contender
Ruger Guru
Six weeks ago,, we here in WNC awoke to destruction, total devastation, loss of life, and infrastructure destruction that hasn't been seen here since 1916. Hurricane Helene added to an already very wet area & dumped as much as 30" of rain in places to cause flooding & mudslides all over WNC. Here in WNC over 100 dead alone. And other places suffered as well.
Roads were not just damaged a little,, but large portions were totally destroyed. From small places to even a couple of major interstates. The small town of Chimney Rock was pretty much gone. The town of Lake Lure,, received the huge amount of debris from the several valleys that washed everything down the mountains.
Asheville,, and a section called Swannanoa, Garren Creek, (where 11 members of 1 family died,) Burnsville & many other places were heavily damaged or destroyed. Many of y'all saw a lot of it on TV, but that really didn't do it justice.
Roads gone, bridges gone. Power out. Phone & internet services out. Water & sewer treatment plants destroyed or heavily damaged. Unable to flush a toilet, get water for even basic needs became critical.
The town of Lake Lure's sewer treatment plant, much of it destroyed. A "NO FLUSH" order for the entire town. Asheville's main water treatment plant & many miles of supply lines damaged or gone.
But here we are 6 weeks later.
Many of the easier to fix smaller roads have some form of repairs,, but there are still MANY roads shut down due to heavy damages & bridges out. One interstate has a partial repair,, but only using for local residential traffic only. The other interstate,, it'll be around 3 YEARS before it re-opens.
Just yesterday,, I had to work in the Asheville area, and had to detour around (3) different places that are still closed due to washed out roads. This doesn't count the fact that 3 other roads are going to be out for many months causing me to travel much further just to get to Asheville.
Power is mostly restored in most areas except for those single, more isolated places stuck in very out of the way places. Local energy suppliers allow that "Approximately 95% of our customers now have power."
Cell phone service has been mostly restored after several towers required rebuilding or major repairs. But due to some damages,, there are still emergency mobile smaller towers all over WNC.
Internet,, still out in many, many places.
Water.
Lake Lure was finally able to lift the "no flush" order about a week ago.
Asheville, STILL doesn't have drinkable water, and many sections of the city still do not have any water supply.
Yesterday,, I went to a friends restaurant, that sits just across the street from the Asheville VA hospital. They have had to switch to just using paper plated & bowls, plastic utensils, bottled drinks etc just to be open. Still no potable water & the sewer system is operational, but water is still a big issue. They still have a long way to go to restore a safe water system for the city & much of the surrounding areas. Even many of the wells are testing bad due to contaminates.
Roads & safe travels are still a long way off to be somewhat normal. One road they had repairs as quickly as they could,, suffered a sinkhole collapse just a few days ago, once again, shutting down a road that thousands are trying to use to get around. It took (2) days,, but a temporary repair has been done. But many, many more still need replacement or repairs.
Debris.
As I tried going to a job,, I was diverted around a few detours due to road closures,, and everywhere I went,, piles & piles of debris that's ready for pick-up by clean up crews were seen. And in many, many other places,, due to the damages & debris in places NOT critical to daily life haven't been touched yet. Hundreds of thousands of trees still need cutting up & removed all over. Pieces of human lives are scattered all over,, including way up in trees where the water had reached. Pavement is covered in dirt or mud in many places still.
We are years away from this area looking more like a "normal" town or village or whatever.
But to give credit where it's due.
Tens of thousands of volunteers from all over the USA AND even Canada,, rushed to our aid. Bringing life saving supplies, fixing things, rescuing people, feeding people, sheltering people, restoring as many basics as they could. And while many of them have been able to go back home or heavily reduce their presence here,, there are still a lot of people from all over still working hard to fix as much as they can. I am humbled at the HUGE amount of support we received in our area.
Even President Trump mentioned us in his speech Tuesday night, (actually very early Wed morning,) how he saw the devastation, and how he spoke with Elon Musk about getting Starlink here. Elon did a lot as well, and many were able to get critical communication services very quickly.
And this is NOT political. But it's been PEOPLE,, not the government that has done the bulk of the work we desperately needed quickly. Neighbors helping neighbors. Strangers dropping their personal lives to rush to our aid. And to everyone who donated money, or came here, or know someone who helped us,, THANK YOU!!!!!
Roads were not just damaged a little,, but large portions were totally destroyed. From small places to even a couple of major interstates. The small town of Chimney Rock was pretty much gone. The town of Lake Lure,, received the huge amount of debris from the several valleys that washed everything down the mountains.
Asheville,, and a section called Swannanoa, Garren Creek, (where 11 members of 1 family died,) Burnsville & many other places were heavily damaged or destroyed. Many of y'all saw a lot of it on TV, but that really didn't do it justice.
Roads gone, bridges gone. Power out. Phone & internet services out. Water & sewer treatment plants destroyed or heavily damaged. Unable to flush a toilet, get water for even basic needs became critical.
The town of Lake Lure's sewer treatment plant, much of it destroyed. A "NO FLUSH" order for the entire town. Asheville's main water treatment plant & many miles of supply lines damaged or gone.
But here we are 6 weeks later.
Many of the easier to fix smaller roads have some form of repairs,, but there are still MANY roads shut down due to heavy damages & bridges out. One interstate has a partial repair,, but only using for local residential traffic only. The other interstate,, it'll be around 3 YEARS before it re-opens.
Just yesterday,, I had to work in the Asheville area, and had to detour around (3) different places that are still closed due to washed out roads. This doesn't count the fact that 3 other roads are going to be out for many months causing me to travel much further just to get to Asheville.
Power is mostly restored in most areas except for those single, more isolated places stuck in very out of the way places. Local energy suppliers allow that "Approximately 95% of our customers now have power."
Cell phone service has been mostly restored after several towers required rebuilding or major repairs. But due to some damages,, there are still emergency mobile smaller towers all over WNC.
Internet,, still out in many, many places.
Water.
Lake Lure was finally able to lift the "no flush" order about a week ago.
Asheville, STILL doesn't have drinkable water, and many sections of the city still do not have any water supply.
Yesterday,, I went to a friends restaurant, that sits just across the street from the Asheville VA hospital. They have had to switch to just using paper plated & bowls, plastic utensils, bottled drinks etc just to be open. Still no potable water & the sewer system is operational, but water is still a big issue. They still have a long way to go to restore a safe water system for the city & much of the surrounding areas. Even many of the wells are testing bad due to contaminates.
Roads & safe travels are still a long way off to be somewhat normal. One road they had repairs as quickly as they could,, suffered a sinkhole collapse just a few days ago, once again, shutting down a road that thousands are trying to use to get around. It took (2) days,, but a temporary repair has been done. But many, many more still need replacement or repairs.
Debris.
As I tried going to a job,, I was diverted around a few detours due to road closures,, and everywhere I went,, piles & piles of debris that's ready for pick-up by clean up crews were seen. And in many, many other places,, due to the damages & debris in places NOT critical to daily life haven't been touched yet. Hundreds of thousands of trees still need cutting up & removed all over. Pieces of human lives are scattered all over,, including way up in trees where the water had reached. Pavement is covered in dirt or mud in many places still.
We are years away from this area looking more like a "normal" town or village or whatever.
But to give credit where it's due.
Tens of thousands of volunteers from all over the USA AND even Canada,, rushed to our aid. Bringing life saving supplies, fixing things, rescuing people, feeding people, sheltering people, restoring as many basics as they could. And while many of them have been able to go back home or heavily reduce their presence here,, there are still a lot of people from all over still working hard to fix as much as they can. I am humbled at the HUGE amount of support we received in our area.
Even President Trump mentioned us in his speech Tuesday night, (actually very early Wed morning,) how he saw the devastation, and how he spoke with Elon Musk about getting Starlink here. Elon did a lot as well, and many were able to get critical communication services very quickly.
And this is NOT political. But it's been PEOPLE,, not the government that has done the bulk of the work we desperately needed quickly. Neighbors helping neighbors. Strangers dropping their personal lives to rush to our aid. And to everyone who donated money, or came here, or know someone who helped us,, THANK YOU!!!!!
