The delegation of regional officials traveling to Washington is believed to be unprecedented, but “we have literally never seen a disaster like Hurricane Helene,” Amanda Edwards, chair-elect of the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners, told The Watchdog.
The possibility of drinkable water being restored by Wednesday next week speeds up the timeline by nearly a month. Water Resources estimated earlier in November that the boil water notice could be lifted by mid-December.
Chandler and Dr. Jennifer Mullendore, medical director for Buncombe County’s Department of Health & Human Services, repeatedly stressed that students were not exposed to lead in drinking water.
“What we’re particularly concerned about is the fine particles from open burning that we expect we’re going to see more of,” AB Air Quality Agency Director Ashley Featherstone said.
Local homeowners who lost their homes or sustained serious damage in Helene’s floodwaters can begin applying to a federal program that may buy the home outright, or pay to have it elevated or rebuilt at a higher level.
Four stores – in Swannanoa, Morganton, Newland and Spruce Pine – remain closed and are not expected to open for three to nine months.
The curtain installation should take 24 to 36 hours, meaning the mineral application could possibly start by late Tuesday afternoon.
The loss of lives, 13 total, made the Garren Creek landslides among the deadliest in North Carolina history and accounted for the largest cluster of deaths from Helene in Buncombe County, more than one quarter of the 42 in the official count of fatalities.
Water Resources Department spokesperson Clay Chandler spent most of his time at the daily Helene briefing on Wednesday talking about the water testing program, but he said afterward it does not come in response to customer complaints.
Following a tour of flood-ravaged Swannanoa on Monday, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump offered his sympathy to storm victims. He also took numerous opportunities to continue to slam recovery efforts by the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA).
Asheville Watchdog is bringing you the stories behind the staggering loss of life, the children, parents, grandparents, multiple generations of a single family, all gone in one of the worst natural disasters to hit the mountains of western North Carolina. This is the first installment.
According to the agency, Buncombe County suffered 42 deaths, the highest toll of the 21 counties listed. Yancey County had the next highest, with 11, followed by seven in Henderson County.
Buncombe homeowners hit hardest by flood damage from Hurricane Helene will likely face enormous costs to rebuild with limited options to pay for it.
Two weeks after the storm, doctors, health professionals and officials in charge of disaster relief say there could be a second wave of medical concerns affecting hospitals and clinics, and it could be here soon.
Sagging rooflines and toppled cinder block walls are the order of the day in the River Arts District right now, but a development team that owns 11 buildings in the district says nearly all of their buildings are salvageable.
North Carolina’s elected officials pledge federal support while perpetuating some false claims of diverted FEMA funds.
“FEMA is not taking any resources away from ongoing operations here in North Carolina,” spokesman Darrell Habisch told Asheville Watchdog. “We’re providing additional available resources to Florida.”
by Andrew R. Jones To Dr. Ruchi Moore and her colleagues at Asheville’s Laurel OB/GYN, Hurricane Helene’s onslaught felt like a rerun of the COVID-19 pandemic “plus just an insane snowstorm.” The storm shuttered the practice, leaving patients in crisis, and destroyed one employee’s home. But Moore and her staff plan to reopen today, even […]
The move comes just months after the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services found Mission Hospital to be in immediate jeopardy, the most serious sanction a hospital can receive.
Braver Angels mission is at once simple and daunting: To bridge the partisan divide in an effort to strengthen our democratic republic.
Three staff neurologists are leaving Mission Hospital by the end of September, potentially leaving only two to provide critical care to hundreds of patients at the Asheville flagship hospital and across Western North Carolina, including many who have suffered strokes.
