The Wednesday, Nov. 13, Buncombe County Helene recovery briefing covered the water system, and homeowner and small business recovery grants
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 on the Buncombe County Facebook page at 11 a.m. on weekdays. You can also find recordings of past briefings on the page. Here’s what was covered in Wednesday’s briefing.
Homeowner Grant Program
Applications for the 2024 Homeowner Grant Program are now reopened to give the community impacted by Hurricane Helene more time to complete and submit applications, with new eligibility requirements. Mobile homeowners may also now apply.
Applications can be submitted through this Friday, Nov. 15 and can be obtained at buncombecounty.org/homeownergrant or by calling 828-250-5500.
To apply in-person, visit the Asheville Mall through this Friday from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Staff will be onsite to answer questions and accept applications. No appointment is necessary.
More: Buncombe County homeowners can apply for Helene help through 2 more programs
Hazard Mitigation Program
Hazard Mitigation staff from NC Emergency Management will be available this week in Buncombe County to assist property owners at the Asheville Mall from 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
This program helps protect against further damages and losses following a disaster with options such as buyback of houses at the value they were worth before the storm, elevating houses above the estimated level of a 100-year storm and more.
Community Care Stations
Community Care Centers are open Monday-Friday from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. with showers, laundry and more. All Community Care Centers now have ADA accessible showers and bathrooms. Laundry drop-off and pickup is available at the Swannanoa Ingles.
Locations of Community Care Stations are:
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At Home Store parking lot
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Buncombe County Sports Park
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Morgan Hill Baptist Church
Where to get food and water in Buncombe County
Water and meals ready to eat are available at distribution sites daily at:
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Linwood Crump Shiloh Community Center
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Buncombe County Sports Park
Free vaccines in Buncombe County
Free vaccines are available through the Buncombe County Mobile Team. These are available:
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Tuesday and Friday: 12-6 p.m. at Swannanoa Ingles and Tunnel Road Community Care Stations
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Wednesday: 11 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Big Ivy Community Center
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Thursday: 2-5 p.m. at the Bounty and Soul market at the former BI-LO in Black Mountain
FCC Environmental jobs
FCC Environmental is hosting hiring events next week on Tuesday and Wednesday, Nov. 19 and 20, at the Hilton Garden Inn, 309 College St.
Where to drop off household trash
A drop-off site for bagged household trash is open today, Nov. 13, at Hearts with Hands 850 Warren Wilson Road in Swannanoa, tomorrow, Nov. 14, at Ingles Fairview and on Friday North Buncombe Pool from 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Debris collection
Starting today, Nov. 13, debris pickup trucks will be in all zones in the county, collecting about 12,000-15,000 cubic yards daily.
As of Nov. 11, contractors have collected 56,000 cubic yards of storm debris, over 11,000 truckloads. The focus is still on public right-of-way cleanup, and residents are encouraged to sort storm debris and move it to the curb.
In Asheville, trucks will be in the following zones:
Debris removal zones in Asheville
Asheville water updates
Clay Chaney, a representative for the city’s water systems, provided a water update. Turbidity levels at North Fork Reservoir are under 15 as of this morning. Levels peaked at 15.8 on Tuesday afternoon, likely due to windy conditions. To go through the treatment plant, turbidity levels will need to reach between 1 and 2.
The third round of in-reservoir treatment will begin today, Nov. 13. North Fork’s capacity to push treated water into the system has risen to slightly more than 20 million gallons daily.
The U.S. Corps of Engineers and private contractors working to establish an interim pretreatment system conducted a site visit Monday afternoon, and equipment and materials began arriving Nov. 12. Nothing has changed in the timeline, with an estimated completion date sometime between November-December.
All city of Asheville Water customers remain on a boil water advisory.
Small business recovery grants
The city of Asheville has made roughly $700,000 available for small business recovery grants, which will be distributed by Mountain BizWorks as a part of the Asheville Buncombe Rebuilding Together Grant Fund.
Businesses within city limits affected by the storm that employ fewer than 200 full-time workers will be eligible to apply for grants of up to $25,000. Visit mountainbizworks.org/abgrants to apply and find more information.
More: Biltmore Estate, Asheville businesses welcome back tourism after Tropical Storm Helene
Hagerty Consulting helps organize storm response
At the Nov. 12 City Council meeting as part of the manager’s report, staff presented information on an organizational structure designed to align federal and state funding resources to initiate both a rapid response and long-term recovery process.
This structure includes focus areas around:
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Arts and culture resources
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Functional support including cost recovery, community capacity building and administrative and data communication.
Hagerty Consulting Inc. has been contracted to provide support through the recovery process in these focus areas. Staff has scheduled a number of meetings with council on:
More information about these meetings and the organizational structure can be found at the city’s website at ashevillenc.gov.
Iris Seaton is the trending news reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at iseaton@citizentimes.com.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Buncombe Helene recovery: Water turbidity, free vaccines, grants
