Western North Carolina reopens, though still with many struggles

Just over 4,000 customers in two North Carolina counties remained without power Sunday afternoon in the wake of Hurricane Helene.

The storm, a Category 4 hurricane when it hit Florida’s Big Bend, is tied to more deaths in the state than any other. An exact total of fatalities in the southeast has varied, though only three hurricanes have been responsible for more since 1950.

The Department of Health and Human Services, in its update Sunday, said 95 have died in North Carolina.

Entering a fourth week of recovery, U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards, R-N.C., on Sunday said “all of western North Carolina is open for business. This includes Buncombe, Madison, Swain and Yancey counties, as well as all of Henderson, Polk and Rutherford counties.”

Edwards, congressman for one of the hardest hit areas by the storm in the Southeast, said in his message the “do not travel” advisory has ended and there is “a milestone of more than 200 wastewater treatment centers operating normal” across his 11th Congressional District.

According to PowerOutage.us, Yancey County has 3,160 outages and Mitchell County 992. Both are on the Tennessee border just north of Buncombe County, where 42 lost their lives. Eleven died in Yancey County.

Assistance has poured into the state through the federal and state governments, and public entities such as faith and civic organizations. Twelve different states are represented among more than 3,600 soldiers, airmen and National Guardsmen. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has paid more than $114 million in individual assistance funds already to more than 193,000 people, and 5,300 have been helped in transitional sheltering, a release from the governor says.

In emergency management, more than 1,600 responders from 39 state and local agencies have been on 146 missions. This would include search dogs, veterinarians and public health nurses in addition to emergency management teams.

Road closures due to Helene is down to 493, according to DriveNC.org. Notably, it is only two interstates and 416 secondary roads. There are 33 federal highway closures and 42 state roads.

Edwards on Sunday said the U.S. House of Representatives would be passing a disaster relief package upon return to session in November. He said only 21 post offices, about 10%, remain closed in the western part of the state.