Kare11
Minnesotans mobilizing to help with Hurricane Helene relief
Minnesota native Lynne Russo now lives in western North Carolina. She’s compiled a list of ways Minnesotans can help, including sending coats and other items.
EDINA, Minnesota — Sitting at her mom’s kitchen table in Edina, Lynne Russo realized it was Tuesday.
“It’s only Tuesday? It just feels like one long day since this hurricane,” Russo said.
While Russo has lived in Minnesota on and off since she was a teenager, she moved to western North Carolina about a year ago.
Russo’s condo sits at the top of a mountain in Hendersonville — about a 30-minute drive from Asheville.
“Everybody did their best. I mean, they said… don’t go out. Make sure you bring your chairs in from outside… stay put. This is going to be some real wind,” Russo recalled.
But as Hurricane Helene approached, “It just got scarier and scarier,” she said.
Russo remembers at one point, “I just sobbed and said over and over, ‘God help us.’ I really thought we were all going to die.”
Russo was stuck on the mountain for about three days.
“Can you imagine this… you’re stuck. There’s no road to get out where you are or your bridge is washed out. And the only thing they can do is drop down chainsaws and oil and gas and ask you to try to cut your way out because they can’t get there. Not yet,” Russo said.
When Russo did make it down the mountain, she came to Minnesota to stay with her mom.
While there’s some flooding in her place, Russo realizes it could’ve been worse.
“I knew that I was one of the lucky ones,” she said.
Very soon after arriving in Minnesota, Russo said people started asking her how they could help.
“All of a sudden I was like, ‘Oh, that’s right… I’m in like the kindest state in America,'” Russo said.
Over the weekend, Russo took her website and changed it into a home base with resources on how Minnesotans can help with Hurricane Helene relief efforts.
Within 24 hours, she had launched the MNCares Campaign.
Russo’s background in public relations has kept her well-connected to groups in western North Carolina.
“They’re all vetted and I really have spent a lot of time talking to people on the ground. Because I wanted to make sure that people would feel comfortable that if they went on here, it’s a great place to donate to,” Russo said. “I really want it to be a clearing house for good information.”
Besides choosing a diverse group of organizations to highlight, Russo is asking for new or used coats, hats, mittens, gloves and scarves to be shipped to a few centers.
More than 100,000 people in western North Carolina are still without power while the area is bracing for lows in the 40s.
“I realized that not only was I in the kindest state, but I was in the state people have the most coats,” Russo said.
Russo is also listing items needed, such as personal protective equipment, LifeStraws to filter water and portable power banks.
“People are like, ‘I can’t believe you just moved there a year ago and there’s a hurricane.’ And I said without even thinking… ‘I think God put me in the right place, exactly where I was supposed to be,'” Russo said. “But I also think that about coming here because as soon as I got here, everyone wanted to help.”
Russo plans on traveling back to western North Carolina on Thursday and will be helping on the ground. She said she will update her website as needs change. Russo is also hoping to partner with businesses to provide necessary items.
The most up-to-date information can be found on Russo’s website. However, here is the current list as of Oct. 8, 2024.
Mail new or used coats, hats, mittens, gloves and scarves of all sizes for all ages to these centers:
Interfaith Assistance Ministry
310 Freeman Street
Hendersonville, NC 28792
French Broad River Academy
1990 Riverside Drive
Asheville, NC 28804
Bee Log Missionary Baptist Church
22 Bee Log Road
Burnsville, NC 28714
Some items needed that can be mailed to the addresses above:
More information on each organization can also be found on the MNCares website.
In a search warrant application, Richfield police detail reports by first responders alleging a slow staff response and allegations of forged documents in the death.
RICHFIELD, Minn. — A Richfield care facility is under investigation after allegations by first responders that staff there did not check on a patient as she was dying and then forged paperwork to cover it up.
In an application for a search warrant, police requested access to medical records and surveillance video related to the treatment and death of 55-year-old Candace Columbus, a patient at The Villas in Richfield. Investigator Sammy Gonzalez details a report by the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) based on accounts from a Hennepin County paramedic on Oct. 7, 2024, the day Columbus died at the facility located at 7727 Portland Ave. S.
That paramedic reported that they suspected that facility staff suspected the patient was dying but did not check on her or call 911. The first responder said that when first responders were finally called, staffers claimed that Columbus had a Do Not Resuscitate Order (DNR) but did not have a form on hand. Paramedics also reported seeing staff members filling out a DNR Form, which would constitute forgery.
Investigator Gonzalez says in the warrant application that body cam video from a Richfield police officer who responded to The Villas recorded the interaction between the reporting paramedic and care staff, including a phone conversation between one employee and someone claiming to be the facility manager, who appears to be giving the staff instructions on how to fill out the DNR form.
“Your affiant (Gonzalez) requests further information from The Villas at Richfield that will lead to further evidence of forgery and/or vulnerable adult abuse/neglect,” the application reads.
Richfield Police Lt. Brad Drayna told KARE 11 that the ongoing investigation prevents the department from providing anything beyond the information in the search warrant. An administrator for The Villas says a statement on the patient’s death and investigation will be released later Wednesday.
MINNEAPOLIS — Christmas came early for Minnesotans watching the trick-or-treat forecast for Thursday, as the news about impending snow is practically begging for related discussions about the infamous Halloween Blizzard of ’91.
While parents lugged their small ghosts, goblins and ghouls from door to door — layers of warm clothes and heaps of snow be damned — they could already tell this particular storm would be one for the record books.
When all was said and done, more than 8 inches of snow fell in the course of only a few hours, leaving Minnesotans with much work when the sun came up the next morning.
So, will we have a ’24-style repeat of ’91? Only time will tell, but for now, we’re bringing back a few classics from the archives to get everyone in the mood for another snowy (and spooky!) celebration.
See our story, “Helping in the Halloween Blizzard” above, and more from the archives below.
New York State authorities confirm that a woman and two kids children went over a guard rail and into the falls Monday night. They have not been found.
NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — The New York State Park Police and the New York State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation are investigating an incident on Goat Island in Niagara Falls.
According to a release on Tuesday by the New York State Police, officers responded to an incident that happened on or around Goat Island around 9 p.m. on Monday evening.
In an updated release on Wednesday the NYSP confirmed that a 33-year-old woman, a 9-year-old, and a 5-month-old crossed over the safety guard rail and went over Niagara Falls on Luna Island, which is attached to Goat Island.
The victims have been identified as Chaianti Means, 33, Roman Rossman, 9, and Mecca Means 5-months-old.
According to the NYSP release, “The investigation has determined that this incident was intentional in nature, though the circumstances remain under investigation. New York State Park Police and State Police search/rescue efforts were conducted with negative results. This incident deems no public threat to safety.”
NYSP Unmanned Aircraft Systems, Aviation, Underwater Recovery Unit, New York State Park Police and Niagara Falls Police Department are assisting in the investigation.
2 On Your Side will update this story when we receive new information from State Police.
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