Buncombe County’s Oct. 14 briefing marks 19 days from the beginning of emergency response efforts to the effects of Tropical Storm Helene. 6,000 remain without power.
County Manager Avril Pinder informed the public that food and water distribution site changes are coming soon to prepare for schools to reopen. Check site statuses before heading out. She added that Buncombe County Schools are resuming extracurricular high school activities today as families are able, with voluntary participation.
Currently, distribution sites are located at:
-
AC Reynolds High School
-
Asheville Middle School
-
Buncombe County Sports Park
-
Black Mountain Ingles
-
Fairview Elementary School
-
Swannanoa Ingles
-
Leicester Elementary School
-
Shiloh Community Center
-
Lucy Herring Elementary School
-
North Windy Ridge Intermediate School
-
Pack Square Park
-
Oakley Elementary School
-
William Estes Elementary School
Community care centers, which provide water, food, Wi-Fi, showers, laundry and more, are also open in several western North Carolina locations. Bring preferred toiletries and detergent; otherwise, they will be provided for you. Community care centers are currently operating at:
Trash and recycling pickup in WNC
WastePro recycling pickup resumes today, Oct. 14, with normal routes for trash and recycling running in accessible areas in Leicester. WastePro will also have a trash truck at Leicester Elementary. Bring household bagged trash only from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. – don’t leave trash if trucks aren’t there.
On Tuesday, Oct. 15, WastePro will run normal routes for household trash and recycling accessible in Enka and Candler. Trucks will also be located at A-B Tech Enka campus from 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Household-bagged trash only.
The landfill at 85 Panther Branch Road in Alexander is now open Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., and the transfer station at Hominy Creek is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Storm debris removal continues at medical, sewer and school facilities. Residential debris removal will begin this week, according to Pinder. To prepare, separate storm-related debris at the curb according to material types: appliances, construction debris, household hazardous waste, vegetative debris, and electronics. Debris removal is not a one-time or one-pass operation; there will be multiple trucks and passes, so residents do not have to place all debris out at once or worry if debris is left over.
Contractors cannot pick up debris on private property. Wear protective equipment when clearing storm debris.
FEMA locations in WNC
FEMA will be at fixed locations in the community this week. Operations open from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. are located at:
Operations open from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. are located at:
-
French Broad Volunteer Fire Department at 572 Fletcher Market Road
-
Swannanoa Library
-
Food Lion in Fairvew
-
Emma Community Center
-
Barnardsville Community Center at 1675 Barnardsville Hwy.
-
New Bridge Baptist Church in Woodfin
-
Nesbit Chapel Church in Fairview
-
Broad River Volunteer Fire Department at 44 Broad River Road
Spectrum outages Buncombe County
Pinder said Spectrum outage numbers, which showed 78,000 customers without service at the initial inspection, are down to 37,500. The county is working to have a Spectrum representative join a briefing as soon as possible.
More: Internet outages persist after Helene: Spectrum details restoration progress, obstacles
Donation center needs
The donation center in Arden is full and will not be able to accept more donations at this time. This pause will allow workers to focus on distributing accumulated supplies to the community. Pinder suggested ABCCM, Bounty and Soul or BeLoved for donations.
City donation sites are not currently taking clothing donations. Pinder said that Goodwill is likely the best destination for clothing donations.
When will water come back on in Asheville? Can I use Asheville water?
Assistant City Manager Ben Woody provided another update on returning municipal water to Asheville residents. Woody said that the Water Resources Department has made “a tremendous amount of progress,” but plenty of work still needs to be done.
North Fork Reservoir, which services the majority of Asheville’s water system, now has highly chlorinated water flowing through the city’s distribution system. Woody said that water resources can flow about 12 million gallons per day into the system. This supports the flushing of the water system and the expansion of water into the distribution system.
Helene caused a large amount of sediment to enter the city’s water supply. Later this week, the city hopes to begin an in-reservoir treatment that will increase the rate of settling to allow for treatment inside the treatment plant.
Additionally, Woody said streams flowing into the highly protected watershed feeding the North Fork reservoir have begun to run clear again.
On Sunday, Oct. 13, water resources were able to begin supplying water to areas west of Swannanoa. Damage to the area’s water system was more severe than expected, which Woody called “almost hard to believe.”
Water maintenance also got water to Haw Creek Junction, a major distribution system, where it can begin to spread into other parts of the community in what Woody called a “major milestone.” Water is being restored in the Haw Creek area up to South Tunnel Road. Preparations to send water to the Fairview and higher-elevation areas of South Asheville have also begun.
As the water returns, pump stations will be turned back on to move water into higher-elevation areas. Restoration will move westerly and be “slow and incremental,” with thousands of miles of pipes and 37 water storage tanks needing about 21 million gallons to fill. Currently, non-potable water is being used to fill these.
Woody said that water resources are also working on the “whack-a-mole” process of repairing line breaks as water is pressurized. The pressure reveals these breaks through “geysers” of water issuing from the damaged areas.
“Don’t assume that we know where the water main breaks are,” Woody said.
If you see a break, report it to the 24/7 water customer service line at 828-251-1122.
Finally, Woody asked residents who had regained water to help flush the system by flushing private lines for about 15 minutes via bathtub or outdoor faucets. Before flushing, close valves to hot water heaters and other appliances such as ice makers.
Even as water flushes and grows clearer, it is unsafe for consumption and remains on a boil water notice.
Asheville bus routes
Bus service hours have been expanded from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. to 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Service will still include flag stops. The last outbound trips will depart daily by 6:59 p.m. Three additional routes are being brought back online: N1, S4, and a portion of 170 operating between Haw Creek and the transit center. ART service will remain free of charge until further notice.
ART also serves most emergency assistance sites within the City of Asheville, including FEMA sites.
Asheville storm debris collection
City of Asheville Manager Deborah Campbell said that over 3 million cubic yards of storm debris are estimated to be within city limits – roughly 140 football fields stacked 10 feet high, according to Campbell.
Private contractor SDR has been secured to help dispose of storm debris swiftly and safely, with temporary debris sites established where debris can be staged and separated into categories for proper permanent disposal. Four of seven sites are being coordinated currently, with two city-owned properties located in West Asheville confirmed at this time:
-
65 Fort St.
-
71 Deaverview Road
For the first two sites, door-to-door outreach has been conducted in surrounding areas and will continue for the other sites.
Curfew and crime
Asheville Chief of Police Mike Lamb gave a public safety update, beginning with the city’s updated 11 p.m.-6 a.m curfew.
Lamb said that a 40% increase – 85 calls per day – was recorded in the week following the storm. Last week, there was only a 3% increase from the norm. As call volume returns to normal, the department will reassess a need for a curfew.
A transition is being made from light barricades manned by police officers to large, unmanned concrete barricades blocking areas where streets are damaged and will take a long time to repair. Lamb advised people to be aware of and watch for these concrete barriers while driving.
Finally, Lamb informed the public that the police department’s drone team has been assisting public works in bridge and culvert inspections, providing overwatch and security to FEMA sites, and helping assess patrol response to allow officers to “have an understanding of the situation they’re going into.”
United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County donations
President and CEO of United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County Dan Leroy appreciated the many donations of goods provided. However, Leroy added that funds and volunteer hours are most needed now.
“We can’t stress enough that this is going to be a long-term recovery process, and the dollars that are going to be needed over a sustained period of time are going to be critical to our community’s recovery efforts,” Leroy said.
If you would like to volunteer, visit handsonasheville.org or unitedwayabc.org.
Anyone in the state can dial 211 for up-to-date information on Helene-related relief resources. Real people are available 24/7.
Iris Seaton is the trending news reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Buncombe Helene recovery: Donation needs, water, Spectrum outages
