In case you missed it, “The 129-year-old iconic Biltmore Estate and village in North Carolina is a waterlogged disaster zone after Hurricane Helene,” reports the London Daily Mail. “The 8,000-acre estate in Asheville remains America’s largest home, serving the public as a historic house museum and tourist attraction built by George Vanderbilt in 1895. The famed mansion has been featured in at least 15 movies, including Patch Adams, Forrest Gump, Hannibal, and Richie Rich.”

It’s the main tourist attraction in Asheville, one that draws legends and perhaps wild conspiracy theories. We got into some of that last July in a “Special Report.”

“The satanists in the mountains of North Carolina are never shy about announcing their presence,” alleged Pamela Schuffert, a woman who lives out West (and whom we were not able to contact, requesting verification of these bizarre and extraordinary claims. “In fact, they have often let it be known that they are quite proud of their exploits! But then, why not? The jewel of Asheville, North Carolina, is the famed ‘Biltmore Estate,’ former home of the great Illuminati Satanist millionaire, George Vanderbilt! In his Illuminati mansion, one large room contains a coven’s table, with thirteen seats on either side. On the door is a plaque with the words, ‘Assemblage of the Gods.’”

“This grim, grey castle can only be glimpsed through the woods as one drives towards the city of Asheville from the interstate 40 exit,” wrote Pamela. “Or, if one has the courage, to drive up Town Mountain Road (where many of the Satanist elite have large mansions) and to park in front of it’s somber metal gates with surveillance cameras. As other former satanists have admitted, many a human sacrifice ritual has taken place within it’s grey stone walls.”

Focus on that word: claims.

But the Biltmore mansion certainly represents materialism at the highest level, and while the mansion wasn’t itself significantly damaged by the storm, other buildings on the estate, and the landscaping, took a brutal hit when the hurricane (from the word “huracan,” an Indian term meaning “evil spirit”) roared through.

There are perhaps more credible rumors about rituals at an old castle in Asheville called Overlook, “long reputed to be a location for the satanic rituals of the ‘rich, elite and powerful’ satanists that populate Asheville and the surrounding region,” wrote Schuffert. We’ll let you guess whether that’s truth or dark fantasy. All I can say is that with its tall, ivy-covered brick facade, the castle looks a bit like the ominous headquarters for a Lovecraftian cult.

That storm also caused deaths and substantial damage in and around Tampa, which has incurred three such cyclonic effects in the past year and may feel the effects of another if Hurricane Milton takes the projected path (big “if”).

It can rain on us all; and none of us should be too obsessed with the specks in others’ eyes, while ignoring our own.

Whether or not it hits there directly, and with major storm surge (the Tampa area is very prone to flooding), articles are already circulating nationally about residents who’ve had enough and want to move out. (Orlando too–Disney–is under the gun, as are wealthy areas like Naples.)

Tampa even before “Milton” was having a crisis. As The New York Times informs us, “Helene, a Category 4 hurricane, made landfall near Perry, Fla., some 200 miles north of Tampa. It followed a path similar to Hurricane Idalia in August of last year and Hurricane Debby last month. All three storms put wide swaths of the Tampa Bay region underwater, though none more than Helene, which brought storm surge into neighborhoods that had not seen such flooding in decades—or ever.”

This too has an interesting aspect, in that Tampa and surrounding area are home to what?

The global headquarters for Scientology (technically, in Clearwater, where the beach took it on the chin during “Helene”).

Look here at how Scientology has proliferated across the area. Said the Washington Times: “A newspaper report says the Church of Scientology and companies run by its members spent more than $100 million over the past three years buying up huge sections of downtown Clearwater. The Tampa Bay Times reports that recent purchases doubled the combined real estate footprint of the church and its followers.”

This is basically an occult cult based on the teachings of L. Ron Hubbard, who paled around with an actual, bona fide satanist named Jack Parson.

That’s also the spot—Clearwater—where a seemingly miraculous image of Mary perfectly matching the Virgin of Guadalupe appeared on the side of a reflective-glass office building (until it was smashed by a vandal).

Perhaps prayer will spare the area.

There are certainly many strong Christians there, and not far north, in Tarpon Springs, a powerful little shrine dedicated to the Archangel Michael, with a miraculous icon.

[resources: Michael Brown’s Online Retreat and “Special Reports“; see also It’s A Disaster!]

[In case of widespread disruptions, go to www.spiritdaily.org]

This prayer can be traced to St. Anthony of Padua.

Make the sign of the cross on the + symbol.

Jesus Christ a King of Glory has come in Peace. + God became man, + and the Word was made flesh. + Christ was born of a virgin. + Christ suffered. + Christ was crucified. + Christ died. + Christ rose from the dead. + Christ ascended into Heaven. + Christ conquers. + Christ reigns. + Christ orders. + May Christ protect us from all storms and lightning. + Christ went through their midst in Peace, + and the Word was made Flesh. + Christ is with us with Mary. + Flee you enemy spirits because the Lion of the Generation of Juda, the Root of David, was won. + Holy God! + Holy Powerful God ! + Holy Immortal God! + Have mercy on us. Amen!

– from the Pieta Prayer Book