Frank Brough and his wife moved to Greene County almost 30 years ago. They spent years restoring a home that was built by the Sevier family in the mid-nineteenth century. Their historic riverfront property felt like a dream.
But that dream was shattered last year, when Hurricane Helene caused devastating flooding on the Nolichucky River that surged into their home. It destroyed most of their belongings and nearly swept their brick house away.
Here’s his story, in his own words:
Hi, my name is Frank Brough, and I am a Hurricane Helene survivor. My wife and I were here at our home on the Nolichucky River the day of Hurricane Helene's devastating flood. We watched the river come up and became concerned about the rising waters, which seemed to be advancing about six foot almost every hour.
We knew that there was going to be a problem, and we decided to vacate our home.
When you left your home, where did you go?
We had friends of ours that have a home and a small church chapel in Cocke County up on the mountaintop. And we spent the next three months at this chapel, living on air mattresses in the back of the chapel where they had a small kitchenette and the ability to cook and take care of ourselves.
When did you realize the extent of the damage that had been done to your home?
We came back September the 29th. And there were still quite a bit of flood waters here at the home, and they were approximately anywhere from a foot to three-foot deep, which was the aftermath of the flooding. In our particular instance, the home was engulfed in the flood waters, almost.
It rose approximately 12-and-a-half feet from ground level and went into the floor joists of our second story. There is history to the house – thus the importance of trying to rebuild the home and once again make it a livable space.
It was constructed originally in the fall of 1846. The home was completed in April of 1848. The house is 177 years old. The grand-nephew of George Washington is the person who originally owned this property and had this home constructed. He was married at that time to Sarah Sevier, the granddaughter of General John Sevier, the first governor of the state of Tennessee.
After you realized how much damage your home had incurred, how did you even begin the process of rebuilding?
We had to have the home inspected by a structural engineer. And the structural engineer came out and spent about an hour and 45 minutes with me and looked over the home and assessed damages, both here at the house as well as in the barn that we have. And in his opinion, there was going to be about $400,000 worth of damage that was going to have to be repaired.
You’re not dealing with this on your own. You’ve got help, right? You’ve had volunteer groups come in. When did that begin?
We have a local organization here – Longview Ranch – in the Greene County area, here on Pates Hill Road. And Longview was extremely instrumental. I can't emphasize enough how important they were in the process of clearing mud away and clearing the mud surrounding the house, cleaning out the mud that was in the house that was sometimes up to 24, 30-inches deep.
And they had a team of young people come. And they carried mud out of this house and out of the basement and out of the floors of the house in five-gallon containers, and it took an extremely long period of time. Just after the flood, they came down with skid steers, and I understand that they probably moved a million pounds of mud.
Since that time, we've been blessed with people that have heard the story. And again, I'm going to go back to Longview Ranch. They have been instrumental in contacting groups or having groups contact them to ask what they could do, and they've all come in for anywhere from several days to two weeks at a time to perform the work that they specialize in: carpenters, plumbers, electricians. And they have been very instrumental in purchasing supplies and materials and rebuilding.
The labor has been donated. There have been certain things that have been bought. We are within 60 to 75 days of having this house be complete and able to be moved back into, and we're anticipating great things to come again.
But so many people have helped in so many different ways. I know that FEMA is not an insurance company, but we were a little disappointed. I think we received ultimately, $46-or-47,000 toward the repairs that were going to cost, eventually about $400,000. And in their infinite wisdom, they gave us $1,667 for personal property. And again, we understand that they are not an insurance company …
… but your property was worth much more than that.
Yes.
Where would you be at right now if it wasn’t for Longview?
They offered encouragement to make the home livable again; over and over and over. I think, without their encouragement, we would have walked away. When you’re 76-years old and you’re starting life all over again, it’s tough.
What does healing after Helene mean to you?
The after Hurricane Helene thoughts are summed up essentially in the fact that God is good all of the time and all of the time God is good. He is in control. He knows our past, He knows our present, He knows our future. My wife and I live in faith, believing all things work together for good for those that love the Lord. And we will survive.
We chose to go on living, loving God, rebuilding and making it happen all over again. Trying to wear smiles when we can, and sometimes sitting in the living room crying. But it's going to happen. It's going to be a real home again, thanks to all of the efforts of people like Longview. And we are so thankful.
This interview and transcript were lightly edited for clarity.
