How it ought to work
Thousands of people, government agencies, military, and private volunteers, responded to Hurricane Helene’s devastation in western North Carolina. Don’t let the People of the Lie tell you otherwise.
The official death count here is mounting. Our county sheriff reports over 70 so far. Search and rescue teams expect to find more victims among the tangles of branches and debris left behind by the flooding.
Neighbors helping neighbors
Not only is the military here, but an army of volunteers.
Drew Reisinger, Buncombe County Register of Deeds, turned his office into a relief center for coordinating welfare checks on thousands of people unaccounted for (mostly because of lack of cell service, thankfully). Many of those processing incoming reports worked remotely.
Everyone has heard that Asheville’s drinking water system will be down for weeks, so they’re sending in cases of bottled water. And cases. And cases. And cases.
Thank you. What they’re missing is you can’t flush your toilet (or bathe) with bottled water. (The city’s waste treatment plant never went offline.) So for the elderly and less mobile, another immediate need is water for flushing. These volunteers responded.
Family Assistance Center Oct. 6 – Final Summary
2,685 volunteers — managed by a team of hundreds of volunteers — through the Family Assistance Center at the Buncombe Co. Register of Deeds deployed to check and re-check 15,982 high priority households with 10,000+ care packages distributed and
4,413 toilets flushed. 13,049 of our neighbors confirmed safe and sound by volunteers, and via email and text, as of Sunday, October 6, 2024.
It’s been a bittersweet week since Hurricane Helene hit Western North Carolina. Homes and lives were lost. People and pets displaced. There was no water, no electricity, and no communication for hundreds of thousands of people. Despite the sudden, tragic devastation, the good people of Buncombe Co. stepped up to help one another. In just eight days, thousands of volunteers, tasked with checking on tens of thousands of our neighbors, made their way to the far reaches of the county to deliver food and water, render emergency aid, flush toilets, and relay the good news — their loved ones were safe and sound.
The Family Assistance Center will close on Sunday, October 6th. As we rebuild, our community will have many needs in the coming weeks. You can find more local volunteer opportunities at bit.ly/4eRc5kZ
Volunteers, from near and far, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Join our Facebook group: FlushingAwesome
To report a missing person, please contact the Buncombe Co. Sheriff’s Department at (828) 250-6650.
Today’s Good News
A father and daughter volunteer team found an individual in extreme distress. He was in the middle of a stroke. They immediately took him to a hospital. Just a few hours later, doctors reported, he would’ve died. Today he was able to visit his children who had to climb trees to avoid the flooding.
Former Asheville resident and current Pittsburgh resident, Adam Casto — employing advanced AI tools — processed 6,477 unique emails and voicemails, automatically extrapolating the data into spreadsheets.
Asheville native and Missouri resident, Emily Woodall, and the Remote Data Team of 70+ active volunteers from across the country — and Finland — processed 2,000+ emails and 730 voicemails — one by one — and called, texted, and emailed 630 grateful loved ones.
Emily writes, “The most surreal moment of this experience was Saturday, Sept. 28th as I was watching emails come into the buncombesearch gmail account. People were reporting dire situations. With everyone in Asheville and WNC literally in the dark, I realized in that moment I was the only one reading these messages, and besides sending them our form, all I could do in that moment was to bear witness to this unimaginable situation. To be able to grow our remote efforts from that very lonely experience to a team of more than 70+ volunteers, to see the deep love for WNC pour in from across the country, has been one of the best experiences of my life and probably the best thing I’ve ever done.”
FYI: After nine and a half days, my power came back on Suday night about five p.m. Made coffee with bottled water. We’re still tapping springs and creeks for flushing water.
