Over the last month, the south and southeast portions of the country have been ravaged with natural disasters.
Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton both touched land within the last three weeks. Milton ripped off the roof of the Tampa Bay Rays' home stadium of Tropicana Field, leaving the team's 2025 home games in doubt. But the storms have had very real effects on the people living in the south and southeast part of the United States.
Hundreds of people have been reportedly been declared dead as a result of the hurricanes (and counting). Thousands more have been injured or displaced by the storms.
A smaller community that's been effected is Greeneville, Tenn.
Greeneville is a small town of just over 15,000 people approximately an hour away from Nashville. And it's also the home of Seattle infielder Ryan Bliss' fiancee Katelynn Hadjopoulos.
Hurricane Helene hit Greeneville Sept. 27 and destroyed houses and the cities water plant.
Bliss and Hadjopoulos spoke more about the damage caused by the hurricane in a tweet on "X" posted by @Milb_players.
"The water plant that's there, that's been up for years, it's no longer even a water plant. It's just mud. Her family, luckily, were in an area that got hit. But ... they have their house, they just have no running water so they've actually been living on their camp ground. (We) didn't know what to do because we were literally across the country."
When #HurricaneHelene hit, Ryan Bliss had no choice but to watch from afar. After seeing the devastation, he’s using his platform to raise funds that will help rebuild the community.
— MiLB Players (@Milb_players) October 16, 2024
Join @ribliss2’s efforts and make a donation today: https://t.co/NqpEJ6d9Rn pic.twitter.com/Lz1IXpxjEh
Bliss and Hadjopoulos set up a GoFundMe and donated $1,000 to help assist residents of the storm-ravaged town. The residents unfortunately did not qualify for hurricane or flood insurance, because they didn't live on the coast, according to the GoFundMe page.
100% of the proceeds will go to an organization called Aid Net. The organization will be helping rebuild homes as part of the recovery efforts.
Those interested in donating or sharing the link can find the GoFundMe page at www.gofundme.com/f/restore-homes-and-hope-in-greeneville-tn.
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