ASHEVILLE – As the death toll from Tropical Storm Helene continued to rise Sept. 30 — now at 40 in Buncombe County — the first signs of relief began, where the county was able to set up four water distribution sites, though it seemed that returning running water to the city could potentially take weeks as food relief was still on the way.
The county began to hand out bottled water at four locations across Buncombe County, where Sand Hills Elementary, William W. Estes Elementary School, North Windy Ridge Intermediate School and Fairview Elementary School started offering food at 2 p.m. Sept 30. The sites will be open again be on Oct. 1 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The county sites came three days after Tropical Storm Helene hit the region. The delay in supplies came from the fact that federal planes could not fly given the high winds after Tropical Storm Helene, Pinder said.
While the county had suggested that the early afternoon distribution centers would have food supplies during their 10 a.m. briefing, by the 4 p.m. briefing, none of them had any food — and Pinder indicated that they only passed out food at “some” of them. Pinder said it’s still their goal to bring food to the sites, calling for volunteers to drive their box trucks up the mountain to deliver food supplies.
“If there’s anybody out there that is listening that has box trucks that can take palletized water that can help us to do that and add those MREs too, that would be most helpful,” Pinder said.
Lack of water poses public health crisis
Mission Hospital has also been slammed throughout the recovery associated with the storm. Over 900 visits at Mission Hospital have been made in relation to the storm and over 200 of those visits resulted in admission to the hospital, Mission Hospital CEO Greg Lowe said. More than 80 of those patients are currently in the emergency room, he continued.
However, the most urgent problem is the growing water crisis, which poses both long and short-term health risks for Asheville residents. Without high pressure water, hospital functions are “significantly challenged,” as even simple tasks like hot food preparation, toileting and showers are not possible, Lowe said.
The road back to consistent water in the city of over 93,000 may be long.
City Assistant Manager Ben Woody described the impact on the water department as “catastrophic,” as there is “very limited access” to the William Debruhl Water Plant because the primary road to the plant had been washed out. Three water plants need “extensive repairs,” but there are already federal agencies on the scene “helping us make repairs,” Woody said, noting that the city of Greensboro has sent water repair crews and equipment.
The storm had washed out 24-inch and 36-inch water main lines and transmission lines at the North Fork Water Treatment Plant, Woody said. The city had installed redundancies on the site in 2004, after Hurricane Ivan flooded the area, but those were washed out too, he said.
One water treatment facility — the Mills River Water Treatment Plant — is functional, but is working at a reduced level, Woody said.
He reminded people that a boil water advisory is in place, meaning: boil water vigorously for at least one minute before using as drinking water.
Residents unsure if they have enough water
City Manager Debra Campbell addressed what she called the public’s “frustration” with the lag between communication and supplies. She also said that there would be no trash or recycling “for the foreseeable future.”
While the county started passing out bottled water from FEMA on Monday, the city’s distribution site came from a private provider Campbell described as a “emergency purchase” that cost “hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
Already, residents are flooding to water facilities to try and stock up on potable water, with some indicating they likely don’t have much to last more than several days.
Around 3 p.m. at Pack Square Park, where the city was distributing water, a line of 50 gathered near City Hall as residents brought out gallon containers, jugs, coolers and big plastic water containers to fill up on desperately needed water in the region. Nearby, the owners of Mikasa Criolla in downtown Santiago Vargas and Ana Austin were handing out cheesesteak and shrimp empanadas to those in the line.
Carrying cereal containers and empty plastic containers, Oakley residents Kayla and Gavin Starzyk came to fill up on water at the distribution site. Asked whether they had enough at home for the coming days, Kayla Starzyk said: “Not really.” Both are limited to what they could carry, or two gallons max, at the site and no containers were provided.
The trip to distribution sites in the area may be more frequent in coming days, as Woody noted that the repairs could “potentially take weeks” to restore
“I can’t provide an ETA at this time,” Woody said.
As for other resources, Kayla Starzyk said they had been in search of gas for a while, noting that even after sitting in line for hours, they were often turned away by gas stations that were only taking cash. When asked whether they had enough gas, Gavin Starzyk said: “God, no.”
More:Isolated from the world, Asheville residents scavenge for food amid Helene floods
Will Hofmann is the Growth and Development Reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Got a tip? Email him at WHofmann@citizentimes.com. Consider supporting this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
