The following are several dispatches from Firestorm, a radical anarchist community center and cooperative bookstore in Asheville, NC, which in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, has become a growing hub of mutual aid and autonomous disaster relief efforts in the area. While these dispatches have been posted to social media, we are publishing them here so people have an opportunity to read them in their entirety.
For more reports on autonomous organizing in the wake of Helene, check out dispatches from Triangle Mutual Aid, who was also interviewed on the recent episode of This Is America, and this recent article from Margaret Killjoy.
October 5th
The morning Hurricane Helene hit Asheville, members of our collective sat in the dark, listening to the howling wind and the crack of huge trees falling all around. When we emerged Friday evening to take stock, a cardboard sign on our co-op’s door read “Community meeting here, Saturday at 2pm. Let’s talk about how we can take care of each other + community.” That first autonomous act by an anonymous neighbor set the stage for the week, with Firestorm becoming a container for other people’s brilliant, beautiful, and generous self-organizing.
About forty people attended the first meeting. Nearly four hundred attended the next one. The gatherings, now a daily anchor, have generated a multitude of connections and volunteer powered projects. Before city officials had finished assessing the damage, community members were sharing supplies, doing wellness checks, and serving hot meals. Over the next few days, things became more organized. Anarchist arborists collected chainsaws and dispatched crews to clear roads for trapped residents; activists mobilized to build long term water distribution systems capable of delivering 6k gallons/day; bike punks offered free repair clinics; a farmer began driving regular water supply loops to Firestorm from a nearby spring; and an enthusiastic DIY-er set up a tent to distribute dry toilets made from affordable materials.
