By rssfeeds-admin 
Once, it was a steady source of peace- but not anymore.
“I try not to focus on it- but I hear it like I didn’t hear it before. I hear it constantly,” said Lora Campbell.
Every time Lora checks off one thing, another is added to her to-do list.
She’s been working on reopening her dog boarding business since September 27, 2024. The days following Helene were a muddy blur. She didn’t know how, but knew she had to rescue every single dog she was caring for at the time.
“Fifteen,” said Lora.
She brought each dog across the creek in an old boat because their bridge was washed away.
“I was sitting on the porch and about at 10 o’clock, my mom says, we have to go upstairs,” said Victoria Combs, at the time.
Victoria watched it happen while trapped in the second story of her family’s home.
“It’s rough and I’m sad, and it’s getting worse as the days go on because there’s nothing like home. And I hate to leave my dogs behind because I’ve never been without them,” said Victoria.
In January of 2025, snow blanketed their holler.
“It’s beautiful, it’s magical,” said Lora.
The snow and sun muffled their worry- for the moment.
“I look at like- all the mud and the debris and everything, then we have these winter snows- and snow does bring you joy,” said Lora.
By that January, a temporary bridge had just replaced their old one.
“Felt like you were connected to the world at large,” said Lora.
Some changes over the past year are obvious, though others are buried well below the surface.
“I don’t know- how I got there,” said Lora, tearing up.
During a flash flood in June, the stream on the edge of Lora’s property became a river.
“I thought, surely the culvert must be obstructed,” said Lora.
She went to make sure it wasn’t backed up.
“I got to the edge to check out the culvert,” remembered Lora. “ I just stepped, and the current sucked me into the culvert- I’m lucky to be alive.”
Lora went through one culvert and managed to hold on to the roots of an apple tree until one of her workers pulled her out.
“It seemed like it was forever going through, but then it was also very, very fast,” said Lora.
She got a concussion, stitches, and later needed emergency surgery on her finger.
If we got sucked into the second one, we’d both be dead, I’m sure.
“I just feel like I’m just spinning my wheels a lot of days- it’s very frustrating, yeah, I want my life back,” said Lora.
On September 27, their peace was lost. A year later, and it still has not been found.
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