Exclusive: At The Center of Tragedy — Asheville, North Carolina

14 Days at Mission Hospital

by Fred Hernandez
The Sentinel had a source on the ground in Asheville, North Carolina reporting on real time conditions in one of the most devastated areas resulting from the recent hurricane. Based on the follow-up interview of the Florida based team members, this is the Sentinel report:

After receiving an urgent call for help from their central emergency office, the Disaster Response Systems team, (DRS) took a commercial flight to Greenville, North Carolina, from Florida. At the airport they were taken on the next phase of the trek in a four-wheel drive Jeep Wrangler over very rough terrain and roads that had been almost washed out by heavy flooding to a rally point where they hopped on an EC-135, a large helicopter that also serves as aerial ambulances.
On their flight inbound they could see the extent of the destruction and the totally unexpected level of damage wrought on Ashville and the surrounding areas by the monster hurricane, Helene. The EC-135 landed on the rooftop of the Mission Hospital in Asheville. The seven hundred bed facility was surrounded by water and the emergency room on the ground floor was totally inundated.
Once on the ground the devastation was even more glaring. Pine trees bore evidence of how high the water rose from the clothing and other detritus and dregs tangled in the branches twenty or more feet above the ground. In one instance a human body was spotted high up in the trees tangled in the branches. Cars and other vehicles, sunk deeply in thick mud, had tags placed by workers in hazmat suits. The tags strictly instructed passersby and others not to open the doors or try to remove the vehicles. It quickly became clear that these vehicles were the final resting places of some of the unfortunate victims of destruction and death delivered by Helene’s
heavy hand.
After locating some higher ground close as possible to the medical facility that had been spared from flooding, they set up their emergency rooms in tents and immediately began the much
needed aid and care of waiting patients, many of whom had received no medical attention in days.

Mission Hospital in Asheville, part of a chain of medical facilities, the only hospital for thirteen counties in the area, is owned and operated by Hospital Corporation of America, (HCA), one of the largest healthcare companies in the country. Mission is a Level Two Trauma Center. The members of the emergency response team from other states came to Asheville to assist their colleagues in this time of disaster. They were to relieve the hospital workers of their duties in order to give them the time and opportunity to attend to their own family’s needs.
But this was not to be. After leaving the hospital they were the ones who were giving desperately needed aid to other victims in the rural areas. Helping people out of their mud filled and destroyed homes, giving aid to those rendered homeless and ferrying those in need back to the emergency rooms set up in tents outside the flooded medical building. There was no evidence of any teams or helpers from the government. These teams are known in their trade as strike teams. Team members who had previous experiences in these types of national disasters said that usually the government had teams of search and rescue professionals and medical aid personnel. This time there were none of these teams.

There were FEMA personnel on the outskirts of the town proper, but they were simply preventing outsiders from coming into the affected disaster zones. They were also “confiscating” whatever relief goods were being brought in. The real assistance came from surrounding states and mainly from private groups and enterprises. In fact, they were surprised that only fifty miles from Asheville, there is a military installation that had several large helicopters that would have been ideal for rescuing people from their rural homes and ferrying them to safety. It was common knowledge on the ground that while the personnel at the base were eager to help, they were not allowed to do so.

This was a double disaster for some of the communities affected by this natural calamity. The first disaster caused by nature is something that man cannot control. Nature will behave as it is supposed to. After a natural disaster, however, man, which is to say government, should have been able to control the aftermath at least a little bit better than it was in this case.

To have had no funds available to assist its citizens because they had squandered their budgets on illegal aliens entering the country in such a force, much like the hurricane, is inexcusable and unconscionable.
For fourteen days, the team worked sixteen-hour days continuously, before they were told that they could return to their homes. And so as they prepared to leave their posts they sadly took a last look around. Their surroundings seemed as if it had been ravaged by a marauding army. Death and destruction everywhere. Their last memory was the stench permeating the air while above them flocks of buzzards circled lazily over the treetops.

Fred Hernandez comments:
In this reporter’s opinion, nature’s hurricane causing much destruction and death on American communities is akin to the man-made destruction caused by those in office to allow millions of unvetted, illegal aliens to swarm into the country unchecked. Much like an unwelcome hurricane. In some cases the same government officials intentionally flew in illegal aliens from other countries and settled them in small communities disrupting the lives of law-abiding citizens, causing cumbersome difficulties on their modest resources and inflicting pain and in some cases even death. Nature cannot be held accountable for its behavior. However, in the case of men inflicting great damage on his fellowman, they should be taken to task. 

Trump Wins! There Is Hope
Epp, Vogelsong Cruise to Commish Wins
Mt. Lion Hunting Ban Shot Down

by George Gramlich,
News and Commentary

(Unofficial ballot numbers from 11/6/24))

Some real good news statewide with the Ranked Voting and Mt. Lion Hunting Ban ballot measures being defeated. Locally, the two big races were for the two County Commissioner slots with Lucas Epp and Paul Vogelsong easily defeating their opponents Epp beat his opponent with 2,465 votes to 1,235. Vogelsong vanquished incumbent Commissioner Kevin Day by 2,053 to 1,205. (Some thought that the write in candidate, Attebury, would pull enough votes away from Vogelsong to let Day slide in, but that didn’t happen. Attebury only got 378 votes.)
Jeff Lindsey ran uncontested for our 11th Judicial District District Attorney. He got 2,788 votes in Custer County.
Of note, all the judges up for retention were voted down in Custer County except one, Court of Appeals Judge Gilbert Roman, who barely won a “Yes” by just nine votes (locally.)
Stephanie Luck, won her District 60 State Representative position against Dem Kathryn Green, In Custer County, Luck got 2,596 votes to Green’s 1,102.

At the Federal level, our hero, Donald Trump, won the monumental President of the United States battle against Kamala Harris. In a landslide predicted by only a very few. He won in the electoral college vote and the national popular vote. In Custer County, The Donald received 2,560 votes to Harris’s 1,171. For the entire state of Colorado, Harris got 1,345,023 votes to Trump’s 1,052,320.

In the U.S. Congress District 7 House race, Democrat Brittany Pettersen won, but in Custer County her opponent, Sergei Matveyuk, whooped her bad getting 2,435 votes to Pettersen’s 1,168.

The Colorado ballot measures results were generally good:
Amendment G: Expand Veteran Property Tax Exemption won easily (72.4% to 27.6%).
Amendment H: Create an Independent Judicial Board passed (72.7% to 27.3%).
Amendment I: No Bail for First Degree Murder passed (69.4 % to 30.5%).
Amendment J: Remove the Constitutional Ban on Same-Sex Marriages passed (63.8% to 36.2%).
Amendment K: Earlier Election Filing Deadlines lost
(55.3% to 44.7%).
Amendment 79: Constitutional Right to Abortion passed
(61.5% to 38.5%).
Amendment 80: School Choice K-12 failed
(52.2% to 47.9%).
Proposition JJ: Keep Sporting Betting Tax Revenue was ok’d
(75.9% to 24.3%).
Proposition KK: Tax on Firearms and Ammunition passed
(54.2% to 45.8%).
Proposition 127: Prohibit Big Cat Hunting was defeated
(55.5% to 44.5%).
Proposition 128 Change Parole for Violent Crimes passed
(62.4% to 37.6%).
Proposition 129: Create New Veterinary Positions passed
(52.4% to 47.8%).
Proposition 130: The Law Enforcement Support Fund passed
(53.1% to 46.9%).
Proposition 131: Ranked Choice Voting was defeated
(55.2% to 44.8%).

UPDATE:  Service POSTPONED until Spring.

Joseph A. Fawcett died at 7:41 p.m. on October 5, 2024, at the University of Colorado Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs, Colorado with friends at his bedside.  He received last rites from a Catholic Priest.  His death was preceded by his parents,, Peter and Rita Fawcett of Racine, Wisconsin, and brothers, Paul and Anthony Fawcett.  He is survived by siblings, John, James, Teresita, and Catherine Fawcett.   He had been life-flighted from his home in Westcliffe, Colorado to the hospital for a blockage in his digestive system and underwent a successful surgery, but only hours later a complication in the form of a blood clot in his leg ultimately caused his demise.

Joe was a 1978 graduate of Saint Charles Preparatory High School in Columbus, Ohio.  Having retired from the Floral Industry and his work as a designer and talented artist, Joe resided in Westcliffe, Colorado, situated between the Wet Mountains to the East and the Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range to the west.  He spent most days sitting in his wheelchair smoking his pipe with his dog, Dusty, by his side and overlooking the small lake at Bluff & Summit Park near his home.  Joe had become an amputee as a result of damage caused through radiation treatment for cancer in the mid-2000’s.

Per his wishes, his body was cremated and his family will spread his ashes in a private ceremony in the future.

There is a Memorial Service scheduled for 12:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 10, 2024 at the Smokey Jack Observatory at the Bluff and Summit Park in Westcliffe, Colorado with a reception at the Vista Celesta Apartments common room (109 South Adams Blvd.), where friends and family will visit and some of Joe’s Artwork will be available for viewing.  The reception location will also act as the Memorial Gathering location in case of inclement weather.

As Joe in his final years practiced the faith of Messianic Judaism and was strongly supported, in lieu of flowers, any acknowledgment of Joe’s passing can be made through donations to:
“Shammash Ariel Synagogue” and delivered to 2612 South Prairie Avenue, Pueblo, Colorado 81005.  Please note:   “In Memory of Joseph Fawcett”.