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    • Race to get help as the destruction of Helene continues
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    Race to get help as the destruction of Helene continues

    Vaseline Posted on

    The rushing water rose five feet higher in the Swannanoa River than anyone had ever seen.

    The ground disappeared on South Tunnel Road, leaving behind a giant sinkhole full of asphalt soup.

    Homes floated away from subdivisions. Bridges crumbled. Flood waters left semi-trucks in mangled piles. Mud, tree branches and food from local supermarkets poured into the streets.

    Survivors wandered through the mud in search of drinking water, electricity, Wi-Fi and mobile telephony.

    Gov. Roy Cooper called Tropical Storm Helene a “catastrophic” and “historic” event with “life-threatening flooding and landslides.”

    The storm stretched from Florida across the southern United States, lashing the South with heavy rainfall and flash flooding. But it was in Asheville and throughout Western North Carolina where the storm caused some of the greatest damage.

    “Even as the rain and wind have subsided, the challenge for people there is increasing,” Cooper said. “People are desperate for help, and we are doing our utmost to get that help.”

    Live updates: 30 dead in Buncombe County, power expected Friday

    There were only estimates on the extent of the destruction available on Sunday evening. Reports emerged that 30 people had died in Buncombe County, and another five in Henderson County. But these early figures are likely to rise as the full extent of the tragedy becomes clearer.

    “Without increased phone and internet access, we cannot share those names without being absolutely certain that we have given their loved ones this information,” said Buncombe County Sheriff Quentin Miller. “Our hearts are broken by this news and we ask people to give our community the space and time to process this incredible loss.”

    Recovery efforts are still ongoing

    Miller said recovery operations are still ongoing.

    As of the morning of Sunday, September 29, more than 6,000 calls had been made to first responders asking them to find people who had not been reported. The majority of these calls came from Buncombe County (3,900), where flash flood warnings remained in effect until Sunday afternoon.

    President Joe Biden declared a major disaster in the state of North Carolina, according to a Saturday news release from the White House.

    The President’s action makes federal funding available to affected individuals in the following counties and territories: Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba, Clay, Cleveland, Gaston, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Lincoln, Macon , Madison , McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Transylvania, Watauga, Wilkes and Yancey and on the Qualla Boundary, home of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

    People waited outside the emergency room at HCA Healthcare’s Mission Hospital in Asheville, checking on the conditions of admitted family members.

    Shawn Hensley, 47, of Black Mountain, told the Citizen Times that his 65-year-old mother arrived at the hospital the night before because she was low on oxygen. Hensley and neighbors had to cut a tree blocking his car so he could leave his neighborhood.

    “It looks like Mother Nature has gone all over the town,” Hensley said. “Everywhere you look it’s just destruction.”

    Getting help to those in need is a challenge

    Getting help to the people who need it has proven especially difficult as at least 200 roads in North Carolina have been closed as of Sunday morning, including Interstate 40 and Interstate 26 at the Tennessee-North Carolina border, according to the state’s road closure map stands. . The closure of I-40 near the state line is said to be lengthy. I-40 is also closed at Old Fort Mountain. NCDOT estimates it will reopen there Tuesday, October 1 at noon.

    Schools in Asheville City and Buncombe County will be closed at least Monday and Tuesday. Henderson County schools are closed until further notice.

    Progress has been made to restore some power in the region. Cooper said during a press conference Sunday that nearly 464,000 residents are without power (with a previous high of more than one million) due to catastrophic damage from Tropical Storm Helene.

    The Biltmore Estate, built between 1889 and 1895, is closed for now, in part because some roads to the popular tourist attraction are too treacherous.

    “Due to significant flooding, impassable roads and widespread power outages in our region due to Tropical Storm Helene, Biltmore is temporarily closed,” read a statement on the historic home and museum’s social media account on Saturday.

    Nearby Biltmore Village was so filled with water that the tops of trees and the top windows of houses and roofs were visible. Part of the picturesque village had turned mud brown.

    Residents of Western North Carolina who had sheltered from the storm watched in horror as the floodwaters tore billboards from their roots, tore apart businesses and carved a swath as wide as a “giant moat” through a residential neighborhood, Syd said Yatteau, who lives near the neighborhood. The Swannanoa River.

    Even as floodwaters rose and crept up the side of a hill in their driveway, she said they received no evacuation order. The extent of the damage was completely unexpected.

    “It was really surreal,” she said of the rapid rise of the Swannanoa River. “Like, at first it was all fun and games. Just seeing how the water was where it was.”

    “And then it just kept going up,” she said.

    Air traffic resumes, some shops remain open

    Air traffic, which was largely canceled on Saturday and Sunday, returned to normal at the end of Sunday. Asheville Regional Airport spokesperson Tina Kinsey said American Airlines would resume flights Sunday evening, and Delta and United Airlines will try to get back on schedule Monday.

    In another small glimmer of hope, some local grocery stores around Asheville have remained open. These stores include:

    • Food Lion: 179 Paragon Pkwy, Clyde, NC
    • Trader Joe’s: 120 Merrimon Ave, Asheville, NC 28801
    • Ingles Markets (Cash only): 575 New Leicester Hwy, Asheville, NC
    • Walmart: 1636 Hendersonville Road, Asheville, NC
    • Publix: 165 Weaver Boulevard, Weaverville, NC

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