Grounded Boots Relief

08/30/2026

🌊🌀 From the Desk of Meteorologist Jackie:

“A current look at the tropics: TS Dolly dissipated quickly, but there’s a chance of reformation closer to Florida, as indicated by the area of disturbance within the Atlantic. Additionally, there is another area of disturbance within the gulf off the coast of Louisiana that has a 30% chance of development within the next 2 days, projected to impact Louisiana and upper Texas coasts.”

👀 We’re keeping our eyes on the tropics as we move through the heart of hurricane season. Even systems with relatively low development chances are worth watching when they have the potential to bring heavy rainfall and other impacts to coastal communities.

Stay weather-aware. We’ll continue watching what develops. 🌧️🌀

08/28/2026

🌀 From the Desk of Meteorologist Jackie:

"TS Dolly’s current track. Not expecting any impacts to mainland US, however, heavy rain may impact the lesser Antilles, Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic."

While impacts to the mainland United States are not currently expected, we're keeping an eye on Tropical Storm Dolly and the communities that may experience heavy rainfall. 🌧️🌊

📡 Grounded Boots Relief will continue monitoring the system as it develops. Tropical systems can evolve quickly, and heavy rainfall alone can create significant flooding, landslide, and infrastructure concerns.

For those in potentially affected areas, stay weather-aware and follow guidance from local officials and trusted meteorological sources. 📻🔋💧

We'll keep watching. 👀🌀🥾

08/27/2026

🌀 From the Desk of Meteorologist Jackie:

“Invest 96L now has a 90% chance of formation within the next two days. The system is expected to reach tropical storm strength briefly, losing strength before the weekend.”

👀 With formation increasingly likely, we’re continuing to keep an eye on Invest 96L as it develops.

📡 Grounded Boots Relief will continue monitoring the tropics and any potential impacts. As always during hurricane season, stay weather-aware, keep multiple ways to receive alerts, and use blue-sky days to make sure you’re prepared. 📻🔋💧🥾

We’ll share additional updates as conditions warrant.

08/26/2026

⛰️ North Carolina just marked a first.

Monday kicked off the first-ever North Carolina Landslide Preparedness Week, and for Western North Carolina, this is a subject worth paying attention to.

Our mountains are beautiful, but steep terrain combined with saturated soil and heavy rainfall can create dangerous conditions quickly. Landslides and debris flows can damage homes, block roads, isolate communities, disrupt utilities, and create serious hazards for residents and responders. 🌧️🏠🛣️

Hurricane Helene gave Western North Carolina a devastating demonstration of what moving earth, rock, trees, and water can do.

Preparedness starts before the rain.

🥾 Know whether your property is near steep slopes or areas with a history of landslides.
🌧️ Pay attention during prolonged or exceptionally heavy rainfall.
👀 Watch for changes such as new cracks in the ground, leaning trees, unusual water flow, or shifting soil.
📻 Keep multiple ways to receive emergency weather information.
🚗 Never assume a familiar road will remain passable during a major weather event.
⚠️ If officials tell you to evacuate, don't wait to see what happens.

At Grounded Boots Relief, restoring and maintaining access after disasters is central to what we do. Understanding the hazards that can take that access away is just as important.

North Carolina Landslide Preparedness Week is new; the hazard certainly isn't.

Use this week to learn, prepare, and know what to look for. ⛰️🌧️🥾

08/26/2026

Our hearts are heavy watching the devastation unfolding in Nepal.

Catastrophic flash flooding has torn through communities along the Nepal-Tibet border, destroying homes, roads, bridges, and critical infrastructure. The confirmed death toll continues to change as rescue operations unfold, and hundreds of people are reported missing, including residents, workers, and international travelers. Rescue efforts have been complicated by the mountainous terrain, damaged infrastructure, and difficulty reaching some of the hardest-hit areas.

For those of us who have witnessed what rapidly moving water can do to a community, the images coming out of Nepal are particularly difficult to see.

Behind every number being reported today is a person. A family waiting for news. A home that may no longer exist. A responder searching through destruction. A community waking up to a landscape that no longer looks like the place they knew yesterday.

Grounded Boots Relief extends our deepest sympathies to the people of Nepal and Tibet, to those who have lost loved ones, to those still searching for family and friends, and to the responders undertaking an extraordinarily difficult rescue and recovery operation.

Disasters recognize no borders. Today, our thoughts are thousands of miles from Western North Carolina, with communities experiencing a kind of devastation we know all too well.

May those still missing be found. May those responding remain safe. And may the people affected find strength in one another through what will undoubtedly be a long road toward recovery.

A wall of water crashed through a Himalayan river valley between Nepal and the Chinese territory of Tibet, the Nepali authorities said. The missing included border officials, port workers and foreign tourists.

08/24/2026

Want to support Grounded Boots Relief, but also want to know exactly where your contribution is going?

Our Amazon Wish List makes that easy.

Instead of making a general donation, you can purchase a specific piece of equipment or supplies our volunteers can put to work. Choose an item, purchase it directly, and know exactly what your contribution provided.

Some needs are inexpensive. Others are bigger investments. Together, they help us equip volunteers, prepare for future disasters, and keep our operations moving when we're called to respond.

It's a very tangible way to support the mission: you bought the thing, we put the thing to work.

Take a look at our Amazon Wish List and choose something you'd like to put in the hands of Grounded Boots Relief:

https://a.co/0aSzEEiE

Every item helps us build the organization we want standing by when the next community needs us. 🥾📻🪚🔦🧰

08/16/2026

Last Saturday, Grounded Boots Relief volunteers came together once again to help neighbors in Hendersonville who are still living with the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.

When Helene struck, two trees crashed through Kathryn and Rick's home. Like so many families across Western North Carolina, they found refuge with a neighbor while their home was repaired. Eventually, they were able to return home, but the evidence of that terrifying experience remained in their backyard.

Downed trees and debris were still there, creating safety concerns and serving as a constant reminder of what happened.

Our volunteers spent Saturday cutting, moving, hauling, and clearing as much as we could. We made significant progress, although we've reached a point where part of the remaining debris field realistically requires heavy equipment that Grounded Boots Relief simply doesn't have access to yet.

Kathryn shared this with us afterward:
"We really appreciated all the help we received. We thank the volunteers for their generous time. Being elderly, we were not able to do all that they have done because of our health issues. God bless you."

That's why long-term recovery matters.

Nearly two years after Helene, there are still families throughout Western North Carolina dealing with what the storm left behind. Recovery will take several more years.

We're grateful to every volunteer who gave up part of their Saturday to keep that recovery moving forward for Kathryn and Rick. 🥾💚🌳🪚

And we're going to keep showing up where our capabilities can make a difference.

08/15/2026

🌀 A quieter update from the tropics today, and that's certainly not something we're going to complain about.

From the Desk of Meteorologist Jackie:
"Invest 92L now has a 0% chance of formation and 94L has been degraded to a 10% chance of formation.
This summer we are in El Niño and it is suppressing tropical system formation"

📉 Both systems we've been watching have significantly diminished, with Invest 92L no longer expected to develop and 94L now carrying only a 10% chance of formation.

That's welcome news. 🌊☀️ But hurricane season is far from over, and quieter stretches are exactly when preparedness work should continue. Grounded Boots Relief will keep watching the Atlantic, maintaining our equipment, training volunteers, and preparing for whatever the remainder of the season brings. 🥾📻🗺️

Blue skies give us time to prepare for the grey ones.

08/12/2026

🎲🍷 A Night At Sea is officially setting sail!

Grounded Boots Relief, proudly presented by , invites you to an evening of dinner, live entertainment, raffles, and Monte Carlo-style casino gaming at on September 26! 🚢♠️🎶

Come enjoy a great night out while supporting a mission that helps Grounded Boots Relief build the volunteers, equipment, and resources needed to respond when communities are hit by disaster. 🥾🌎

🎟️ Tickets are on sale NOW, and seating is limited. Don't wait until the ship has sailed to grab yours!

📅 September 26, 2026
📍 Burntshirt Vineyards
🎰 Dinner • Casino • Entertainment • Raffles
🎟️ groundedbootsrelief.org/events

🎲♠️🥾🍷🚢