 people showed up, and the club raised about $6,000.
People say the extent to which friends and neighbors have gone to ensure that children and families can enjoy Halloween is consistent with how communities are coming together after two brutal natural disasters. are
“Neighbors who didn’t know each other before are now best friends,” says Kechia. “You’ll drive around and there are people who have set up water stations that are just people who want to help. There are people going around communities with bags of snow and garbage and just handing them out to people. When you have a disaster like that, it really brings out—it sounds weird to say—but it brings out the best in people.