--- title: "FROM THE MUDDY MISSISSIPPI TO THE APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS: A STORYOF DEATH AND REBIRTH." description: "FROM THE MUDDY MISSISSIPPI TO THE APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS: A STORY\nOF DEATH AND REBIRTH, written by Anne M. Byrne" image: https://blackmountainmarket.org/hubfs/Screenshot%202024-11-07%201.54.36%20PM-1.png --- [Skip to content](https://blackmountainmarket.org/blog/from-the-muddy-mississippi-to-the-appalachian-mountains-a-storyof-death-and-rebirth#main-content) [![Black Mountain Tailgate Market](https://blackmountainmarket.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Logo-BMTM-Text.png?width=250&height=70&name=Logo-BMTM-Text.png)](https://blackmountainmarket.org/) - Visit the Market Show submenu for Visit the Market - [Market Map](https://blackmountainmarket.org/market-map) - [Parking & Site Info](https://blackmountainmarket.org/parking-site-information) - About Show submenu for About - [Our Mission](https://blackmountainmarket.org/mission) - [History](https://blackmountainmarket.org/history) - [Sponsors](https://blackmountainmarket.org/sponsors) - [Members](https://blackmountainmarket.org/members) - [Board of Directors](https://blackmountainmarket.org/board) - [Food Access for All](https://blackmountainmarket.org/food-access-for-all) - [Contact Us](https://blackmountainmarket.org/contact) - Get Involved Show submenu for Get Involved - [Sponsorship](https://blackmountainmarket.org/sponsorship) - [Volunteer](https://blackmountainmarket.org/volunteer) - [Vendors](https://blackmountainmarket.org/vendors) - [Youth Entrepreneurs](https://blackmountainmarket.org/vendors#youth-vendor) - [Community Collaborators](https://blackmountainmarket.org/vendors#community) - [Musicians](https://blackmountainmarket.org/music) - [Sign Up for the Newsletter](https://blackmountainmarket.org/subscribe) - [Market Blog](https://blackmountainmarket.org/blog) - [Nourish Appalachia](https://blackmountainmarket.org/nourish-appalachia) - [Newsletter](https://blackmountainmarket.org/subscribe) Open main navigation Close main navigation - Visit the Market Show submenu for Visit the Market - [Market Map](https://blackmountainmarket.org/market-map) - [Parking & Site Info](https://blackmountainmarket.org/parking-site-information) - About Show submenu for About - [Our Mission](https://blackmountainmarket.org/mission) - [History](https://blackmountainmarket.org/history) - [Sponsors](https://blackmountainmarket.org/sponsors) - [Members](https://blackmountainmarket.org/members) - [Board of Directors](https://blackmountainmarket.org/board) - [Food Access for All](https://blackmountainmarket.org/food-access-for-all) - [Contact Us](https://blackmountainmarket.org/contact) - Get Involved Show submenu for Get Involved - [Sponsorship](https://blackmountainmarket.org/sponsorship) - [Volunteer](https://blackmountainmarket.org/volunteer) - [Vendors](https://blackmountainmarket.org/vendors) - [Youth Entrepreneurs](https://blackmountainmarket.org/vendors#youth-vendor) - [Community Collaborators](https://blackmountainmarket.org/vendors#community) - [Musicians](https://blackmountainmarket.org/music) - [Sign Up for the Newsletter](https://blackmountainmarket.org/subscribe) - [Market Blog](https://blackmountainmarket.org/blog) - [Nourish Appalachia](https://blackmountainmarket.org/nourish-appalachia) - [Newsletter](https://blackmountainmarket.org/subscribe) - [Become A Friend](https://blackmountainmarket.org/donate) [Become A Friend](https://blackmountainmarket.org/donate) [Follow us on Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/BMTMarket) [Follow us on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/blackmountainmarket/) ![Screenshot 2024-11-07 1.54.36 PM](https://blackmountainmarket.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Screenshot%202024-11-07%201.54.36%20PM.png?width=738&height=400&name=Screenshot%202024-11-07%201.54.36%20PM.png) # FROM THE MUDDY MISSISSIPPI TO THE APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS: A Story of Death and Rebirth [Anne M Byrne](https://blackmountainmarket.org/blog/author/anne-m-byrne) November 7, 2024 | 5 min read I was born, raised, and lived most of my life in New Orleans, La. At six feet below sea level, the city was prone to a foot of flooding during the heavy spring and summer rains, and August became the month when anxieties were high and whispers of names like Betsy, Camille, and Katrina were fodder for more worry. Questions loomed. Would another Katrina cause the city to never return, to sink into a burial ground of food, jazz, and our exquisite culture? On August 28, 2012, a little Hurricane named Isaac hit New Orleans. As a mere Category 1 storm, I had only minor concerns about the impact. Sure, there will be street flooding and limbs down, but the Corps of Engineers shored up the levees, and the water pumps were restored to full functioning. Much to the chagrin of my wife, Jeanne, we stayed home. I battened down all the hatches and we rode out the storm with our son and 5 dogs. The thought of evacuating was way too arduous, and I’d already evacuated what seemed like a zillion times over the years only to sit in a car in traffic for 24 hours while seeking a hotel that would house our motley crew. We stayed up till about 1:00 a.m. that night, then finally went to bed, sure the storm would pass, and life would resume. Then, at 1:30, we were awakened by the thunderous jolt that hit our house. A massive 250-year-old oak tree had fallen on the center of the house, knocked down the chimney which fell through the skylights above the living room, while a huge branch dug deep into the roof over our kitchen and breakfast room, leaving a 4 x 8 ft hole. That tree came down approximately 3 feet from our heads as we slept on the other side of the living room wall. There is no place hotter and stickier than New Orleans right after a hurricane, and no relief from the sweat and the mosquitos that stick to you like glue. It is hell on earth, a hell we now were desperate to move away from. That was it. Our beautiful home had been desecrated by the waters of the Gulf that rose to the sky and showered upon us with the force of Mother Nature’s angry wrath. In time, the house was repaired, albeit not to its former glory. It was time to move on. Time to move to safety. The Western North Carolina mountains called to us like a melody that sang of the safety of the mountain arms wrapping around us like a global hug. We called Black Mountain home, a little home on the Broad River with a few acres that would allow me to finally fulfill my dream of farming. I had always worked in Non-Profit social and behavioral health services, and I was thrilled to have the opportunity to work remotely from home for the same company I’d been with for many years. Now I could focus on not only feeding people emotionally and psychiatrically but feeding them with homegrown, organic goodness. It took a good 6 years to build enough chicken coops and woodland runs to begin to focus on Heritage Delaware Chickens, and I bred and raised them for eggs and meat, supplying the community with the cleanest products available. I took great pride in what I did and stayed mission-driven, which came in handy when the long hours made me tired and weary. It’s not always easy being a farmer. Like most farmers, we have 2 full-time jobs, our regular job that feeds the household, and the farm that feeds the community. Not easy, but always worthwhile and soul-nurturing. September 27, 2024, was the day our lives changed forever in the most drastic way imaginable. My wife insisted with the forthcoming Hurricane Helene, that we leave the house and stay at a hotel. There were several very tall, precarious trees that sat in front of the house, and we both could readily imagine those trees coming down on our heads. So we skirted down the mountain for about 15 minutes to a local hotel where we would ride out the storm and head home the next day. Dachshund old lady in tow, we left our kitty and 2 large dogs in the house with plenty of food and water. It was a no-brainer. We’d all be fine. After all, we were in the safe embrace of the mountains which had ripped up all previous storms. Friday morning, the storm whipped through, and the hotel asked all patrons to leave at 11 a.m. They had no power or water. Thrust out into the wind and rain, we attempted to drive back home, but the road was blocked by trees and a large section of the road had collapsed into the water. We spent the next 6 hours trying to get back home in every possible route we could find on GPS. At every turn, we encountered downed trees, washed-out roads, and fallen bridges. Concerns grew about our animals at home and not being able to get them. We were running out of gas. With nowhere to go, we slept that night in our car in the parking lot of a Dollar General, where we were forced to do unspeakable bathroom activities in the pitch dark in a field behind the store. The next day, we made our way to what we were told was the only gas station with gas available. When we got there, no gas was available, and the parking lot was filled with a sea of lost and abandoned people trying to make their way home. That night, we took the risk on our gas tank that already registered we were just about out of gas and drove to my Jeanne’s place of work, a nursing/rehab facility. We made it on gas fumes and were graciously invited to eat with them and sleep on a couple of chairs, which we did for the following 3 nights. With no internet access or cellphone capabilities, our anxiety over our pets at home grew to sheer panic. Little did we know at the time that our pets had experienced a chain of events that not only saved their lives but were the result of many hands being involved in their rescue. Our cell caught a glimmer of hope on day 5. Our friend Beverly sent out a message reading “We have a generator and hot water. Come.”, to which I quickly responded we were on our way. Our friend’s home opened to us like a beacon of hope amid sheer desperation. The hot shower felt like the beginning of healing. It would be 2 more days before we would finally travel the dangerous road back home only to find our house, completely destroyed, hanging in the trees, and our entire farm wiped from the map. Our beautiful heritage birds had gone the way of the river. It was like a war zone of fallen trees, under which our life-sized St. Francis status lay buried, head poking out, with our previous pets’ graves laying beneath. Our lives as we knew it would never be the same. There was no safe space, and the irony of it all was the trees that concerned us about hitting the house were the things that kept our house from being swept up by the river. Those trees, those precarious dangerous trees that made us evacuate, saved our lives. Perhaps there was wisdom and safety in Mother Nature after all. Anne M. Byrne Heirloom Annie Farms, LLC Black Mountain, NC Please consider a one-time or monthly donation to our [Farm and Rural Family Fund](https://gofund.me/f169d52f), which supports farmers like Anne. Your support helps us ensure that every story we share will be one of resilience!  ## More from the Market Blog [![](https://blackmountainmarket.org/hs-fs/hubfs/1000008149.jpg?width=352&name=1000008149.jpg)](https://blackmountainmarket.org/blog/the-beginning-is-the-most-important-part-of-the-work) ### [“The beginning is the most important part of the work.”](https://blackmountainmarket.org/blog/the-beginning-is-the-most-important-part-of-the-work) [Read More](https://blackmountainmarket.org/blog/the-beginning-is-the-most-important-part-of-the-work) [![](https://blackmountainmarket.org/hs-fs/hubfs/AFMC%202025%20Posters%20%28Instagram%20Post%20%284_5%29%29_20250815_141003_0000-1.png?width=352&name=AFMC%202025%20Posters%20%28Instagram%20Post%20%284_5%29%29_20250815_141003_0000-1.png)](https://blackmountainmarket.org/blog/help-bmtm-earn-the-title-of-americas-favorite-farmers-market) ### [Help BMTM Earn the Title of America’s Favorite Farmers Market!](https://blackmountainmarket.org/blog/help-bmtm-earn-the-title-of-americas-favorite-farmers-market) While they’ve long been pillars of local food in urban centers and town squares, in recent ... 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[Read More](https://blackmountainmarket.org/blog/black-mountain-tailgate-market-celebrates-an-emotional-return) [![State Badges - AFMC 2025 - NC](https://blackmountainmarket.org/hs-fs/hubfs/State%20Badges%20-%20AFMC%202025%20-%20NC.png?width=250&height=167&name=State%20Badges%20-%20AFMC%202025%20-%20NC.png "State Badges - AFMC 2025 - NC")](https://markets.farmland.org/) [![Black Mountain Tailgate Market](https://blackmountainmarket.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Logo-BMTM-Text.png?width=250&height=70&name=Logo-BMTM-Text.png "Black Mountain Tailgate Market")](https://blackmountainmarket.org) Mailing Address: P.O. BOX 62 Black Mountain NC 28711 Phone: 828.419.4613 [Follow us on Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/BMTMarket) [Follow us on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/blackmountainmarket/) [Follow us on Facebook](https://blackmountainmarket.org/blog/tinyurl.com/feedwnc) [![BW 1](https://blackmountainmarket.org/hs-fs/hubfs/BW%201.png?width=150&height=150&name=BW%201.png "BW 1")](https://www.travelguidesasheville.com/allguides/2026-local-businesses-to-know-in-wnc-part-1) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Anne M Byrne", "url" : "https://blackmountainmarket.org/blog/author/anne-m-byrne" }, "dateModified" : "2024-11-07T19:09:38.201Z", "datePublished" : "2024-11-07T19:09:38.000Z", "headline" : "FROM THE MUDDY MISSISSIPPI TO THE APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS: A STORYOF DEATH AND REBIRTH.", "image" : [ "https://blackmountainmarket.org/hubfs/Screenshot%202024-11-07%201.54.36%20PM-1.png" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://blackmountainmarket.org/blog/from-the-muddy-mississippi-to-the-appalachian-mountains-a-storyof-death-and-rebirth", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://blackmountainmarket.org/hubfs/Logo-BMTM-Text.png" }, "name" : "Black Mountain Tailgate Market" } } ```