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A cup of black coffee, long gone cold, sits alone in a kitchen. Just a room away, public officials are in constant motion amid the frenzy and weariness of nearly 48 hours of crisis response.
This is the emergency command center in the Cocke County Fire Department, where officials are coordinating emergency efforts after Hurricane Helene drenched the southern Appalachian region with record rain and devastating floods in late September. Cocke County Mayor Rob Mathis (Knoxville ’97) weaves through the room, working with emergency personnel to protect lives.
Two days earlier, Mathis had been at a regional dinner for mayors, with knowledge that heavy rain and winds were affecting the region but with little awareness of the magnitude of the flooding that would soon arrive in his home county.
That same Thursday evening, Unicoi County Mayor Garland Evely watched from his home as rain fell across the hills of Erwin, Tennessee.
The situation worsened rapidly. By Friday morning, it was clear that the tremendous rainfall in western North Carolina would have profound implications in northeast Tennessee.
Both mayors demonstrated courageous leadership and took decisive action.
Together, Evely and Unicoi County Emergency Management Director Jimmy Erwin decided to close the courthouse and begin evacuating Unicoi County Hospital.
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Around the hospital, “The water rose probably 20 to 25 feet in 30 to 40 minutes,” says Evely. Led by Erwin and other officials, the mission quickly shifted from a ground operation to a swift water rescue.
Stuck at home behind downed trees, Evely says, “I got on the phone, and I called everybody at the state level that I could get ahold of.”
Due to his strong advocacy and the rapid response from two state governments, two helicopters from Tennessee and one from Virginia arrived just in time, rescuing more than 50 patients and staff stranded on the hospital rooftop.
After carefully navigating his way through debris-strewn roads, Evely finally reached the Jackson Love Highway bridge, where he watched the dramatic evacuation unfold.
“It was truly amazing to watch those guys,” Evely says. “The wind was so bad they were flying sideways. They would land the helicopter on one side of the building, and the other one would hover on the other side, waiting.”
Meanwhile, Mathis and Cocke County faced their own evacuation. Mathis and Cocke County Emergency Management Director Joe Esway received alarming reports of a catastrophic failure at Walters Dam on the Pigeon River. With little time to verify the reports, they acted quickly, relying on the information available in the moment to evacuate communities along the river.
Years of emergency preparedness paid off, Mathis says. “Thirty minutes, and Hartford would be wiped out, and then you have another two hours, and Newport would be wiped out.”
Although the dam ultimately held, it was pushed to its limits, taking on more water than it was designed to manage. In hindsight, Mathis credited the report and the swift actions that followed with saving lives and protecting property.
Mathis praised Esway for his emergency preparedness, even if some people doubted the efforts were worth the time or money.
“Thank God for Joe. He put all that into place,” he says. “It’s almost like Noah building the ark. He had some detractors,” he says. “They were like, yeah, OK. What could ever happen here?”
The disaster highlighted the importance of public officials’ preparedness. Kaley Walker, county government consultant with the University of Tennessee County Technical Assistance Service (CTAS), says relationships built over years among public officials made a significant difference.
“The organization that happened just from the communication and the associations that had already been built sped up the recovery process by a month,” Walker says.
Derrick Woods, criminal justice consultant for CTAS, helped coordinate Cocke County’s response using real-time drone footage.
“It’s unreal,” Woods says. “The effort and communications and the teamwork. I mean, you could line up people that participated in this unfortunate event, and you would probably stretch them halfway across the state.”
“It has reminded us what the Appalachian culture really means. We do a lot with very little. We’re very resourceful. We take care of our own, and we take care of anybody else. Even if we have very little, we’re still willing to share that with our neighbors.”
—Rob Mathis, Cocke County Mayor
Both mayors acknowledged they were prepared for the emergency response but still face daunting rebuilding efforts for the foreseeable future.
Federal Emergency Management Agency reimbursement funds will help, but both counties must pay for significant upfront costs to rebuild key infrastructure.
In Unicoi County, flooding destroyed the Chestoa Bridge over the Nolichucky River, with replacement costs estimated at $12.8 million. Riverbank stabilization alone could reach $10 million, and there could be debris removal costs of approximately $434,000 in just the first month.
Flooding also disrupted the local economy. Unicoi County’s unemployment rate nearly doubled overnight, and property tax revenues in both counties will likely decline for years due to damage to commercial properties.
“The real financial burden is when these property values, especially commercial properties, have to be lowered, and it may take a minimum of a year to get them back up and running—or maybe two for some,” says Evely.
Despite these challenges, both mayors remain optimistic. Their communities had come together in a remarkable display of unity and resilience, and this served as a powerful reminder to Mathis of their true spirit and identity.
“It has reminded us what the Appalachian culture really means,” Mathis says. “We do a lot with very little. We’re very resourceful. We take care of our own, and we take care of anybody else. Even if we have very little, we’re still willing to share that with our neighbors.”
Mathis also expressed gratitude for Sarah Elizabeth Orr (Knoxville ’15), a UT Extension agent in Cocke County.
“They’ve been instrumental in getting the help to our farmers,” he says. UT Extension support included a hay convoy from five states, livestock feed, fencing and other resources.
Unicoi County citizens and officials worked tirelessly, helping neighbors in Tennessee and across the state line in North Carolina.
“The people here, not only did they work their butts off to help Unicoi County that first month, but there was a ton of work done in western North Carolina from here,” says Evely. “I’m proud of the citizens.”
For Evely, the recovery efforts were deeply personal.
“All the assistance that we got was overwhelming. I get emotional,” he says. “Being mayor is not just a job. The only thing I’ve ever wanted to do is try to make Unicoi County a little better place to live for my kids and now my grandkids.”
Although rebuilding will take time, the community’s resilience and the dedicated efforts of public officials across the state offer hope that northeast Tennessee will emerge stronger than ever.
