Race for help amid devastation in Helene

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

On South Tunnel Road the ground disappeared, leaving a huge sinkhole full of asphalt soup.

Houses floated away from the settlements. Bridges collapsed. The floods sent the tractor-trailers crashing into mangled heaps. Mud and branches, as well as food from local grocery stores, poured into the streets.

Survivors trudged through the dirt to find drinking water, electricity, Wi-Fi and cell phones.

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, devastating the South with heavy rain and flash flooding. However, the storm caused the most damage in Asheville and throughout western North Carolina.

“Although the rain and winds have eased, the challenge for the people there continues to grow,” Cooper said. “People are desperate for help and we are pushing to get it to them.”

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

There were only estimates of the extent of the destruction on Sunday evening. Thirty people were reported to have died in Buncombe County and another five people in Henderson County. But these initial numbers are likely to rise as the full extent of the tragedy becomes clearer.

“Without more phone and internet access, we cannot release these names without being absolutely certain that we have given this information to their loved ones,” Buncombe County Sheriff Quentin Miller said. “We are heartbroken by this news and we ask people to give our community the space and time to grieve this incredible loss.”

Recovery efforts are still underway

Miller said recovery efforts are still ongoing.

As of Sunday morning, September 29, first responders had received more than 6,000 calls asking them to find people who were unaccounted for. Most of those calls came from Buncombe County (3,900), where flash flood warnings remained in effect through Sunday afternoon.

According to a press release from the White House on Saturday, President Joe Biden declared that there is a major disaster in the state of North Carolina.

The President’s action provides federal funding to affected individuals in the following counties and areas: 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, as well as the Qualla Frontier, 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 loved ones.

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

“It looks like Mother Nature just trampled on this little town,” Hensley said. “It’s just destruction everywhere you look.”

Getting help for those in need is a challenge

Getting help to the people who need it has proven particularly difficult as at least 200 roads were closed in North Carolina as of Sunday morning, including Interstate 40 and Interstate 26 on the Tennessee-North Carolina border, according to reports as shown on the state’s road closure map. The closure of I-40 near the state line is described as long-term. I-40 is also closed at Old Fort Mountain. NCDOT estimates it will reopen there on Tuesday, Oct. 1, at noon.

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

Progress has been made in restoring some power to the region. Cooper said during a news conference on Sunday that nearly 464,000 residents were without power (with a previous high of more than 1 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 of the roads leading to the popular tourist attraction are too dangerous.

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

Nearby Biltmore Village was so filled with water that the treetops and upper windows of houses and roofs were visible. Part of the picturesque village had turned muddy brown.

Western North Carolina residents sheltering from the storm watched in horror as floodwaters tore billboards from their roots, tore apart businesses and cut a swath as wide as a “giant moat” through a housing development, Syd Yatteau said, who lives near Swannanoa River.

Even as the water rose and crept up a hill to 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. “In the beginning it was just fun and games. I just observed the water being where it was.”

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

Air traffic will resume and some shops will remain open

Air traffic, which was largely canceled on Saturday and Sunday, returned to normality late Sunday. Asheville Regional Airport spokeswoman Tina Kinsey said American Airlines would resume flights Sunday evening and Delta and United Airlines would try to get back on the schedule Monday.

Another small glimmer of hope is that some local grocery stores near Asheville have remained open. These stores include:

Feed lion: 179 Paragon Pkwy, Clyde, NC
Trader Joe’s: 120 Merrimon Ave, Asheville, NC 28801
English markets (Cash only): 575 New Leicester Hwy, Asheville, NC
Walmart: 1636 Hendersonville Rd, Asheville, NC
Publix: 165 Weaver Boulevard, Weaverville, NC

Race for help amid devastation in Helene

ByJasper

Recovery efforts are still underway

Getting help for those in need is a challenge

Air traffic will resume and some shops will remain open

By Jasper

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