The Friday, Oct. 24, Buncombe County Helene recovery briefing addressed the D-SNAP deadline extension, Spectrum service restoration delays, the conditions Asheville’s water treatment plants faced during the storm and more.
Also included were daily updates on food and water distribution and locations of Community Care Centers where showers, laundry and other essentials are available.
Briefings go live daily on the Buncombe County Facebook page at 11 a.m. You can also find recordings of past briefings on the page. Here’s what was covered in Thursday’s briefing.
Water distribution warning, what not to drink in Asheville
Asheville representative Lillian Govus reiterated a message sent to the community last night on potential water contamination.
Govus said to treat half-gallons of water with green lids distributed from Tunnel Road and Charlotte Highway distribution sites as non-potable water. Though the water was tested by the distributor and came back clean prior to distribution, discoloration was noticed and “out of an abundance of caution” officials are warning to use this water only as non-potable.
First Lady Jill Biden arriving in Asheville
A brief traffic warning was provided to anyone driving near the Asheville Airport or east side of town: expect significant traffic delays around lunchtime as First Lady Jill Biden is visiting the area.
More: Jill Biden is coming to WNC: Here’s other big names who’ve visited since Tropical Storm Helene
D-SNAP extension for food benefits in Buncombe County
County Manager Avril Pinder gave an update on D-SNAP. An extension on the D-SNAP deadline for Alexander, Buncombe, Haywood, Macon and McDowell counties was approved by the USDA through 4 p.m. today, Oct. 25.
Individuals and households not currently receiving Food and Nutrition Services benefits who were impacted by Hurricane Helene can apply for D-SNAP. Apply in person at Buncombe County Health and Human Services, 40 Coxe Ave., Asheville.
If you cannot go in person, you can fill out an authorization form and send an authorized person in your place. The form can be found at buncombecounty.org. The application process can also be started online by pre-registering at epass.nc.gov and then calling the D-SNAP Call Center at 1-844-453-1117.
Pinder added that 4,276 D-SNAP cards have been issued so far, a value of $2.5 million. 370 cards were approved for customers through the state call center process, and 6,000 people who will be followed up with after starting the registration on e-pass.
What’s taking Spectrum so long?
Spectrum has restored service to nearly 93% of customers in Buncombe County with just over 7,000 customers remaining offline as of Oct. 23.
Officials from Spectrum said that the restoration process is taking longer than they initially anticipated due to the amount of damage and repairs required, challenges to safely accessing certain areas and the need to return to make repairs in areas where infrastructure is being rebuilt.
Challenging rebuild conditions in several specific areas were mentioned including Biltmore Forest, where in addition to miles of network repair, a node that delivers service to the area must be rebuilt. In the Black Mountain area along the Swannanoa River, a major fiber artery is being repaired. The east side of Weaverville is undergoing similar work.
Customers will automatically receive a credit for the time they went without service.
Community Care Centers, food and water distribution in Buncombe County
Water and meals ready to eat are available at distribution sites open today and through the weekend at these county locations:
A Community Care Station continues to operate at A.C. Reynolds High School, offering showers, laundry, and more. Other Community Care Stations include:
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At Home Store parking lot
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Big Lots/Innsbrook mall
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Buncombe County Sports Park
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Bethel United Methodist
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Swannanoa Ingles
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Swannanoa Owen Pool
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Morgan Hill Baptist Church
More: Where to find relief in Buncombe County one month post-Helene
Early voting in Buncombe County
The Buncombe County Elections Office is offering extended early voting hours this weekend and urges all residents to utilize them. All 10 early voting locations are open every weekend from 9 a.m.–5 p.m. through the last Saturday before Election Day on Nov. 2 at 3 p.m.
Use the wait map at buncombecounty.org/vote to see how many people are in line to help you choose where to go – weekends are usually less busy for early voting. You can vote at any of the following locations:
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West Asheville Library
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Black Mountain Library
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East Asheville Library
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Enka-Candler Library
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Fairview Library
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Leicester Community Center
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South Buncombe Library
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UNCA Health & Counseling Center
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Weaverville Community Center
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Dr. Wesley Grant Southside Center
Contact Election Services with any questions at 828-250-4200 or by email at [email protected]. You can also visit the office at 59 Woodfin Place in Asheville. Visit buncombecounty.org/vote for more information.
All 80 precincts for Election Day voting have now been assessed — 17 must be transferred or moved to new locations, all of which have been established at this time. Changes to voting locations are published on the website, and cards have been sent to affected voters in the mail.
Disaster Recovery Center relocation
The Disaster Recovery Center, where people can get assistance from FEMA and the Small Business Administration, has closed to allow for school reopening. While FEMA sets up another permanent location which will be announced as soon as possible, assistance is available at FEMA Mobile Disaster Recovery Centers.
Oct. 25-27, the mobile center will be located at the Bee Tree Fire Station 8 a.m.-7 p.m. in Swannanoa. Oct. 28-31, the mobile center will be located in the parking lot of the Buncombe County Sports Park.
Trash collection, WastePro and other waste information
Today, Oct. 25, household bagged trash drop-offs can be made at the North Buncombe Pool from 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Contractors are continuing to collect storm debris in Fairview, Swannanoa and North Buncombe during daylight hours. To expedite the collection process, the county has asked the community to separate debris near the curb into the following categories:
Mud and dirt that is uncontaminated can also be placed at the curb. Contractors make multiple passes, so there is no need to set out all debris at once.
Additionally, Pinder issued a reminder that Waste Pro customers must sign up for service with FCC Environmental to continue household trash and recycling pick-up after Jan. 1. Go to www.buncombecounty.org/solidwaste for more information.
Finally, sanitation crews will begin collecting paper bagged leaves beginning this Monday, Oct. 28. Consider waiting as long as you can to set out bags of leaves for collection to help debris collectors to move as efficiently as possible through the storm debris removal process.
Clay Chandler, a representative for Water Services, provided some perspective on the conditions of dams and spillways at North Fork before, during and after Helene.
Chandler explained first that the reservoir at North Fork was 8 feet below full pool before the storm due to inconsistent rainfall in the weeks leading up to Helene. The water reached full pool at 10:30 p.m. on the night of Sept. 26, rising 8 feet in about 12-14 hours.
Level indicators top out at 10 feet above full pool — the lake reached that point the morning of Sept. 27 at 9:30 a.m., an additional 10 feet in about another 12 hours. It stayed at least 10 feet above full until just before noon on Sept. 27. Exact readings weren’t available as the indicator washed out, and the road to the spillway was too hazardous to access until much later that afternoon. Chandler said that we can be sure, however, that the lake rose at least 18 feet during the storm.
With the auxiliary spillway at approximately 7.5 feet above full pool, at least one of the eight concrete buckets that sit at the spillway tipped due to mechanical activation based on the weight of the water — Chandler explained that it is impossible for humans to trigger these buckets to tip.
Massive rainfall from the storm caused a torrent of water that eroded ground around pipes and pushed them apart. The excess rain that landed in the watershed and reservoir automatically flowed out of the emergency spillway, funneling almost 18 inches of rain that landed in a 15,000-acre forested watershed downhill into a 355-acre lake.
“It is entirely possible that water from one or both of the spillways at North Fork washed out our main transmission lines,” Chandler said.
Chandler added, however, that the spillways also prevented “what is already a catastrophe from being exponentially worse.” Previous prioritization of the auxiliary spillway at North Fork in anticipation of extreme weather events “almost certainly” prevented the North Fork dam from failing.
“If that North Fork Dam had failed and unleashed six billion gallons of water, it would have meant complete annihilation of everything and every person between Black Mountain and Biltmore Village,” Chandler said.
He added that along with this “annihilation,” 80% of the city’s water supply would have “vanished immediately” with the destruction of the city’s main treatment plant. Chandler said that same principle applies to the Bee Tree treatment plant and reservoir. The spillway functioned as it was designed to – without it, dam failure would have been certain.
Dams have now been examined — while some repairs are needed, the dams were deemed safe after multiple inspections and not in imminent danger of failure.
Community Care Centers, food and water distribution in Asheville
Asheville City Manager Deborah Campbell discussed water and meal distribution sites managed through the city open 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Current locations include:
The city’s Community Care Centers are available at:
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980 Brevard Rd.
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85 Tunnel Rd.
As of this morning, Campbell said that these sites have distributed:
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More than 1.37 million bottles of drinking water
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14,700 gallon jugs of potable water
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214,599 gallons of non-potable water
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127,486 MREs
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Nearly 1,000 blankets for warmth.
Asheville bus routes resume
Starting this Sunday, Oct. 27, Asheville’s bus system ART will resume regular scheduled hours for most bus routes – 5:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 8 a.m.-6 p.m. on Sundays and holidays. N2, 170 and WE1 Eastbound routes will resume with modifications. Visit ashevillenc.gov/transit for more information.
Also note that buses are no longer offering flag stops. You must wait at a designated bus stop to board buses. Bus services will continue to be free of charge to all community members until further notice, and shuttle service is still providing free transportation between the WNC Ag Center and American Red Cross shelters.
City offices reopen; Halloween events, daycare and more
As of Wednesday morning Oct. 23, City offices were opened to the public. This still does not include all City recreation facilities such as recreation centers or those managed by our Community and Regional Entertainment Facilities Department. However, Asheville Parks and Recreation has organized a new schedule of seasonal events and reopened the afterschool program.
The afterschool will begin operating again from 3-6 p.m. beginning Monday, Oct. 28. Currently, afterschool programs are only available to students who were previously enrolled.
October events arranged by Asheville Parks and Recreation include:
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Oct. 26, 4-6 p.m. – Haunted Parking Lot on the Hill at Stephens-Lee Community Center on 30 George Washington Carver Ave.
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Oct. 27, 2-4 p.m. – Boo Bash at Tanger Outlets on 800 Brevard Rd.
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Oct. 30, 6-9 p.m. – Movies in the Park at Pack Square Park on 80 Court Plaza
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Oct. 31, 12-1 p.m. – Halloween Zumba Gold at Stephens-Lee Community Center on 30 George Washington Carver Ave.
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Oct. 31, 5-8 p.m. – Booville Community Halloween Party at Dr. Wesley Grant Sr. Southside Community Center
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Oct. 31, 6-8 p.m. – Shiloh Trunk or Treat at Linwood Crump Shiloh Community Center on 121 Shiloh Rd.
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Oct. 31, 6-8 p.m. – Montford Haunted Tent at Tempie Avery Montford Community Center on 34 Pearson Dr.
Please visit ashevillenc.gov/parks for more information on park and facility closures.
More: As Asheville parks reopen following Tropical Storm Helene, free Halloween events listed
Helene storm debris
Campbell also offered another update on debris removal in the Asheville area, explaining that Both Enka Commerce Park site and 65 Ford St. sites now have 24-hour security monitoring seven days a week. Though 65 Ford St. is no longer operational, some debris was placed at this site and until it is removed by the contractor, security monitoring and environmental safety measures will continue.
The three temporary debris sites that have been permitted and activated include:
The Enka site is the main area being used at this time – neither the Ford Street site nor the Municipal Golf Course site are currently receiving additional debris.
Duke Energy updates; is power restored in Asheville, Buncombe?
As of this morning, only 34 Duke Energy customers remain without power in Buncombe County.
In addition to this power update, Campbell addressed questions on debris left by Duke Energy, assuring the community that crews have been tasked with identifying and removing all related debris including broken poles, power lines and transformers that weren’t removed during the initial restoration process.
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: Spectrum, D-SNAP, water information, more
