hurricane
If you or someone you know has been impacted by this severe hurricane season, MusiCares may be able to help. MusiCares’ comprehensive support for music professionals includes emergency financial assistance, mental health and emotional support, medical and housing resources and support around basic living expenses. Whether it’s a natural disaster, personal emergency, or unexpected hardship, […]
Metallica are the latest music act to pledge a major donation to help Americans impacted by Hurricane Helene. The band announced on Friday that their All Within My Hands Foundation has donated $50,000 each to the World Central Kitchen and Team Rubicon to aid their relief efforts as residents from Florida to Virginia clean up in the wake of the third-deadliest storm since 2000; the death toll at press time was 227, but experts expect it to rise as they continue recovery efforts.
“Over the past week, Hurricane Helene has left a 500-mile path of destruction throughout Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Tennessee in its wake,” the band wrote on X. “It is an unmitigated tragedy, with over 215 lives lost and hundreds of people still unaccounted for. Historic water levels and widespread flooding across the Appalachians have left hundreds of roads inaccessible, hindering rescue efforts.”
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According to the band, World Central Kitchen’s efforts so far include bringing in food and water to isolated communities using helicopters and airboats, while partnering with 35 food trucks in Florida, Georgia and Tennessee and 16 restaurants in North Carolina and Tennessee, which has already provided tens of thousands of hot meals and sandwiches to families in need.
WCK has also deployed water tanks capable of delivering 100,000 gallons of potable water per day to communities in hard-hit Asheville, N.C., where residents have been without fresh water since the storm dumped an unprecedented amount of rain on the town where more than 100 people have been confirmed dead so far. At press time officials were still not sure when water service will be restored in the city, with some estimates suggesting it could be several weeks, or more before residents can turn their taps on again to cook, shower and flush toilets.
Disaster response NGO Team Rubicon is working with state and federal emergency response agencies to provide immediate disaster relief. “More than 140 Greyshirts (Team Rubicon volunteers) comprise five recon teams serving more than 35 communities across the affected area,” read a statement from the band. “These route clearance teams have already cleared more than 400 dump trucks worth of debris and continue to work diligently across Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, and Tennessee.”
Metallica join several other acts who’ve made major pledges to help, including Dolly Parton, who donated $1 million of her own money to help relief efforts, as well as another $1 million through her various business entities, including Dollywood and Dolly Parton’s Stampede to help the affected areas recover from the storm that led to massive destruction across several states, including washing out bridges and roads, leaving some communities inaccessible. “I look around and I think, ‘These are my mountains, these are my valleys, these are my rivers…these are my people, and this is my home…I just want you to know, I am totally with you, I am part of you, I love you,” Parton said in a statement.
In addition, fellow country singer Morgan Wallen has donated $500,000 to the Red Cross‘ hurricane relief efforts through his Morgan Wallen Foundation. “My family in East Tennessee are safe, but I know many are absolutely devastated there and in multiple states,” Wallen said in a statement. “All my prayers are geared toward those tonight. Those hills and hollers are very important to me in so many ways. It is going to take a monumental effort, and I am in contact with my team and others working on ways I can help.”
North Carolina natives Luke Combs and Eric Church have also posted on social media that they are looking for ways to contribute to the relief efforts. Miranda Lambert’s MuttNation Foundation has donated $100,000 to help animals impacted by the hurricane and Sturgill Simpson announced a one-off Oct. 21 benefit show at the Koka Booth Amphitheater in Cary, N.C. with proceeds earmarked for the North Carolina Disaster Relief Fund.
Check out Metallica’s announcement and links for other organizations taking donations for Hurricane Helene relief below.
If you want to help, check out links to the organizations below (or click here for a longer list):
American Red Cross
GoFundMe
United Way
Mercy Chiefs
As areas of the United States spanning North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Tennessee and Georgia have been devastated by Hurricane Helene, communities have pulled together to provide essentials to those in need and rebuild areas damaged or destroyed by the storm.
The category 4 hurricane came ashore late on Sept. 26 in Florida’s Big Bend region, with a maximum sustained winds of 140 miles per hour. As the hurricane moved north, it destroyed homes, demolished buildings, crumbled bridges and wiped away roads. In some places, the storm washed away entire communities, and has cut off cellphone services and electricity for millions of residents. So far, the death toll from Hurricane Helene has grown to more than 200 people.
In response to the hurricane’s devastation, several artists in the country, bluegrass and Americana communities have stepped up to help, including many with hometown roots in the states impacted, such as Tennessee natives Dolly Parton and Morgan Wallen, North Carolina natives Eric Church and Luke Combs and Georgia native Jason Aldean.
Church recently released his first solo song in over three years with “Darkest Hour,” dedicated to those impacted by Hurricane Helene. Church is also turning over all of his music publishing royalties from the song to help those in his home state who have been impacted by Hurricane Helene.
“From Western North Carolina, East Tennessee, Upstate South Carolina, parts of Georgia and even Florida which took a direct hit, there are so many places that were impacted. Specifically in the area that I’m from, the mountains of Western North Carolina were devastated. There are places that are just biblically gone. These are our family members, they’re our friends, they’re our neighbors – and they’re in dire need of help,” Church previously said in a statement about the release of “Darkest Hour.” “And I’ve been in the studio for a while, trying some different things and exploring creativity. I had this song that I’d written, and the line that struck me in light of the recent devastation was ‘I’ll come running,’ because there are a lot of people out there right now who are in their darkest hour and they need people to come running. We were going to wait to release music until next year, but it just didn’t feel right to wait with this song. Sometimes you give songs their moment and sometimes they find their own moment.”
Many artists have made sizable donations to various organizations, while many have also spotlighted organizations such as the American Red Cross and the Boone, North Carolina-based charity Samaritan’s Purse.
Below, we highlight some of the artists in the country, Americana and bluegrass communities who are aiding Hurricane Helene relief in various ways.
Jason Aldean
As the impact of Hurricane Helene continues to affect communities in parts of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia, it is not only people who are impacted; animals and pets have been impacted too.
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Miranda Lambert has always been a fierce advocate for helping animals, most notably through launching her MuttNation Foundation. The MuttNation Tractor Supply Relief for Rescues Fund has already donated nearly $100,000 to help relief efforts to aid pet shelters, pets and animals that have been impacted by Hurricane Helene.
On Oct. 2, Lambert posted a video on Instagram, sharing more about the MuttNation Foundation’s work to help animals affected by the natural disaster, and showing photos and videos highlighting the devastating impact Hurricane Helene has had on animal shelters.
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“As y’all know, Hurricane Helene hit the Southeast hard. It’s hard to wrap my mind around the devastation that our neighbors in Tennessee, Florida, North Carolina, and Georgia are experiencing,” Lambert said in the Instagram video. “Our MuttNation Tractor Supply Relief For Rescues Fund has already provided nearly $100,000 to help animal shelters, pets and their families impacted by the hurricane, as well as support emergency response organizations.”
She added, “It’s a very dire situation because many of the shelters that got hit were already struggling with overcrowding. As we’ve been in contact with the shelters, we’re also hearing really heroic stories. People are risking their lives to help. It’s that type of courage that gives me hope that we’ll all get through this.”
Lambert also noted that they have set up fundraisers to go to the MuttNation Tractor Supply Relief For Rescues Fund, with 100% of donations going to disaster relief.
Lambert is not the only country artist aiding those impacted by the hurricane. East Tennessee native Morgan Wallen, through his Morgan Wallen Foundation, donated over $500,000 to the Red Cross to help in disaster recovery efforts, while North Carolina native Luke Combs told his fans on social media that he is working on a plan to aid recovery efforts.
The category four Hurricane Helene has left massive destruction across several states since making landfall on Sept. 27, washing out roads and rendering some communities nearly inaccessible to aid. According to CNN, more than 180 people have died across six states, as communities were affected by flash floods, landslides, high winds, heavy rain and wide-range power outages.
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