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Dear Friend,
A few days ago, I shared that the people of the United States are showing up for us, and today I’m hoping to bring a slight smile to your face by sharing that even the animals are too.
Western North Carolina was ravaged by Hurricane Helene, making many areas of this mountainous region inaccessible by car. Our hardest hit communities have been relying on aerial deliveries for supplies, but a rancher from east of Charlotte decided to offer another route for resources, leading his dozen mules into hard-to-reach areas to deliver food, water and diapers.
Getting to these hard-to-reach areas is imperative, as hundreds of Western North Carolinians are still unaccounted for. The cell service outages and power blackouts are making it infinitely more difficult to locate missing people, but I know there are folks working around the clock to bring our friends and family safely home. So far, the National Guard has rescued over 400 residents, and they’re not going to stop searching anytime soon.
Reminder: If you are trying to connect with a friend or family member, you can call NC 211 (or 1-888-892-1162 if calling from out-of-state) to report missing loved ones or request a welfare check.
Additionally, people in the impacted areas can indicate that they are safe by reporting themselves safe through Red Cross Reunification by calling 1-800-RED-CROSS (1-800-733-2767).
Before I get to the update, I wanted to share one last resource for individuals with significant home damage. If your home has damages and you need assistance with clean up, please call Crisis Cleanup for access to volunteer organizations that can assist you at 844-965-1386.
Today is update number four, with more information to follow in the coming days. Please make sure to read everything and share it with your friends and family.
Food and Water
- Supplying drinkable water remains a top priority for emergency crews.
- 158 water systems are on a boil advisory, 46 plants have reported having no power, and 13 systems are out of water.
- Last night, Duke Energy reported they were able to return power to the Marion water supply.
- The State of North Carolina has promised 40 trailer loads of water and 20 trailer loads of food daily through at least October 6.
- Buncombe County has begun water distribution at multiple sites. Each will be available daily from 1:00-7:00 p.m:
- Pack Square Park - you MUST bring your own container for this site
- 80 Court Plz., Asheville, NC 28801
- William W. Estes Elementary School
- 275 Overlook Rd., Asheville, NC 28803
- Sand Hill-Venable Elementary
- 154 Sand Hill School Rd., Asheville, NC 28806
- North Windy Ridge Intermediate School
- 20 Doan Rd., Weaverville, NC 28787
- Fairview Elementary
- 1355 Charlotte Hwy., Fairview, NC 28730
- There are two major feeding sites in NC-11 where citizens can access food, water and basic necessities:
- Buncombe County
- Biltmore Baptist Church
- 35 Clayton Rd, Arden, NC 28704
- McDowell County
- Grace Community Church
- 5182 Hwy. 70 W., Marion, NC 28752
- Counties are beginning to stand up Resource Hub locations for water distribution and other supplies as they become available.
- Distribution began at 9:00 a.m., Tuesday, October 1, at the following locations:
- Etowah Elementary: 320 Etowah School Rd., Etowah, NC 28729
- Rugby Middle School: 3345 Haywood Rd., Hendersonville, NC 28791
- East Henderson High School: 150 Eagle Pride Dr., East Flat Rock, NC 28726
- North Henderson High School: 35 Fruitland Rd., Hendersonville, NC 28792
- Mills River Town Hall: 124 Town Center Dr., Mills River, NC 28759
- Fletcher Town Hall: 300 Old Cane Creek Rd., Fletcher, NC 28732
- Each family unit will be provided supplies for one day’s meal and water, as available.
- Individuals are asked to enter the drive-through and remain in your car unless otherwise instructed by volunteers to ensure an efficient process.
- As I learn of additional hubs, I will continue to update this list.
United States Postal Service
- As of late Monday, September 30, all mail delivery operations in the following three-digit ZIP code areas (any ZIP code beginning with these numbers) have been suspended:
- Additionally, operations at the facility below have been suspended:
- Rutherfordton: 130 E. Court St., Rutherfordton, NC 28139
Power and Gas
- 301,000 customers remain without power in Western North Carolina.
- 73 percent of all customers across the state have had their power restored and the citizens of WNC will be next.
- Duke Energy has restored power for 16 of the 17 hospitals that experienced outages as of 10:00 p.m. last night.
- Power to the Marion water supply has also been restored.
- In Asheville, damage assessments indicate 1,000 broken poles and 2,200 spans of primary are damaged.
- Duke Energy has not changed their anticipated restoration of service date.
- Most customers in Western North Carolina can expect the power to be back on by Friday, October 4.
- WARNING: Customers in areas that are inaccessible, dependent on infrastructure that has been destroyed or are unable to receive service, may see additional delays.
- Thousands of linemen are working day and night to clear debris, reopen roadways and repair major portions of the power grid.
Roads
- A “DO NOT DRIVE” message remains in place from the North Carolina Department of Transportation for Western North Carolina.
- Unless it is an emergency, please do not travel.
- Yesterday, NCDOT reported 220 roads remain closed in Western North Carolina.
- This morning, NCDOT announced that communication and access issues skewed their ability to collect information on road closures and an updated estimate of 300-400 roads are closed.
- Several crews from Florida are assisting in the repairs by bringing 7,500 feet of temporary bridge to NC.
- North Carolina is working with other states to determine additionally needed assets to mitigate compromised crossings and open more roads.
- NCDOT has reopened I-40 East at the location of the landslide near Old Fort.
- Individuals evacuating the Asheville area are able to use I-40 East or I-26 East.
Cell Service
- I have heard multiple reports of service weakening over the past 48 areas.
- This is expected, as more individuals are traveling to find cell service and temporary cellular assets are beginning to achieve maximum capacity.
- Service providers are continuing to deploy additional temporary cell sites to mitigate overwhelming the temporary network in locations where sites have already been deployed.
North Carolina National Guard
- 706 North Carolina National Guard soldiers and airmen have been deployed to provide support to Western North Carolina so far.
- This includes the deployment of 250 vehicles, such as High-Water Vehicles, Palletized Load Systems for commodity distribution and Forestry Support Teams for debris clearance, and 19 helicopters.
- Air missions are continuing in support of search and rescue, damage assessments and supply delivery.
- A bulk transport of supplies will be flown into Asheville via NC Air National Guard C-17 transport.
- So far, NCNG has:
- Provided 97,200 lbs of supplies by air transport
- Delivered 306 pallets of water and 230 pallets of food
- Conducted 60 hoist rescues
- Rescued 422 Western North Carolinians - 42 were critically injured, four were infants and 64 were animals.
- Here are a few key phone numbers from the NCNG:
- HOTLINE: 888-892-1162
- Emergency Management Watch: 919-733-3300
- Donated Goods: 919-825-2474
Asheville Regional Airport
- Asheville Regional Airport closed mid-day on Friday, September 27, due to risk of flooding.
- Commercial flights at Asheville Regional Airport have resumed.
- If you parked your car in an Asheville Regional Airport lot and could not retrieve the vehicle due to the storm, great news - none of the airport’s lots flooded and all cars are fine.
- Stay safe and pick up your car when you are able.
For NC-11 Medical Practices
- If you own a medical practice in NC-11 and are experiencing financial hardship due to Hurricane Helene, the North Carolina Medical Society will be reactivating its Financial Recovery Program (FRP) to help you recover and open your doors again.
- The FRP will be back online to provide much needed assistance soon.
- More information to follow.
For Local Government Resource Requests
- For county leaders: This is a reminder to make sure your Emergency Operation Center has submitted the request for gasoline, food, water, cell service deployables, etc. with North Carolina Emergency Management to have your request processed and resources delivered.
- My office stands ready to assist with checking the status of your request if the county or municipality has not heard back from NC Emergency Management within 24 hours.
For Individual Assistance through FEMA
North Carolina received a Major Disaster Declaration for the following counties: Buncombe, Clay, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Polk, Rutherford, Transylvania, and Yancey Counties and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
If you reside in one of the above-listed counties and had damage to private property due to Hurricane Helene, you may be eligible for Individual Assistance through the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Individual Assistance provides financial aid and services to eligible individuals and households that have been affected by a disaster to assist with the recovery process. Individuals can officially begin applying for Individual Assistance online at www.DisasterAssistance.gov, or by calling the application phone number at 1-800-621-3362 (TTY: 800-462-7585) between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. EST.
- To date, over 10,000 survivors have registered with FEMA for Individual Assistance.
- FEMA has also approved two new programs for use in NC:
- Displacement Assistance - Provides immediate housing for up to 14 days
- Serious Needs Assistance - Provides immediate financial assistance to replace and recover financial needs.
To Connect With a Loved One
Residents trying to connect with family members may call NC 211 (or 1-888-892-1162 if calling from out-of-state) to report missing loved ones or request a welfare check.
Additionally, people in the impacted areas can indicate that they are safe by reporting themselves safe through Red Cross Reunification by calling 1-800-RED-CROSS (1-800-733-2767).
- Please only use 911 for life-threatening emergencies so the lines remain open for critical situations.
Shelters
- For those unable to evacuate to a safe location or in need of a place to go, the following shelters are currently open and available as of October 1:
- Buncombe
- A-B Technical Community College
- 340 Victoria Rd., Asheville, NC 28801
- WNC Agricultural Center
- 1301 Fanning Bridge Rd., Fletcher, NC 28732
- Haywood
- Haywood County Government Armory
- 285 Armory Dr., Clyde, NC 28781
- Henderson
- Edneyville Elementary School
- 2875 Pace Rd., Hendersonville, NC 28792
- Henderson County Recreation Center
- 708 S. Grove St., Hendersonville, NC 28792
- Madison
- Madison County Wellness Center
- 5734 US 25-70 Hwy., Marshall, NC 28752
- McDowell
- McDowell County Senior Center
- 100 Spaulding Rd., Marion, NC 28752
- YMCA of Western North Carolina
- 348 Grace Corpening Dr, Marion, NC 28752
- Polk
- Polk County High School
- 1681 NC 108 Highway E., Columbus, NC 28722
- Rutherford
- Rutherfordton/Spindale Central High School
- 641 US 221 Hwy. N., Rutherfordton, NC 28139
- Transylvania
- Pisgah Forest Baptist Church
- 494 Hendersonville Hwy., Pisgah Forest, NC 28768
- Transylvania Parks & Rec
- 1078 Ecusta Rd, Brevard, NC 28712
- Yancey
- Blue Ridge Elementary
- 910 Cane River School Rd, Burnsville, NC 28714
With my warmest regards,
Chuck Edwards
Member of Congress |