YANCEY COUNTY, N.C. — The streams flow a little quieter in Yancey County these days; but a year after Hurricane Helene, so do the tears of the people who lost everything.
When Helene hit, Ashley and Danny Pogalz and their four kids got out of their riverside home just in time to watch the water take everything they owned.
“We lost everything. We watched everything we worked for go down the river, you know, and feeling helpless because there’s nothing you can do in that moment but pray, and we did,” Ashley said.
We were with them in March as the weight became overwhelming. Ashley, a teacher’s assistant, and Danny, a heavy equipment mechanic, tried to navigate funding and programs denying their claims, all while the family lived out of trailers.
“We’re in a place where we’ve been forgotten,” Ashley told us in March. “We make too much money for help, and that’s not fair because the hurricane didn’t ask us how much money we made before it took everything.”
But just like the view of their new land and future homesite, you’ll see beauty and home when you change your view.
“What’s changed since then?” Channel 9’s Hannah Goetz asked them.
“The goodness of people,” they said.
In June, after months of fighting for help, the family learned they would get a new home at no cost, courtesy of a fundraiser started on the other side of the country, and a non-profit from Hawaii.
“I’m excited about that and building new memories here, and still holding on to what we had,” Ashley said.
Still, there are things they won’t get back, like the valuables they had locked in a safe that was never found.
“We had our wedding rings that were in there, which neither of us wore anymore because they didn’t fit after having kids, and I wanted to get it resized and never did,” Ashley said. “Also, I had a Luke Kuechly jersey that it was an official jersey autographed by him because I took my kids to training camp in Spartanburg one year, and he walked right up to the fence to my son.”
“Those were my top, top things!” Ashley said.
But it turns out that some things can be replaced.
Channel 9’s Hannah Goetz reached out to the Carolina Panthers and Kuehly to tell him about the family, and we showed him their story.
“Well, we can’t do anything about the wedding rings, but,” Goetz told Ashley.
She was shocked when we revealed a new jersey, signed by Kuechly at last week’s game directly to the Pogalz family.
“That’s even better than the one I had, thank you,” Ashley said through tears. “Oh my gosh, oh, my kids are going to be so excited. He’s still my favorite player, you can tell him that. This is even better because it has our name on it.”
This simple, but powerful, message to “Keep Pounding” has never meant more to a family with a long road ahead.
“Just because it’s a year, doesn’t mean it’s over for people here. There’s still a lot of work to be done,” Ashley said.
(VIDEO >> Helene 6 months later: Yancey County residents plead for funding to rebuild)
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