With more than a week passed since Hurricane Helene hammered Western North Carolina, local officials are stressing that while there are a lot of people and supplies right now, there will be a continued need for support in the coming weeks, months and even years.
“We want people to kind of pace themselves because we think there’s gonna be needs out there in these impacted areas and in our county for a while, so we want to make sure people don’t ‘donate, donate, donate’ for the first week or so and then they drop off after that and people still have needs that are unmet after that,” Macon County Emergency Services Director Warren Cabe said.
He encouraged people to think of it as “a marathon instead of a sprint” and mentioned that following Hurricane Ivan in 2004 it took a year or two before everything returned to “normal.”
“We were using some of that [Hurricane Ivan] money as late as a couple of years ago,” Cabe said. We still had a little money sitting there and stuff would still pop up, particularly when we did some repair and relocation programs.”
Overall, Cabe said Macon County could have been way worse. The county has one confirmed death from the storm: Macon County Sheriff’s Deputy Jim Lau, whose truck ended up in the Cullasaja River during the storm.
Cabe said one family was put in a hotel, while unhoused families got accommodations through friends or family. That family was still in a hotel as of early this week.
There are roughly 300 outages left for Haywood EMC, mostly in the N.C. 106 vicinity and in Otto, and virtually none for Duke Energy. Cabe said most of the Highlands outages were restored on Friday, Oct. 4.
As far as damage numbers, Cabe stated Tuesday that two residential structures are now uninhabitable, 24 will require extensive repairs, 28 will require some repair and three others need some minor repairs. Those numbers could increase as vacation/second homeowners check on their properties in the coming weeks, specifically in Highlands.
Cabe said there will be FEMA representatives in the area this week setting up locations where locals can get help in applying for disaster assistance. Dates and time of the FEMA Disaster Recovery Centers will be announced when available. Macon County Sheriff Brent Holbrooks said FEMA staff will have identifiable information and insignia on their shirts and vehicles.
Hurricane Helene brought record-breaking rainfall to Western North Carolina on Sept. 26-28. Coming in right after heavy rains in the days beforehand, Helene’s rains caused catastrophic damage to areas east and northeast of Macon County as rivers and creeks swelled to never-before-seen levels, destroying countless homes, causing massive road washouts and untold landslides.
So far, across multiple states, over 200 people are dead. That number is expected to rise as crews make their way house by house over a disaster area spanning more than 10,000 square miles of mostly mountain terrain.
Donation and distribution center opens
On Monday, Oct. 7, Macon County opened a Hurricane Helene donation and distribution center at the vacant Ingles building in Holly Springs Shopping Center. The center will be open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. through Friday, Oct. 11, subject to change.
The Macon County Sheriff’s Office said their donation efforts are now at the vacant Ingles, as well as all other county government agencies.
Some of the new items needed for donation include toilet paper, paper towels, diapers, toothbrushes, toothpaste, grab-and-go non-perishable food items, infant food, pet food, towels, cleaning wipes, work gloves, flashlights, batteries, first aid kits, garbage bags, unopened socks, unopened underwear, personal hygiene products, gas cans and can openers.
Cabe asked that people bringing supplies into Macon County make sure they have a destination for their stuff before getting here, so it doesn’t go to waste.
“We want to connect the best possible help to those who need it,” Cabe said. “We don’t want to take help here that could provide better to folks who need it more than we do.”
An email has been established for residents to submit unmet needs and other requests. Send information to Heleneneeds@maconnc.org and the request or information will be routed to the most appropriate agency, department or individual.
Schools resume in Macon County
Buses rumbled down Macon County’s roads the morning of Oct. 3, signaling a return to the classroom after a week away. Sports resumed on Thursday with Franklin High’s women’s tennis team hosting Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School.
Southwestern Community College reopened all its locations Monday, Oct. 7, including its Franklin campus. Western Carolina University partially reopened Oct. 4, with classes set to resume on Monday, Oct. 21. WCU hosted a home football game on Saturday, Oct. 5, but with no fans or tailgating allowed.
Grocery stores, gas stations returning to normal
In the days after Helene, there was concern about the availability of gasoline in Macon County. Lines formed at the few stations that had gasoline. Local grocery store management wondered about getting new trucks coming in.
After a week, gas supply has mostly returned to normal, Cabe said. And despite the Ingles distribution center in Asheville being flooded, most stores are well stocked this week, despite shortages of some items.
Tipping fees waived
On Oct. 3, Macon County Commissioners’ Board Chair Gary Shields signed an amendment to the state of emergency to waive all tipping and transfer fees at the landfill and transfer station in Highlands “for disaster related vegetative and other debris.”
Angel Medical Center spared
Angel Medical Center CEO Clint Kendall said that the hospital fared well during the storm, with all staff accounted for. The hospital never lost internet service and at times the parking lot was full of people using the hospital’s WiFi.
HCA Healthcare set up mini marts inside its hospitals to help its employees with free groceries, including food, water and toiletries, as well as laundry, sleep and shower facilities when needed.
The company has pledged to donate $1 million through community organizations to aid in relief efforts in North Carolina.
Lack of a shelter
Macon County chose not to open a shelter during the storm, which some have criticized.
When asked about the county not opening any shelters, Cabe pointed to the Downtown Door, which is operated by the nonprofit No Wrong Door from a building the Town of Franklin owns. Downtown Door was open Thursday and Friday nights, Sept. 26-27.
“We thought we were covered with that as it looked like the impacts weren’t going to be as severe,” Cabe said of that decision.
Cabe said the county had a block of hotel rooms available, saying it was more economical and easier to put displaced families there than in a shelter.
“Usually, shelters are at the schools and it would require pulling county staff away from normal jobs,” Cabe said. “And it displaces the school system.”
Cabe said private organizations offered to set up shelters but he felt like they weren’t needed in Macon County.
Another question was the lack of evacuation orders. Cabe said at the coast, there are evacuation plans as there’s typically one way the hurricanes come in.
“It’s not effective here because we don’t know what direction the hurricane is coming from, Cabe said of potential evacuation routes.
Looking back, Cabe said he’s sure there were things emergency management could improve but said it’s hard to be 100% prepared for a hurricane in the mountains.
“We feel we met the needs of our citizens to the best of our abilities,” Cabe said.