GREENSBORO, N.C. — A Greensboro couple turned a bad situation into a chance to help those in need after Hurricane Helene blew through the Carolinas last weekend.
Jessica Beebe and Will Landacre had everything they needed for a perfect wedding: the dress, flowers, and venue, but then Hurricane Helene decided to put a damper on their plans.
The event had been two years in the making, but rain and winds created a new river in the middle of their beloved wedding venue in Independence, Virginia.
"There was nothing in me that felt like I could stop and go get a wedding dress on and go get married," said Beebe, the bride-to-be.
Beebe's future husband had already begun efforts to remove trees that were obstructing roads after Helene's rain and wind passed through.
"Once the rain stopped. I went out with a couple of guys and helped chainsaw some trees and removed those from the state roads that came into the property," he said.
But the heavy sheets of rain Helene brought caused the couple to cancel their rehearsal dinner. Beebe was optimistic her wedding day would still happen as planned, though.
"I was scooping mud out and it felt like I was sweeping the ocean. I mean it just kept coming in, but I was so hopeful that we could get everyone there and just put them on higher ground," she said.
The morning of the wedding came and so did the couple's difficult decision to call it off. Hotels and Airbnb's canceled their wedding guests' reservations, leaving the couple with food to feed 60 people.
The couple decided that the best thing to do was give it away. This allowed them to feed a community recovering from Helene's destruction.
A grocery store parking lot was their best option. They figured if they set up a food serving area there, people would find them and they did.
For the future Landacres, the honeymoon will come before the wedding, but in this case, the order doesn't matter.
"We're very grateful that we're safe and still going to get married. We hope that other people can keep pitching in like they have to help clean up some of this damage," said Landacre.