October 2025

There are some certainties in Wiley Sherwood’s life.

“Us older people are tough, aren’t we?” smiled Wiley, to a neighbor passing by.

He’s always been tough.

“This back here, it’s almost better,” said Wiley, pointing to his knee.

He has always called North Carolina home.

“It didn’t dawn on me there’d be a piano in my bedroom,” said Wiley.

Those guarantees were gone. Hurricane Helene took them with her. In the days after, it was a dizzying new reality.

On the morning of September 27, 2025, a mudslide hit Wiley’s home. The piano in his living room flew through the walls and pinned him in place, for who knows how long.

His home of 55 years was unrecognizable, a few days later, on October 3, 2024. It was the first time he went back to face it.

“It’s just one of those thin

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