South French Broad water interruption shuts down YWCA ***UPDATED 3:30 p.m.***

Posted on by David Forbes

A “scheduled water interruption” in the South French Broad Avenue area has shut down water to homes, along with the YWCA’s child care center and summer camp. According to YWCA marketing director Ami Worthen, however, the organization received no notice of the interruption beforehand. Shortly after 2 p.m., water returned to the area.

“The City of Asheville Water Resources department has scheduled a water interruption from 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. due to a water valve replacement on South French Broad from Bartlett Street to Hilliard Avenue including Vernell Avenue, Swindale Avenue, Phifer Street, Timothy Street and Daily Drive,” an alert on the city’s website declares.

Also, two missives over the city’s Twitter account, one around 9 a.m. and the other around noon, announced the shut-off, but after it had already begun. The city did announce the shutdown in a press release on Monday, but that announcement doesn’t appear on the city’s current list of news releases.

But Worthen, tweeting over the YWCA’s own account after the child care center shutdown was announced, wrote “As far as I know, we were not alerted. We have to close our Child Care Center which serves working parents.”

City spokesperson Dawa Hitch tells Xpress that two press releases about the matter were sent out late last week and that everyone with listed residential landlines in the area, as well as people who’ve signed up for the city’s Code Red update service, were notified.

“I’d just like to use this opportunity to encourage people to sign up for Code Red,” Hitch says. “That way you get a call straight to your phone or a text message if you choose that option. You’ll get emergency messages and water outages directly to you.”

— David Forbes, senior reporter

SHARE

Thanks for reading through to the end…

We share your inclination to get the whole story. For the past 25 years, Xpress has been committed to in-depth, balanced reporting about the greater Asheville area. We want everyone to have access to our stories. That’s a big part of why we've never charged for the paper or put up a paywall.

We’re pretty sure that you know journalism faces big challenges these days. Advertising no longer pays the whole cost. Media outlets around the country are asking their readers to chip in. Xpress needs help, too. We hope you’ll consider signing up to be a member of Xpress. For as little as $5 a month — the cost of a craft beer or kombucha — you can help keep local journalism strong. It only takes a moment.

Before you comment

The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.

2 thoughts on “South French Broad water interruption shuts down YWCA ***UPDATED 3:30 p.m.***”

  1. johnfrederick

    I live off of south french broad. My water was shut off around ten am with no notice. That sucks. Emergencies happen but when their is “scheduled maintence” let me know so I can… Shower, flush, brush teeth, drink, cook. I hate complaining but this did leave my girlfriend and I scrambling.

Leave a Reply

To leave a reply you may Login with your Mountain Xpress account, connect socially or enter your name and e-mail. Your e-mail address will not be published. All fields are required.