NC Insurance Commissioner comes to Ashe County

ASHE COUNTY — North Carolina Department of Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey made a stop in Ashe County on Oct. 2 to speak to business owners and residents that were greatly impacted by Hurricane Helene.

Causey began his visit by stopping in at the Ashe County Airport to see the incredible amount of volunteer work that has been ongoing as pilots from all over had been flying in supplies to help the citizens of Ashe County. Causey also stopped at the local Farm Bureau office and visited downtown Lansing as part of his trip to the county.

“NCDOI is coordinating with law enforcement agencies, emergency management, fire departments, rescue squads, charities, churches and civic groups to do everything we can at the state and local level to assist the victims. NCDOI will be coordinating on ways to reach those on the ground with insurance claims and other needs in the coming days and weeks,” Causey said in a statement.

By the end of the day on Wednesday, over 400 plane loads of supplies had landed at the airport with volunteers waiting to unload the supplies and store them in empty hangar space. After this, volunteers would then load vehicles to travel to other areas of the county with these much-needed supplies.

Fire and rescue departments from all across the state and region came to Ashe County to aid local departments with search-and-rescue operations, swift water rescues, welfare checks and supply delivery.

According to Ashe County Emergency Management, the departments and organizations that helped with many of these operations included Ashe County DSS, Ashe County Emergency Management, Ashe County Rescue Squad, Ashe County Schools, Ashe Medics, Broadway Fire Department, Creston Volunteer Fire Department, Deep Gap Volunteer Fire Department, Fleetwood Volunteer Fire Department, Glendale Springs Volunteer Fire Department, Jefferson Volunteer Fire Department, Lansing Volunteer Fire Department, Laurel Springs Volunteer Fire Department, Millers Creek Fire Department, Monroe USAR, Mooresville SWRT, Mooresville USAR, Moravian Falls Fire Department, Mount Airy Rescue, NC Department of Transportation, NC Forest Service, New River Volunteer Fire Department, North Wilkes Fire Department, Pond Mountain Volunteer Fire Department, Todd Volunteer Fire Department, Traphill Volunteer Fire Department, Virginia Task Force I, Warrensville Volunteer Fire Department, West Jefferson Volunteer Fire Department, Wilbar Fire Department, Wilkes County Rescue Squad and Yadkin County Rescue Squad.