Luke Wheelan came to Warren Wilson College for our renowned Music Program. But after Hurricane Helene devastated the Western North Carolina mountains with flooding and downed trees this week, the current most valuable skill he learned at college became the chainsaw certification he received as part of his training on Landscaping Crew.
When Luke first heard of Hurricane Helene’s approach, he had no idea of the destruction that would follow. “The one thing that made me think it might be a little bit crazier than I thought was the recommendation to fill up water bottles,” he said. “I’ve been in storms before where we lost power for a few days, but I’ve never been in a situation where we lost running water.”
After Helene, most people in the area would be without power and water not just for days but for weeks. And before any of those power or water lines could be repaired, the thousands of downed trees blocking the roads throughout the region would have to be removed. “Everywhere I go, there’s trees down,” Luke said, “and I don’t think work has even gotten started out in Swannanoa.”
After the storm passed, Luke found his crew supervisor and got to work with his chainsaw. He continued to clear trees from campus roads all day, every day, since.
“I honestly like doing tree work. I think it’s really fun,” he said. “I can do work that I’m good at and I’m trained at and is helpful to people, and I can stick around here where I’m safe and know I can take care of myself, and there’s people around me that I care about and they care about me.”
Luke didn’t think he’d stick with the same work crew for four years, but he found that he and his crewmates had built a strong trust and great working relationship. He realized that if he stuck with Landscaping Crew, the training would be progressive and become more specialized.
“My supervisor just steadily trusted me more,” he said. “They’re like, ‘Oh, you want to get chainsaw trained?’ Sure! ‘You want to learn how to drive a manual car?’ Yeah, I’d love to. It’s super helpful stuff. I never thought I’d be using it in this context.”
During the disaster response, Luke has leaned on what he has learned about community support from being a member of the Engage Living and Learning Community on campus, a residence program devoted to supporting student advocacy for African/Black, Latine, Indigenous, and Asian (ALIA) communities. Engage members are dedicated to service and social justice work.
“Those folks are already engaged in communities that are disrupted under normal circumstances — like communities of People of Color and folks who are in poverty,” he said. “The people who have been around me through this and living in that dorm with me, they’re strong people. They know how to deal with crises and are so supportive.”
Luke was impressed with the Warren Wilson community’s response to the crisis. Community members he didn’t really know showed up for him in unexpected ways when he really needed help. “There’s so many opportunities to lend a hand and receive a hand. It’s this constant state of looking out for each other. I feel like we talk about community a lot here, and have historically. And this has brought it to life in a very new way. Unfortunate circumstances, but it’s a testament to what has been there, what is possible.”