Helene Heroes: Lance Buskey, Helene Rebuild Collaborative

Editor’s note: Hurricane Helene’s impact has been far-reaching throughout the region. As Western North Carolina works towards recovery, we’re highlighting some of the individuals who have dedicated themselves to helping their communities during this period of loss. Over the next few months, WNC will continue to feature several profiles of folks throughout our region who have gone above and beyond in Helene’s aftermath. 

After a night of nonstop rain and heavy winds, Lance Buskey emerged safely from his Asheville home on Friday morning; however, many others were not as lucky. He quickly realized that people would need urgent necessities, and with the help of family and friends via Facebook, he worked quickly to bring water into the city. 

As the community’s needs became more apparent, Buskey and other volunteers mobilized as quickly as possible, forming the Helene Rebuild Collaborative shortly after the storm. During the first 72 hours, Buskey and his companions had coordinated a delivery of fresh water into the area, and began distributing it in West Asheville. 

People began donating money to help them purchase supplies for the community, and as the demand for relief grew, so did their operation. With catastrophic damage scattered throughout Western North Carolina, the organization has helped countless families and individuals with basic necessities, rescues, relief aid, and more. 
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Buskey has lived in Western North Carolina for most of his life, and recently moved into Asheville and began working as a carpenter. Buskey is an avid outdoor enthusiast, and kayaks regularly. 

After the storm, Buskey and his roommate drove around the city, observing extensive damage and the floodwaters that were still rushing through the area. 

The French Broad River, Asheville’s main waterway, peaked at 24.67 feet following the storm. For reference, that’s about the size of an average two story home in the United States. 

“I just remember standing on the Haywood Street Bridge over the French Broad just being in total shock and awe seeing Second Gear [consignment store] and some of the River Arts District just totally underwater,” Buskey says. 

Asheville’s River Arts District, which runs parallel to the French Broad, was submerged underwater in record flooding as a result of Hurricane Helene. It took days for the water level to return to normal, and the flood waters were strong enough that they swept whole buildings away.

Like Buskey, many of the people who offered support to the group are outdoor enthusiasts who were able to use their skills to help others. 

“The outdoor community has come together so wildly. All of our friends that we initially started calling and texting were our kayaking friends, our biking friends, our climbing friends, and so on. It has been this wild mobilization of people that have jumped in on the effort and created an awesome organization. It's been a huge team effort, hence the name Helene Rebuild Collaborative,” Buskey says. 

Buskey co-founded HRC with Cooper Leist and Sam Iatarola; the latter works with French Broad River Academy, an independent middle school that prioritizes leadership and outdoor education alongside academic learning. Helene Rebuild Collaborative has partnered with the school to provide resources and other aid to the community. 

“From an early point, we found a lot of success in our ability to get into hard-to-reach areas because we are a bunch of mobile, creative, and tough outdoorsy people—we like challenges,” Buskey explains. “We've been hiking, biking and motor biking. We've been loading things into helicopters and dropping things off. We have been extremely creative in our ways to get to remote areas and provide aid in remote areas.”

The Collaborative has also worked on logistical coordination throughout more than a dozen counties in the region. So far, the organization has completed more than 800 missions; for many rural people who had been stranded, HRC was their first point of contact. 
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Looking forward, the Helene Rebuild Collaborative will be focused on continuing to meet the needs of our community in a sustainable way. Their focus is on creating housing for those who lost their homes in the flooding. Buskey has been able to lend his skills as a carpenter towards repairs and rebuilds. 

“Our sights are starting to move towards short and long term housing,” Buskey says. “We are getting to a point where our operations are pretty sustainable with delivering resources and offering essential resources to communities, so now we're starting to work on developing short and long-term housing solutions.” 

Helene Rebuild Collaborative is using RVs and tiny homes as short-term solutions for people who lost their homes. HRC is also partnering with a number of local nonprofits to create long-term housing for people who lost their homes and did not receive federal aid or have insurance coverage. 

They’re also looking at supplying financial aid for people in need. “We're just all putting our boots on the ground and putting our minds together to figure out how we can make this work as best as possible for everybody involved,” Buskey says. 
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Helene Rebuild Collaborative is accepting financial donations via their website. 

There are plenty of volunteer opportunities available with the organization. Anyone over the age of 16 can sign up to volunteer at their warehouse or go on on-site missions. There’s also opportunities for specialized volunteering if you have construction experience, and home-cooked meals are also needed.