“Now, I’m very familiar with what a war zone looks like,” Corey Cox said.

“So, when I say that this was a war zone, it was exactly that.”

Cox, who served 13 years in the U.S. military, wasn’t describing overseas combat.

He’s talking about what he saw in Western North Carolina, mere days after Hurricane Helene’s devastation.

Horse trailers tossed through the sides of homes. Vehicles “swept away” like a broom to busted glass. Roads ripped from their roots.

“There was a very distinct smell around the area and that was of decay,” said Cox, who is president of Asset Resolutions.  “And that’s when it hits you … we’re trying to get up the roadway and there’s no road.

“You look to your right and the entire asphalt road has been picked up and laid neatly across the top of four houses,” he said. “And it’s just like, how did that happen?”

The bewilderment from seeing the tangible aftermath of floodwater’s overwhelming power was “jaw-dropping.”

But the moment that “really pulled on our heartstrings” for Cox and crew helping with relief efforts was seeing a large message board at the base of a mountains as they made their way into area.

“And the purpose of that message board was for people’s families that were looking for their family members, had posted messages on there,” he said. “You know, if you’ve seen so-and-so, please have them call us. We haven’t seen them.”

Heart-dropping, indeed.

But it was heart that got Cox here, some 1,200 miles from his Houston-area home, in the first place.

‘That glimmer of hope got brighter’

It’s 2017 and Cox had just purchased his first house. Business at Asset Resolutions was going strong.

Then came Hurricane Harvey.

Cox’s home in Kingwood, Texas, sat between Lake Houston and Lake Conroe, putting it “essentially in the middle of a bowl,” he said.

“We heavily rely on these two entities to talk and talk about when they’re doing time releases and, you know, so on and so forth, because if not, it would be catastrophic to the people that were in the middle,” Cox said.

And the middle was where the Cox home happened to be when Harvey, the “perfect storm,” hit Texas.

“It was a storm that came in that dumped a ton of water on Houston, went back out into the Gulf, regained strength, came back in and stalled for three days straight,” Cox said.

“Now this proved to be very problematic. Lake Houston can’t release because everything downstream is already flooded. Lake Conroe wants to release because everything is getting ready to get flooded,” he said. “So, the two entities, again, weren’t on the same page. As far as I know, there were some mechanical errors that caused Lake Conroe not to be able to close their gates once they released.  Long story short, we were right in the middle of it.”

Three days later, the house — which the Cox family had spent thousands furnishing — was eight feet underwater.  Upon returning after the floodwater receded, they faced a “very eerie and daunting type of scenario,” Cox said.

“I didn’t know what we were going to do. We were still on our binding period for our insurance, which meant two days after the waters receded, we actually had flood insurance,” he said. “So, everything that was repaired at the house, we had two options to that point, walk away from the house, walk away from everything. And they may forgive it — or we come out of pocket and fix everything.

“I’ve never been a quitter, never been accused of that.  So, there was only one thing really to do. And it was to get in here and roll up our sleeves.”

But it was an overwhelming task, one that Cox acknowledged he “just didn’t know how it was going to be done.”

Until he got a little help from friends. From folks in the auto finance industry. From his colleagues in the repossession space.

It wasn’t just Cox and his family that rolled up their sleeves. He was overwhelmed by how many people showed up to their home to help — whether it was breaking out floors or clearing glass and mud.

“At that point in time, I think that I had an onslaught of emotion to where it was just the weeks of sadness turned into joy,” said Cox.

“I remember that glimmer of hope that got brighter at that very point in time,” he said. “Seeing how everybody came together, seeing how everybody chipped in, pitched in, and didn’t want anything out of it was, it was inspiring. It really was.  It was very, very inspiring.

“I swore from that point on that I would do everything in my power that I could to, even if I was able to help one person in a disaster like that, that it was worth it.”

He has more than kept his word.

$15K of supplies: From water & blankets to allergy meds & diapers

Cox calls Gerri Weir, owner of Premier Recovery in western N.C. and president of Recovery Agents of the Carolinas, one of his best friends and a “woman of strength, tenacity — stone-faced as they come.”

But, he said, she will “never tell you if she needs anything.”

So, when Weir told Cox she needed his help with Helene relief efforts in the state, “there was no other choice.”

He got to work, starting with donation drives on Facebook and helping with Weir’s association donation drives.

“You know, and all this time I’m trying to ask Gerri, what did you lose? What is it that you need help with personally?  And she kept, you know, going around the answer, basically tiptoeing around it. And I said, Gerri, what is it that you need? And she said, ‘you know, my losses are already losses.  I’m not worried about that. I’m worried about the community. I’m worried about everybody else around that doesn’t have the people and the support that we do,’” Cox said. “And I said, fair enough. So, you know, we went and we really started tapping into the crowd.  Everybody was very, very, very responsive.”

In fact, they raised almost $15,000 in donations.

Cox and his friends went to Costco and a couple military surplus stores and used that money to load up on relief supplies. Not just water and nonperishable food, but also supplies that folks in impacted areas will need in subsequent weeks and months.

“You learn what people are going to be looking for right off the bat compared to what people are going to be needing in that next phase,” Cox said. “And the next phase stuff is the stuff they don’t always think of. “

Things like hygiene accessories: toothpaste, soap, body wash, etc. And perhaps more important: allergy medicines.

“You’ve got a lot of people out there who are allergic to various things, bee stings, hornet stings, wasp stings.  Well, when, when you have a flooded area that is flooding wasp nests and mud dauber nests and, hives, these things are going to be pretty airborne looking for someplace to go,” Cox said. “It’s very common that a lot of people that are in these areas get stung, right?

“So, if, if they don’t have an EpiPen on them, which we made sure that we had a bunch of those that we took to (North Carolina), then the next best thing is going to be Benadryl until they can get to the hospital,” he said.

“Obviously the hospitals are filled to capacity. So, unless it was a life-threatening emergency or allergic reaction, they may have to sit for quite some time,” he said.

The crew also purchased Advil, Motrin, Flonase and medicine for children, as well.  Plus, diapers and formula.

“Cases and cases and cases of diapers and formula because those become almost impossible to get your hands on in the areas that are affected like that,” Cox said.

It’s also the time of year when Western North Carolina begins to get cold. And winters can hit particularly hard.

Cox said he and his crew purchased every sleeping bag and wool blanket they could find.

“The shelters were full. A lot of people didn’t have a place to go. A lot of people were still staying in makeshift camps or with other people,” he said. “But being cold was one of the things that I knew was about to transpire with the changing of the season. So I wanted to make sure that we were adequately prepared for that.”

And then there’s the matter of transporting more than 19,000 pounds of supplies from Texas to Western North Carolina.

‘We went to work’

Cox’s industry friend Chris Anderson had called him and offered his 48-foot enclosed race-car trailer to transport the goods.

After securing and loading supplies with help from friends, the pair started on their journey to N.C. from the Houston area.

Cox had mapped out where he and Anderson were going to go and secured the paperwork needed, and they took turns driving.

A big bump in the road, however, was four blown tires in route.

“The one thing we didn’t plan for was who was going to be changing the tires. But, but along the way, we found some great roadside guys, because, you’re not going to lift up a trailer that is 30,000 pounds to change one of the tires, because it was a triple-axle trailer,  and there were 14-ply tires,” he said.

But some 1,200 miles, 19 hours and four tires later, they arrived in Western N.C. and met Weir, the “conductor” of their game plan from then on  — “at that point in time, she’s running leadership and I’m just a solider,” Cox said.

He and Anderson followed Weir’s lead.

“We went to work. We started finding what places needed what, going around to the different supply areas, dropping off, helping to gather up, load out supplies,” he said.

“We were just looking for the need. Who had it and where could we give it? So, you know, the next week, week and a half was devoted to just that,” Cox said.

“It wasn’t just a supply drop and we turn around and, you know, salute and say, good luck, guys.  We wanted to be more than that. So, we did,” he said. “We offered, every bit of physical or mental power that we had. And we rolled up our sleeves and went to work.”

Cox, Anderson and Weir focused on the areas of Asheville, Burnsville and Swannanoa.

In terms of how and where to deliver their supplies, Cox said, “being that Gerri was, was already boots on the ground there, it was, it was a little bit easier for us” to determine their course of action.

“So, it’s always being able to rely on the individuals that have a presence there that, that live there or around or near the area because they know of the churches, they know of Samaritan’s Purse, the Cajun Navy, whoever may be in there, setting up donation sites,” he said.

Having done similar relief efforts multiple times, Cox said the first week on the ground can be “pretty chaotic” with multiple cooks in the kitchen, so to speak.

“But at the end of the day, once you get into and close to an area, a lot of law enforcement, paramedics, fire, fire department personnel, city, you know, personnel, even FEMA, you know, know where all of the, the drop centers and drop locations are and who has the biggest need,” he said.

One of the unique logistical challenges to this region was the fact that it was mountainous, which is not particularly maneuverable for a race-car trailer weighing some 15 tons.

“We knew that having a 48-foot trailer that was roughly 30,000 pounds with no roads is probably not going to be ideal.  And, and the outcome is not going to be anything anybody was applauding over. So, we wanted to get rid of as many supplies as we could to the locations that needed it before we even tried to brave that trip up there,” Cox said.

“When you get in, it’s pretty apparent where everybody’s set up at, because there’s always a lot of crowds around the area.  You’ll see a line of cars that are pulling up to the donation sites to get donations given to them … you throw a rock to the other side of the street, there’ll be another one from another organization set up over there as well,” he said. “And those people will be the best to point you to wherever you need to go if, if either one of those don’t need the supplies at the time.”

Again, they followed Weir’s lead. And their combined efforts haven’t stopped since.

“I think that she did a beautiful job.  I applauded her time and time again,” Cox said. “That woman and her perseverance and tenacity, and the love and compassion that she was showing for those communities.

“And still is to this day.  We just went to the Ohio Repossessors Association event the other day, raised another $15,000, for the community that she’s taking out there and doing (more relief efforts) for them.”

And so begins Phase II, Cox said, which is building supplies: brooms, squeegees, cleaning products and so forth.

“She’s out there and she’s helping,” Cox said. “She’s not even minding her losses. She’s out there helping everybody else with theirs.”

The journey home

After nearly a week of travels, it was time to make the trek back to Texas.

And time for “quiet reflection,” Cox said.

“You’re mentally exhausted, you’re physically exhausted. You take that time to try to process what you saw, what you, what you went through,” he said. “And you unconsciously really start reflecting on the people that you meet, their stories, how, how, what, what, what you’re told, you know, one of the most heartbreaking things that you’ll hear, you know, how you, how you go about helping with that down the road, if you choose to, really just kind of unwinding.

“Because the last thing I want to do when I get home is to carry any of this back in a negative capacity to my son.  I want to be able to level out by the time I get back here,” Cox said.

“That way I’ve internalized everything. I’ve been able to process it.  I’ve been able to really let it go when I can share the good parts of it with him.

“And I can tell him about the wonderful people that we met, the things that we did and what that looked like.”

Going forward, Cox wants to be a sounding board for folks going through similar events, having been personally impacted by a hurricane’s destruction himself.

“So, if I could be that resource for somebody that’s going through it to help them get their FEMA paperwork filed or (figuring out) what they need to do with their insurance or going through and cataloging and taking pictures and before the FEMA inspector gets out there, (and) have everything done that way your stuff can be processed,” he said.

“No matter whether it’s trash or not, take a picture of it, put it in a photo album digitally and start making a spreadsheet … itemizing what the stuff is, what its value is,” Cox said. “It’s just small things like that that I had to find out on my own. I didn’t have anybody telling me.

“You have no reason to ever really seek out these answers because it’s not something anybody ever thinks that they’re going to go through.”

 

Editor’s Note: More information on how you can get involved in the industry’s hurricane relief efforts can be found at the respective association websites below:

Recovery Agents of the Carolinas
National Auto Auction Association
National Automobile Dealers Association
North Carolina Automobile Dealers Association