CIBO storm recovery update for Wednesday, Oct. 9

Press release from The Council of Independent Business Owners:

Buncombe County

-All board and commission meetings will be suspended until further notice.

-The County is working with New York City Fire Department personnel to establish comfort stations (water/toilets/etc.) throughout the County.

-Do not burn debris along stream banks until it can be searched.

-Some post office locations are closed in the County. Mail delivery, along with UPS, is being made if the roads are accessible. UPS deliveries may also be picked up at their location at 301 Sweeten Creek Industrial Park in Asheville.

-Conceal/carry permit holders needing renewals will be given a grace period.

-Parks and libraries in Buncombe County are closed until further notice.

 

City of Asheville

-All board and commission meetings will be suspended until further notice.

-City officials are working with FEMA to minimize delays and denials of assistance.

-New curfew hours in the City of Asheville – per APD Chief Mike Lamb – the new hours will be from 11 pm until 6 am. He said that these new hours would benefit restaurants trying to reopen.

-No open burning of debris is allowed within the limits of the City of Asheville.

 

Asheville Water System

-There are approximately 150,000 water customers – 80% or about 120,000 are served by North Fork.

-Work is continuing to rebuild the main water by-pass line into the North Fork Treatment plant – hopefully completed by Friday.

-Massive effort is being done to rebuild the bypass line which under normal circumstances would be a 2-year project.

-Contractors are also working to rebuild water transmission lines along the Swannanoa River. The roadway and the water lines were largely destroyed.

-Water officials are continuing to search for solutions to the turbidity issues in the reservoir. The water contains a large amount of sediment, which would cause irreversible damage to the water treatment system if it were allowed to enter the treating process.

 

Urban Search and Rescue Operations

-Enormous, herculean efforts by all first responders.

-25 canine search and rescue teams have been deployed.

-The search area is 9,108 miles.

-4,000 searches have been conducted.

-200 rescues.

-Evacuated 183 citizens.

-1,876 citizens are sheltering in place.

-Searched 13,400 structures with 560 completely destroyed.

 

Buncombe County Board of Elections

-In response to Tropical Storm Helene, the Buncombe County Board of Elections approved new times and locations for early voting under authority of an emergency resolution by the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE).

On Oct. 7, the NC State Board of Elections authorized Buncombe and a dozen other counties that were “severely disrupted” by Tropical Storm Helene to modify election procedures.

The local resolution established daily early voting hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., from Oct. 17 through Nov. 1, including weekends. Voting will begin at 9 a.m. on Nov. 2, the last day of early voting, but per state law the polls will close at 3 p.m. that day.

Buncombe County is in the initial stages assessing the status of its 80-election day polling places and contacting many poll workers.

Early Voting Approved Locations

• Black Mountain Library, 105 N. Dougherty St., Black Mountain
• East Asheville Library, 3 Avon Road, Asheville
• Enka-Candler Library, 1404 Sand Hill Road, Candler
• Fairview Library, 1 Taylor Road, Fairview
• Leicester Community Center, 2979 New Leicester Hwy., Leicester
• South Buncombe Library, 260 Overlook Road, Asheville
• UNCA Health & Counseling Center, 118 W.T Weaver Blvd., Asheville (new location)
• Weaverville Community Center, 60 Lakeshore Drive, Weaverville
• Dr. Wesley Grant Southside Center, 285 Livingston St., Asheville (in lieu of Board of Elections location)
• West Asheville Library, 942 Haywood Road, Asheville

Buncombe County Schools

-40 of 45 Buncombe County schools have power restored and 13 of 45 have water.

-Planning efforts ongoing for how to reopen schools without public water/toilets/etc. and how to meet fire safety issues because sprinklers will not operate.

-Bringing in trailers with toilets and handwashing stations for all schools.

-Mapping roadways to ensure that buses can operate.

-Will provide grab and go meals for students instead of hot meals.

-Additional counselors and social workers will be brought in.

-No estimate was given on a date for reopening, but a 72-hour notice will be provided to parents.

 

Asheville City Schools

-Target date to reopen on Monday, October 28^th. Will give a 72-hour notice to parents before reopening.

-Bringing in trailers with toilets and handwashing stations for all schools.

-Drilling wells at all city schools – approximately 10 wells at $100,000/well – FEMA likely to fund.

-City schools working with students right now in a bridge learning effort.

Mission Health

Mission Health/HCA Healthcare has provided the following resources to their employees as they serve our community…

• Approximately 400 HCA Healthcare nurses from sister facilities in Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, Virginia, Texas, Kansas, Utah, and California to provide support and relief for Mission Hospital caregivers.

• More than 40 physicians from HCA Healthcare hospitals have been dispatched from other regions to support the community.

• Daily necessities to Mission Hospital including water trucks that supply more than 200,000 gallons of water per day, hundreds of thousands of bottles of water, tens of thousands of gallons of fuel, satellite data networks and mobile units including kitchens, bathrooms and handwashing stations.

• Mini marts inside all Mission Health hospitals to provide colleagues with free groceries, including food, water, toiletries, laundry, clothing, and sleep and shower facilities.

• To date, HCA Healthcare has given over 1000 employees impacted by Hurricane Helene emergency financial assistance.