The remnants of Hurricane Helene left North Carolina’s largest mountain town isolated Saturday by damaged roads and a lack of electricity and cell phone service, part of a swathe of destruction through southern Appalachia that left an unknown number of dead and left scores of concerned relatives unresponsive. were able to reach loved ones.
The storm spread misery across western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee, where authorities used a helicopter Friday to rescue dozens of people from the roof of a flooded hospital. In North Carolina alone, more than 400 roads remained closed Saturday as the waters began to recede, revealing the extent of the damage.
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North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said supplies were being shipped to that part of the state. Buncombe County officials said Interstate 26 between Asheville and South Carolina had reopened, but most other routes into the city were impassable.
Among those rescued from the rising waters was nurse Janetta Barfield, whose car was flooded Friday morning as she left a night shift at Asheville’s Mission Hospital. She said she saw a car driving through standing water in front of her and thought it was safe to continue driving. But her car stopped and within minutes the front seat was filled up to her chest with water. A nearby police officer helped her to safety.
“It was unbelievable how fast that creek became in just five minutes,” Barfield said.
Early Saturday morning, many gas stations were closed because they had no electricity, and the few that were open had hour-long lines that stretched around the block. Where traffic lights were dark, motorists treated the intersections as four-way stops. The tourism and arts hub, home to about 94,000 people, was unusually quiet after flooding inundated neighborhoods known for their footfall, including Biltmore Village and the River Arts District, home to numerous galleries, shops and breweries. be found.
More than 700,000 customers were without power across North Carolina, including about 100,000 in Buncombe County.
In Asheville, there was no cell service and no timeline for recovery. Residents were also ordered to boil their water. Local officials said they were setting up hubs to distribute food and water.
“We have lost some lives,” County Emergency Services Director Van Taylor Jones told reporters. However, he said they were unwilling to provide details because communication disruptions hampered their ability to contact relatives. Police Chief Michael Lamb said his department had a list of about 60 people who had been unable to reach family members and were seeking welfare checks.
On Saturday evening, the governor’s office confirmed 10 storm deaths statewide, but did not provide an overview of where they occurred.
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Officials said they tried to prepare for the storm, but its magnitude was greater than they could have imagined.
“It’s not that we weren’t prepared, but this goes to another level,” said Sheriff Quentin Miller. “To say this caught us off guard would be an understatement.”
Atlanta resident Francine Cavanaugh said she has not been able to reach her sister, son or friends in the Asheville area.
“My sister came to see me yesterday morning to ask how I was doing in Atlanta,” she said on Saturday. “The storm just hit her in Asheville, and she said it sounded really scary outside.”
Cavanaugh said her sister told her she was going out to check on guests at a vacation cabin, “and that was the last I heard from her.” I texted everyone I know but no response. All calls go straight to voicemail.”
About 30 miles southeast of Asheville, in the town of Edneyville, Genevieve Preece was grateful that her family’s home was largely spared and still had water, power and Wi-Fi. Many neighbors were less fortunate.
Preece, a utility company owner, opened her home as a refuge for people who needed to fill water jugs or connect with concerned relatives. Her husband spent hours cutting down trees to clear roads with neighbors.
“We desperately need help, but we are all doing what we can,” Preece said. “It will be months or years before we get back together.”
In Tennessee, Gov. Bill Lee and other officials toured the northeastern part of the state by helicopter on Saturday. He called the scene “heartbreaking.”
“There’s a lot of damage, a lot of heartache, and a lot of work to be done,” Lee said.
U.S. Rep. Diana Harshbarger expressed her disbelief at the extent of the damage.
“It’s something we’ve never seen in this part of the state. Who would have thought a hurricane would cause so much damage in East Tennessee?”
In Greene County, Tennessee, the threat of a stressed dam was over Saturday afternoon. The Tennessee Valley Authority, which had warned residents overnight that the Nolichucky Dam could breach, said a thorough assessment showed the dam was “stable and safe.” It was one of many that were closely monitored.
Along the Pigeon River, the small city of Newport, Tennessee was hit by severe flooding.
Kendale Ball, who opened his Simpl Cafe in June after moving from Knoxville, said the water was almost thigh high.
“We never expected it to be this devastating,” he said of the storm.
They tried to move some equipment before the flooding, but left the city when an emergency evacuation was ordered.
“I know we lost our walk-in cooler and all the refrigeration. We’ll have to assess some other things.”
In Unicoi County, where people were rescued from the hospital, Elin Fisher and her husband had to move their RV three times to stay ahead of rising waters. They also helped move eight other campers.
“We moved things and said, ‘Oh, we’re 30 feet above the waterline,’ went to help someone else move their thing to that level, and said, ‘Oh.’ We have to move again.’ And it just happened really, really fast,” said Fisher, who teaches stand-up whitewater paddleboarding on the Nolichucky River with her husband. Midway through the final move, officials closed the road.
“All our belongings and our house are on the other side of the river, and we can’t get to them,” she said.
Loller reported from Nashville and Walker from Newport, Tennessee. Associated Press writer RJ Rico in Atlanta contributed.
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