ASHEVILLE – Though downtown rode out the worst of Helene without the catastrophic devastation of other areas of Western North Carolina, it didn’t escape the aftershocks. For the Vanderbilt Apartments, low-income senior housing on the north side of the city’s central business district, residents were left to grapple with disruptions to daily life.
In the immediate aftermath, that meant no water, cell service, cable TV or internet. Bus routes weren’t running. ATMs were quickly emptied. Food and bottled water were hard to come by — stores closed or had long lines that spilled out the door.
“All those things happened in one day. No water, no food. You couldn’t go to the bank … We were really up a creek without a paddle,” said Vanderbilt resident David Wright, 67. “It was battle conditions. It was terrible. I’ve never experienced this before.”
The lights stayed on at the Vanderbilt, but its residents, like thousands of others across the city, were forced to find solutions for flushing water and other basic needs. Serving those 62 and older, the apartments have tenants with disabilities and mobility issues, said Wright.
“I know it must have hit them hard,” Wright said. “People stepped up.”
A few blocks away, the deep cement bowls at the Asheville Skatepark had filled with rainwater. Wright and others hauled five-gallon buckets to and from the park, or nearby community pools, using the water to manually flush toilets for other residents.
“Even though we didn’t get flooded down here, it brought a hardship to all of us who lived here,” Wright said, acknowledging that many people got hit much worse. But for the 123 units at Vanderbilt, “we found a way to help each other.”
‘I’ve seen a lot of good’
On Sept. 27, the day Tropical Storm Helene swept across WNC, Wright was smoking a cigarette under the overhang of Vanderbilt’s awning. It was after the storm had cleared, and people were only just beginning to register the destruction. He acted as a kind of informal ambassador to other residents, passing out greetings and intel. In the early days of the near total communication blackout, word of mouth was often the easiest way to share information.
He already missed his TV shows. Then, he joked to the Citizen Times that he might have to turn to the radio for respite.
In an Oct. 23 conversation, a little less than a month after their initial meeting, Wright told the same Citizen Times reporter that he had, in fact, come to rely on radio, as many had in the wake of the storm. He listened to Blue Ridge Public Radio using an old flip phone and a pair of earbuds, regularly tuning into their stream of Buncombe County’s daily briefings.
“That was my company for a lot of nights,” Wright said. “NPR radio, that saved the day, I’m telling you.”
While the first week was “tough,” as Wright described it, it didn’t take long for donations to start pouring in: Food and bottled water. Hot meals brought by community organizations. Support from the building owners. A group showed up to help flush toilets.
A 6,500-gallon tanker of water was parked beside the building Oct. 23, pumping potable water to resident units, Wright said. Nine thousand more gallons sat in silo-like tanks out front.
While Wright stood at the corner, two North Carolina National Guard trucks pulled up with deliveries of supplies like paper towels and wipes.
The warmth of people in Asheville has been moving, Wright said. He’s lived in Vanderbilt for almost five years. He came there from Veterans Restoration Quarters in East Asheville.
He was relieved, he said, that things seemed to be getting back to normal.
“What happened to us, it brings out character. It can either bring out the best of the person, or it can bring out the worst,” he said.
“And I’ve seen a lot of good. People coming here with open arms: How can we help?”
More: Asheville Council OKs funds for Helene recovery to cover home repairs, rental assistance
More: Non-potable water returns to nearly 95% of Asheville’s system. What city learned from 2022-23 holiday outage
Sarah Honosky is the city government reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. News Tips? Email shonosky@citizentimes.com or message on X, formerly Twitter, at @slhonosky. Please support local, daily journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Residents at downtown Asheville apartments recover after Helene
