Latest updates from western NC after Helene: Death toll, power outages, road closures

Days after Helene made landfall in Florida late Thursday night as a Category 4 hurricane , many communities in western North Carolina are dealing with the storm’s devastating aftermath.

Hundreds of thousands of Duke Energy customers in western North Carolina and South Carolina were still without power as of Sunday, Sept. 29, the company said in a press release . Meanwhile, several highways were washed out or destroyed by the storm.

As electric companies, power plants and emergency personnel continue with recovery efforts, here’s what you need to know on Monday, Sept. 30.

Death toll from Helene continues to rise

In North Carolina, 34 storm-related deaths have been confirmed, according to a Sept. 30 press release from the office of Gov. Roy Cooper.

“There are significant reports of storm-related fatalities,” according to the press release, and the office of the state medical examiner will continue to confirm the reports.

A portion of those occurred in Buncombe County , where at least 30 people have died as a result of Helene, Sheriff Quentin Miller said in a press briefing Sunday, Sept. 29.

Two deputies in western North Carolina have died as a result of the dangerous conditions caused by the storm. A deputy from the Macon County Sheriff’s Office and a deputy from the Madison County Sheriff’s Office died “in raging flood waters,” the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association wrote in a social media post Sept. 29.

Overall, at least 107 people in six states have died , AP News reported around 11 a.m. Monday, Sept. 30.

More than 600 people are unaccounted for , President Joe Biden said Sept. 30.

How many people are still without power in western NC?

While Duke Energy has restored power to more than 1.1 million customers affected by the storm in the Carolinas, there are still nearly as many who are without power.

As of 6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 29, around 508,000 people in South Carolina and 396,000 in North Carolina — mostly in the western regions of each state — still lacked power.

Use Duke Energy’s map to track outages .

When will power be restored in western NC?

“Based on what we can see on the ground, from helicopter and by drone, there are lots of areas across the South Carolina Upstate and North Carolina mountains where we’re going to have to completely rebuild parts of our system , not just repair it,” Jason Hollifield, Duke Energy storm director for the Carolinas, said in a Sept. 29 press release. “And there are stretches of damage that we still can’t even assess due to mudslides, flooding and blocked roads.”

Helene damaged Duke Energy’s infrastructure, submerging substations and toppling utility poles and transmission towers.

Restoring power to the hardest-hit areas could take “ several days or longer ,” according to the press release. Duke Energy restores power first to public health and safety facilities, but it also considers how to restore service to the greatest number of customers.

The company can’t restore power to homes or businesses that have been flooded until the electrical system passes inspection by an electrician.

Which roads are closed in western NC?

The North Carolina Department of Transportation said all roads in western North Carolina should be considered closed , and “non-emergency travel is prohibited,” The News & Observer previously reported .

• Parts of Interstate 40 are “impassable ,” according to NCDOT.
• Near the Tennessee border, Interstate 40 has been washed out, and Interstate 26 is closed .
• All of US 276 and US 64 are closed in Transylvania County, according to NCDOT.
• Two bridges leading to Burnsville , a town in Yancey County northeast of Asheville, have been damaged, former N.C. Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr shared on X .

NC towns and cities destroyed by flooding

▪ Roads and buildings in the village of Chimney Rock were swept away by the flooding , a resident captured in a video .

▪ Many businesses in Asheville’s River Arts District , a popular cultural hub, were destroyed by the flooding, according to the Asheville Citizen-Times .

▪ The Old Marshall Jail Hotel in Marshall regained internet access on Sept. 29 and shared an update on the situation in the town. “We are safe but the town of Marshall is destroyed,” the hotel wrote in an Instagram post. “Whole buildings are gone. All the businesses are destroyed.”

▪ Southeast of Asheville, the Lake Lure Dam nearly failed, the National Weather Service shared on X around 11 a.m. Sept. 27. Water crested the dam, but Josh Kastrinsky, a spokesperson for the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality, said it continued to hold despite structural damage, The Charlotte Observer previously reported .

Lake Lure Dam is now stable, and emergency repairs are set to begin, The N&O reported .

Recovery efforts from Red Cross, NC National Guard

As of the evening of Sept. 29, there were more than 30 shelters with more than 1,000 people looking for refuge in the Carolinas, according to a Red Cross press release , and the organization is working to increase its shelter footprint.

Along with providing refuge, the Red Cross is also increasing its mass care services such as food, health and mental health care, and relief supplies.

Gov. Roy Cooper has activated more than 400 personnel from the National Guard, according to a Sept. 30 press release. Search and rescue teams have rescued more than 500 people, and 422 of them were rescued by the North Carolina National Guard.

On Sept. 28, President Joe Biden approved a “major disaster” declaration for North Carolina, which will allow the Federal Emergency Management Agency to supply additional help quicker to people who need it. Federal funding is available to more than two dozen counties along with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

FEMA and the Department of Defense are airlifting supplies such as food, water and tarps to places that are faced with flooding from the storm. FEMA has delivered about 1 million liters of water and more than 600,000 meals to North Carolina, according to a Sept. 30 press release from the office of Gov. Roy Cooper.

“I’ve directed my team to provide every, every available resource as fast as possible to your communities to rescue, recover and to begin building,” Biden said Sept. 30.

Triangle police & fire departments send personnel to western NC

Police departments from Zebulon , Rolesville and Wendell have sent officers to Hendersonville to help with safety and law enforcement during the recovery after Helene.

“During times of crisis, we have a duty to take care of each other—our family, our neighbors, and our loved ones—for North Carolinians, that starts in the WNC,” Zebulon Police Chief Jacqui Boykin said in a press release. “I am proud of our officers for volunteering to help local law enforcement and their citizens as we keep the people of Hendersonville in our thoughts and prayers.”

The officers are expected to provide assistance over the course of five days, according to the press release.

Firefighters from Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill fire departments , along with Wake County EMS personnel, deployed to Haywood County to help with search-and-rescue efforts .

According to a press release from Wake County, many other local resources have been sent to western North Carolina:

• Swift water rescue teams from Wake Forest, Knightdale, Cary and Raleigh were sent to assist with urgent rescue operations in flooded areas
• 75 more firefighters will be sent over several days
• Wake County Sheriff’s Office and Wake County EMS are sharing therapy dogs with State Emergency Operations Center personnel and affected residents
• A Wake Fire Services and Emergency Management logistics team will be in Buncombe County for two weeks
• Apex has sent six utility personnel, and Raleigh Water staged resources to be prepared to help other water providers
  
  

UNC System sends help to campuses in the west

Campuses throughout the UNC System are providing assistance to universities in the western part of the state, according to a press release from the UNC System.

• North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and Winston-Salem State University sent emergency managers and law enforcement personnel to UNC Asheville.
• N.C. State sent student affairs professionals, counselors and facilities crews and equipment
• East Carolina University provided two food trucks
• The System Office sent IT experts to help restore internet
• UNC-Chapel Hill deployed an environmental safety team

Additional teams from North Carolina Central University, UNC-Chapel Hill, UNC-Charlotte, UNC-Pembroke and UNC-Wilmington are expected to assist UNC Asheville.

How to contribute to recovery efforts in western NC

Several organizations are collecting monetary donations to help communities in need following Helene:

• The North Carolina Disaster Relief Fund
• Americares
• American Red Cross
• Boone Area Chamber of Commerce Foundation
• Care
• The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina
• Salvation Army
• Samaritan’s Purse
• United Way

Ask the North Carolina Service Journalism Team

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• If you have a question about the Charlotte area , send The Charlotte Observer team a question by submitting questions to this form .
• If you have a question about Raleigh or a Triangle area community, send The News & Observer team a question by submitting questions to this form .

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