It’s official: Helene’s rainfall, flooding broke all-time records
Oct 4, 2024 · In terms of rainfall, flooding, and, tragically, lives lost, Hurricane Helene is officially worse than the historic 1916 and 2004 floods that until last week stood as the most damaging natural disasters in recorded Buncombe County history, according to state climate data. “I just kind of assumed that … we wouldn’t ever actually see another […]
Why did Swannanoa become Helene's 'ground zero'? Deadly …
Oct 22, 2024 · The floodwaters rose so fast at Thanh Bui’s house the morning of Sept. 27, she had to swim to safety. Bui, 55, and her 30-year-old son, Quintin Ho, had been up much of the night, monitoring the howling winds and rainfall of Tropical Storm Helene. Ho periodically checked the yard of their home on Asheville […]
The lives we lost: Helene took entire families, couples, children
Oct 19, 2024 · They perished under the most harrowing circumstances: entire families swept away by raging floodwaters, couples tossed out of their homes or crushed as the land underneath gave way, people battling diseases unable to access the treatments that kept them alive. The devastating, heartbreaking picture of the lives lost in Buncombe to Tropical Storm Helene, a […]
March toward normal turbidity continues, as third coagulation …
Nov 13, 2024 · A third round of in-reservoir turbidity treatment started Wednesday at the North Fork Reservoir, as a crucial measurement on the path toward potable water continues to drop. Water Resources Department spokesperson Clay Chandler said at Wednesday’s daily Helene briefing that the turbidity measurement, Nephelometric Turbidity Units (NTUs), stood at 14.8 in the morning. A week […]
Asheville’s main water source continues to clear; contract awarded …
Nov 8, 2024 · Asheville’s North Fork Reservoir will get another turbidity-reducing mineral treatment next week, as the lake’s murkiness continues to decline. At Friday’s daily Tropical Storm Helene briefing, Asheville Water Resources spokesperson Clay Chandler said the key turbidity level dropped again since Wednesday, falling below 17 Nephelometric Turbidity Units (NTUs) by Friday morning, about a 1 ...
FEMA aid pours in: Which areas are getting the most money?
Nov 15, 2024 · Based on images of devastating flooding and national news reports showing parts of Asheville under water, you might assume residents in the hardest-hit areas of Buncombe County would be getting the most help from FEMA for Tropical Storm Helene. But Burnsville in Yancey County is actually at the top of that list, followed by an […]
The lives we lost: At least 3 of 43 fatalities in Buncombe were ...
Nov 21, 2024 · Asheville Watchdog is bringing you the stories behind the staggering loss of life from Helene, the children, parents, grandparents, multiple generations of a single family, all gone in one of the worst natural disasters to hit the mountains of western North Carolina. This is the seventh installment. Buncombe County’s homeless advocates feared the worst: Helene […]
City starting to repressurize water system in eastern Buncombe, …
Oct 12, 2024 · While the City of Asheville crossed a milestone this week by reconnecting a major bypass valve at North Fork Reservoir that can feed the entire system, officials cautioned that full restoration is still weeks away. Contractors continue to repair the distribution system, which includes miles of pipes often left in disarray by Helene’s floodwaters on […]
Buncombe air quality post-Helene has not been affected greatly …
Nov 13, 2024 · Six weeks after Tropical Storm Helene, sludge from roiling floodwaters has turned into sunbaked dust, brought on by an extended warm, dry spell and repair crews trying to make Asheville and surrounding areas whole again. Overall particulate levels have not been unhealthy, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s daily index, but …
Asheville Mayor, Buncombe officials among delegation headed to …
Nov 19, 2024 · Carrying a list of staggering losses and needs and initial requests totaling more than $2 billion, public officials from Asheville and Buncombe County will travel to Washington, D.C., on Wednesday to ask federal agencies and Congressional representatives to “add a zero” to the amount of federal aid for storm-ravaged western North Carolina. The delegation of […]