ABOVE: Canfield Police Sgt. Josh Wells and Mike Sheffield of Canfield clear debris on their second day in Woodfin, North Carolina. Sheffield is an employee of Ohio Edison.

CANFIELD — On Sept. 26 and 27, Tropical Storm Helene struck the East Coast and ravaged many towns and communities.

Specifically hard hit were areas of North Carolina, which prompted the Canfield Police Department to take action.

“In reading about the damage in South Carolina, I came across Woodfin, North Carolina, and reached out through their Facebook page,” said Canfield Police Sgt. Josh Wells. “I asked them what their needs were and used their police department as a point of contact.”

Wells said Woodfin, a suburb of Asheville, had experienced a lot of tree damage, as well as some severe flooding and terrible mudslides.

“They got an incredible amount of rainfall and because they are surrounded by mountains, they suffered a lot of damage and had many roads washed out,” Wells said.

He said Woodfin is similar in size to Canfield. The storm damage left that community with many needs, and so a connection began.

“We started working directly with the Woodfin Police Department,” said Canfield police Chief Chuck Colucci. “That way we could ensure the help and donations would get to where they needed to go.”

Wells and Colucci set up the bay at the police department to receive goods for Woodfin. They collected personal hygiene items, diapers, water, cleaning supplies and equipment. During the collections in October, more than $44,000 was donated in cash and was used to purchase some of the needed items. Included in the purchases were several chainsaws as many residents of the Woodfin area had many trees to clear.

Last month, three semi-trucks were loaded and sent to Woodfin, but it was the final truckload on Oct. 14 that ended up with an escort.

“Some donors were concerned about where their donations were heading,” Wells said. “We talked about it and decided to make the trip and ensure the donations were getting to those who need it.”

MAKING THE TRIP

Wells was joined by local resident Michael Sheffield, an Ohio Edison employee who had experience dealing with emergency aftermaths. The two took off with the semi-truck of donations and made the trek into North Carolina.

Wells said the normal route is using Interstate 40 from Tennessee into North Carolina, but the route was closed because of a mudslide.

“We got advice from a truck driver and were able to find alternative routes to get into Woodfin,” Wells said.

The two Canfield men arrived late on Oct. 14 and were fortunate to find a hotel room.

“There were no communications available,” Wells said, “and when we checked in, we were given a 5-gallon bucket and were told to use the hotel’s pool water to flush the toilets.”

For drinking water, the hotel had a 2,000-gallon water tank placed in the parking lot. While it wasn’t the perfect stay, it did offer a good night’s sleep prior to what would be a hard two days of work.

The day started with helping at the large warehouse where donations were stored. The warehouse was part of the Asheville Buncombe Community Christian Ministry. From that warehouse, local authorities, including the Woodfin Police Department, helped distribute the items to other local churches and in some cases directly to residents.

Wells and Sheffield said they were there to help and had brought a bobcat donated by Sun-Belt of Cortland with them that could grip tree limbs. The Woodfin police chief lived in one of the hardest hit areas of Woodfin called Yancey County, a very rural and mountainous area.

“Being a rural area, they were not getting the help the more urban areas were receiving,” Wells said. “We worked with a team that included local residents Jason Laws and a 16-year-old we only knew as Chris.”

The team spent the next two days clearing trees and opening driveways for rural residents. They started their work at the home of a family who had a 5-acre parcel with three houses where family members lived. One of the three homes was lost in a mudslide, but the family opened their property as an aid station. Wells said the family served dinner for about 100 people per day, and served as a staging point for crews that came to help.

“They had a white board that listed every need from tree removal to culvert replacements,” Wells said.

Both work days that Wells and Sheffeld spent in Woodfin saw them clearing mud and trees from the rural mountain homes, giving the residents a way to get out and obtaining the help they needed.

“These people had their world turned upside down,” Wells said. “They are going to have years of work ahead of them.”

Everyone who was helped was thankful to have the two Canfield men working to help them in their time of need.

“The family and community came together in Woodfin to help each other,” Wells said. “People here in Canfield were awesome in wanting to help and in doing what they could. This is not my first time helping with flood cleanup. I had helped with Ohio River flooding as a youth, and this trip took me back to that time. I can say that 100% it is moments like these that serve as a reminder of all we have to be thankful for.”