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Aid Reaches Hard-Hit North Carolina Latinos

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Maria Salgado sprang into action as soon as she spotted a pickup truck loaded with supplies pulling into the North Carolina mobile home park where she lives. She waved it down and began translating for the group of Spanish speakers gathering behind her. “Quién ocupa agua?” Ms.

Salgado called out. “Pañales para los bebés?” (“Who needs water? Diapers for the babies?”)

Inside the truck were a family from Georgia who had raced to North Carolina as soon as they learned of the devastation left by Hurricane Helene.

They took their cues from Ms. Salgado and tried to communicate with the residents in broken Spanish. “Agua, aquí,” one man said, handing out bottled water to eager families.

A close-knit group of immigrants from Mexico and Central America live at the mobile home park, known as Alan Campos. Many residents of the park, on a side road between the hard-hit towns of Black Mountain and Swannanoa, barely escaped with their lives after torrents of water came rushing into their trailers. A large group of families, many with young children, remain without flushing water or reliable cellphone service, and electricity remains spotty.

Those whose homes are still intact have taken other families in, with one three-bedroom trailer now housing about 12 people. “We don’t have a lot right now,” Ms. Salgado said, “but we have each other.”

Aid has begun to flow into some of the most ravaged parts of western North Carolina, nearly a week after the region was inundated by Helene.

But the challenges of getting assistance to non-English-speaking communities like the one at Alan Campos remain steep. Language barriers hinder effective communication between aid workers and residents, and legal fears may prevent some from seeking help. Although organizations are mobilizing to meet these needs, the response remains slower compared to other areas.

As residents start the recovery process from the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene, access to critical information remains a significant challenge, especially for those who don’t speak English. A Salvadoran woman, who has lived in the US for decades and asked to remain anonymous due to fear, recounted her experience with the hurricane.

Aid efforts for North Carolina Latinos

“Dios estaba con nosotros (God was with us),” she said. “No, nunca habia yo visto una cosa asi aqui (I had never seen anything like this before).” While relying on a generator borrowed from a local church, she remains unaware of ongoing community updates. Community advocate Elizabeth Hernandez-Lopez highlighted the difficulties faced by many non-English-speaking residents.

“I started receiving calls from the Hispanic community, Elizabeth, what’s going on? What does this paper say… because we are not able to understand,” she explained.

Acting swiftly, Hernandez-Lopez translated essential information and sent it to the city officials. “That breaks my heart,” she said. “We are people.

We are here, and we are in the same situation as everybody here.”

Mayor Willie Green acknowledged the issue, noting that many residents without internet access also experienced similar difficulties. “We’ve tried to keep the entire community in mind,” Green said. “That’s a learning experience.

We’ve never faced anything of this magnitude before.”

Galax, where a significant portion of the population is Hispanic, is taking steps to address these barriers. Police Chief Dewitt Cooper mentioned that officials are translating informational flyers and utilizing two Spanish-speaking officers to better communicate with the Latino community. “We’re making sure we take care of our Latino community,” said Cooper.

“If they’re coming in here for water, they’re getting a flyer.”

However, many Latinos remain unaware of resources like free water distribution. Hernandez-Lopez stressed that the issue is not with city officials but with ensuring that Latinos are considered in all disaster preparedness plans. “Maybe there is a call for everybody in this city to start working on and be prepared, because we never know when we might face this again,” she urged.

The challenges faced by Latinos in Galax reflect broader issues of exclusion from disaster and evacuation planning due to language barriers, limited access to information, and lack of trust. As the recovery efforts continue, addressing these disparities will be crucial to ensure that all affected communities receive the support they need in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.


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  • NYTimes.”Aid Is Slow to Reach Some Latino Areas in Storm-Hit North Carolina”.
  • NBCNews.”Tennessee Latino community hit hard by Hurricane Helene”.
  • WDBJ7.”Latinos face language barriers in Helene aftermath”.

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