Community rallies behind Hurricane Helene victims
October 3, 2024 at 11:58 a.m.
The Rush County community is coming together to support the victims of the devastating flooding caused by Hurricane Helene in North Carolina and Tennessee. A Donation Drive to collect essential items for those affected has been organized. Donations must be submitted by tomorrow, Oct. 4.
On Sept. 26, Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida at 11:10 p.m., approximately 10 miles southwest of Perry. The hurricane brought catastrophic storm surges, damaging winds, and heavy rainfall, leading to historic river flooding in the Carolinas and Tennessee. With wind speeds reaching 140 mph, Helene was classified as a Category 4 hurricane, making it the strongest hurricane on record to hit Florida’s Big Bend region. The storm also caused damaging winds and spawned destructive tornadoes well inland. In the aftermath, over 30 people were rescued by helicopter in Avery County, North Carolina, following the devastation caused by Helene.
Record flood crests were observed in at least eight locations in North Carolina and Tennessee, with the Pigeon River in Newport, Tennessee, French Broad River in Rosman, North Carolina, and the Swannanoa River at Biltmore (near Asheville), North Carolina among the areas affected. Longstanding records dating back to the “Great Flood” of July 1916 were surpassed in western North Carolina.
The floodwaters that inundated parts of Asheville and Boone, North Carolina, led to the closure of a section of Interstate 40. Floodwaters also flooded a hospital in Tennessee, necessitating rooftop helicopter evacuations, and compromised a looking forward to filling those bins to the top again this year.”
Beginning next Monday, the First Financial Food Drive will be accepting canned food and nonperishable boxed food at its financial center, 202 N. Main St., Rushville, in specially marked bins. After the conclusion of the food drive, First Financial associates will choose local organizations to receive the food for distribution into the surrounding community.
Last year, employees and volunteers of First Financial Bank generously contributed over 6,600 food items to local communities across Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Illinois.
“Supporting local residents is key to First Financial’s proudly local approach as friends, leaders and neighbors. Earlier this year, First Financial entered into a new $2.4 billion, five-year Community Benefits Agreement with the National Community Reinvestment Coalition and related partner organizations, establishing goals for lending and investments to low- and moderate-income (LMI) clients and census tracts,” First Financial Bank said in a press release. “In 2023, First Financial and the First Financial Foundation provided more than $4.2 million and over 14,800 volunteer hours in community support, with associates also pledging over $800,000 in its United Way giving campaign.”
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The Rush County community is coming together to support the victims of the devastating flooding caused by Hurricane Helene in North Carolina and Tennessee. A Donation Drive to collect essential items for those affected has been organized. Donations must be submitted by tomorrow, Oct. 4.
On Sept. 26, Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida at 11:10 p.m., approximately 10 miles southwest of Perry. The hurricane brought catastrophic storm surges, damaging winds, and heavy rainfall, leading to historic river flooding in the Carolinas and Tennessee. With wind speeds reaching 140 mph, Helene was classified as a Category 4 hurricane, making it the strongest hurricane on record to hit Florida’s Big Bend region. The storm also caused damaging winds and spawned destructive tornadoes well inland. In the aftermath, over 30 people were rescued by helicopter in Avery County, North Carolina, following the devastation caused by Helene.
Record flood crests were observed in at least eight locations in North Carolina and Tennessee, with the Pigeon River in Newport, Tennessee, French Broad River in Rosman, North Carolina, and the Swannanoa River at Biltmore (near Asheville), North Carolina among the areas affected. Longstanding records dating back to the “Great Flood” of July 1916 were surpassed in western North Carolina.
The floodwaters that inundated parts of Asheville and Boone, North Carolina, led to the closure of a section of Interstate 40. Floodwaters also flooded a hospital in Tennessee, necessitating rooftop helicopter evacuations, and compromised a looking forward to filling those bins to the top again this year.”
Beginning next Monday, the First Financial Food Drive will be accepting canned food and nonperishable boxed food at its financial center, 202 N. Main St., Rushville, in specially marked bins. After the conclusion of the food drive, First Financial associates will choose local organizations to receive the food for distribution into the surrounding community.
Last year, employees and volunteers of First Financial Bank generously contributed over 6,600 food items to local communities across Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Illinois.
“Supporting local residents is key to First Financial’s proudly local approach as friends, leaders and neighbors. Earlier this year, First Financial entered into a new $2.4 billion, five-year Community Benefits Agreement with the National Community Reinvestment Coalition and related partner organizations, establishing goals for lending and investments to low- and moderate-income (LMI) clients and census tracts,” First Financial Bank said in a press release. “In 2023, First Financial and the First Financial Foundation provided more than $4.2 million and over 14,800 volunteer hours in community support, with associates also pledging over $800,000 in its United Way giving campaign.”