Asheville's River Arts District is hoping it can rebound after Helene decimated one of the city's biggest economic drivers.

It's estimated that 80% of the River Arts District was destroyed by Helene, Katie Cornell with ArtsAVL said in an update Sunday.

She said the River Arts District included 26 warehouses and housed 300 artists. Buncombe County is the #1 arts district in the state and #47 in the country, according to a recent study. This is a huge part of Asheville's economy, as well as the county's.

"Our creative community is one of the things that make the Asheville area stand out from the rest," Cornell said. "Our artists and arts organizations are a major economic driver and revitalizer."

River Arts District, decades in the making, in ruins after Helene

According to ArtsAVL, Buncombe County's creative economy accounts for $1 billion in annual sales and supports nearly 8,500 jobs.

"Most of our arts professionals are out of work," she said. "It's crucial that we get our artists back to work as soon as possible, or we will lose them."

She said the main thing they need right now is monetary donations.

Love Asheville from Afar has set up a website to help the arts community. Click here to help support local artists. You can also donate directly to the Always Asheville Fund by clicking here.

An emergency relief grant, specifically for artists, will be launched on Monday, Cornell announced. The grant will provide $500 relief stipends to art professionals in the western North Carolina counties affected by Helene.

You can apply for this grant at artsavl.org/relief. For more information on available aid for artists, go to artsavl.org/aid.

Tropical Storm Helene brought unprecedented destruction to Western North Carolina and while calculations about the full extent of the damage are ongoing, some preliminary numbers give perspective on the devastation.

93:

The number of verified storm-related deaths reported by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services as of Oct. 13.

100,000:

The upper estimate of the number of people in WNC who still lack running water due to damage to the North Fork Reservoir, water treatment plant and distribution system as of Oct. 13.

1 million:

Number of Duke Energy customers in North Carolina who had power restored by Oct. 1. There were still 11,301 customers without power in North Carolina in the afternoon on Oct. 13, 16 days after the storm hit.

10 million cubic yards:

The volume of debris created by the storm in WNC since Sept. 30, according to the Army Corps of Engineers. That's enough debris to fill the Empire State Building nearly 8 times and Army Corps officials expect the number to grow.

31.33 inches:

The three-day rainfall total in Busick, Yancey County between Sept. 25-27, which was among the highest in the state. The Sept. 27 rainfall total alone was 14.91 inches.

26.1 feet:

The record-breaking crest of the Swannanoa River at Biltmore Village, besting the previous record of 20.7 feet set in 1916. Flood stage is 10 feet.

24.67 feet:

The record-breaking crest of the French Broad River in Asheville, besting the previous record of 23 feet set during the Great Flood of 1916. Flood stage is 9.5 feet.

100:

Estimated number of bridges evaluated by North Carolina Department of Transportation that will need replacement due to Helene.

80%

The estimated portion of Asheville's River Arts District destroyed by the floodwaters of the French Broad River, according to Katie Cornell, executive director of ArtsAVL. The district had 26 warehouses of art space and 300 artists. Those looking to help sustain the artists can shop their wares at www.loveashevillefromafar.com.

'Several billion':

The rough, early estimate of the cost to repair and replace just NCDOT-maintained roads, according to a department spokesperson.

$250 billion:

The upper limit of AccuWeather's estimate of Helene's damage in the United States.

40 trillion gallons:

The estimated five-day rainfall totals east of the Mississippi River from Sept. 24 to Sept. 29, based on calculations from research meteorologist Ryan Maue. That's enough water to fill about 60,606,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

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ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — While water slowly begins to be restored for many Asheville residents, there is a lot to be cautious of when it comes to how to use water once it comes back on.

For some residents like Nancy Richards and Mark Threlkeld, their new normal over the last couple of weeks has included keeping 15 gallons of what they call "flushable water," along with gallons of potable water to do dishes with and purified water to drink.

“Fill one toilet, come back, fill another,” Threlkeld said.

That was until Sunday when their water came back.

“It’s like I’m holding the Statue of Liberty or something, like we’ve got water and I’m squirting water into the air,” he said.

For both Richards and Threlkeld, their reality is that they are only going to use the water for flushing for now.

BUNCOMBE COUNTY SEES FIRST WATER FLOW SINCE HURRICANE HELENE

“We’re not going to use it for other purposes until it cleans up because you can see it’s cloudy. There are even some particles in it,” he said.

During a Buncombe County briefing on Monday, Oct. 14, Ben Woody, assistant city manager, explained how dirt and sediment has entered the water system through the broken distribution lines.

He said it is important for people to flush their lines for at least 15 minutes after their water comes back on.

You can do this through your bathtub faucet or your outdoor faucet. When you do decide to do this, make sure you have closed the valves to your hot water heater or any other appliances and icemaker,” he said.

The water is still not safe for consumption.

Anyone who receives water from the North Fork Reservoir is under a boil water notice. Anyone who receives water from Mills River is under a boil water advisory.

Both this notice and advisory mean that anyone using water for drinking, cooking or brushing their teeth is advised to continue using bottled water. But if that is not an option, officials advise that residents ensure that they boil their water for at least one minute before using it.

WATER SLOWLY RETURNING TO ASHEVILLE, BUNCOMBE COUNTY; STILL UNSAFE TO DRINK

Woody says that the water is safe for handwashing, washing dishes, laundry and showering, but residents should make sure they do not consume the water.

He said to remember that when you first start flushing the water it will look bad, but the quality will improve as you flush the system.

If you can flush your lines for about 15 minutes, I think you’ll begin to see a noticeable difference in the quality of water that’s coming to your house,” Woody said.

For Threlkeld and Richards, they plan to continue to monitor the water daily and flush it out until they feel comfortable to start using it again. Richards said that having the option to turn the water back on is a huge step in itself.

“We thought it was still going to be weeks and weeks,” Richards said.

Woody says they are pressurizing the water system and using the water directed from the reservoir. That water is highly chlorinated and they are doing as much disinfection as possible.

Currently, the water resources department can flow 12 million gallons per day into the distribution system.

“We’re using that right now to support flushing of the water system as well as expansion of water into the distribution system,” Woody said.

FLUSH-AVL STEPS UP WITH INNOVATIVE WATER SOLUTION FOR BUNCOMBE COUNTY

He said the good news is that clean water has returned to the streams.

Woody said that every day, they have a team focused on bacteriological testing to ensure that as they expand water into the distribution systems from the reservoir, it is as safe as possible.

On Sunday, Oct. 13, the water resources department was finally able to begin supplying water to areas west of Swannanoa.

“Our water maintenance crews were able to get that water yesterday to Haw Creek junction. Haw Creek junction is a major distribution system for us,” he said.

He said that is a point where the water is able to begin to spread into other parts of the community.

As the water begins to return to the system, they will also start to turn on pump stations because there is high elevation, and they will hopefully be able to start moving water into the higher-elevation areas.

Woody reminds residents that this will be a slow and incremental restoration and will move in a western direction.

He said to remember that the water system has a total of 54 pressure zones, along with 1,800 miles of city pipes that they have to fill.

CITY OF HENDERSONVILLE CONFIRMS 100% OF ITS WATER IS NOW SAFE TO DRINK

Additionally, they have to fill all of their pipes with water.

Woody said they are referring to the thousands of miles of pipes they need to put water into, as well as having 37 water storage tanks to fill.

We need about 21 million gallons of water to fill those storage tanks, so we have a lot of pipes and tanks to fill to return this system to normal,” he said.

Later this week, Woody said that the plan is to begin an in-reservoir treatment that should increase the rate of settling in the reservoir. This will allow them to begin treating that water through the water treatment plant.

Also, as the repair continues, they will find water main breaks.

Woody says that anyone who sees a water main break should report it to the water customer service line at 828-251-1122.

ASHEVILLE - Federal emergency response personnel working in Helene-devastated areas of Rutherford County were subject to threats over the weekend, resulting in a halt to some aid operations over a potential “armed militia” and the arrest of an armed Forest City man, officials said.

Just before 1 p.m. on Oct. 14, the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office received a call from U.S. Army soldiers at a gas station in Polk County after speaking with a gas station attendant, according to Capt. Jamie Keever. The attendant had relayed a threat made by a costumer toward FEMA employees helping in the Lake Lure and Chimney Rock area, and the sheriff’s office was called to investigate.

The costumer, identified as William Jacob Parsons, 44, had made a “vague threat” that he was going to “go mess up some FEMA personnel,” Keever told the Citizen Times Oct. 14. Parsons was armed with an AR style rifle and two handguns, according to his arrest warrant.

Parsons was arrested that night, Oct. 14, and charged with going armed to the terror of the people, his arrest warrant shows. Keever said he was booked into the Rutherford County Detention Center under a $10,000 bond, which he later paid and was released.

The same afternoon, the U.S. Forest Service received an email from Federal Emergency Management Agency, which said a National Guard unit working for FEMA “came across some militia members who said they were out hunting FEMA,” according to spokesperson Jason Nedlo with the Forest Service’s Southern Area Blue Incident Management Team.

Federal emergency response personnel in the county halted operations on Saturday and moved to a different area because of the reported “armed militia” threats, The Washington Post reported, citing the email sent to multiple federal agencies, including the U.S. Forest Service.

“FEMA has advised all federal responders (in) Rutherford County, NC, to stand down and evacuate the county immediately," an official with the U.S. Forest Service sent to other federal agencies, according to The Post. "The message stated that National Guard troops 'had come across x2 trucks of armed militia saying there were out hunting FEMA.”

But, according to Capt. Keever with the sheriff’s office, “there’s no indication right now that there was a truckload of militiamen,” despite the initial report stating there was.

"After further investigation, it was determined Parsons acted alone and there were no truck loads of militia going to Lake Lure," the sheriff's office said in a news release.

A senior FEMA official in Washington confirmed that workers have been pulled back from going door to door, as is their usual method of helping in disaster areas and are instead working out of Disaster Recovery Centers “as we work through this challenge.”

The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity for security reasons, said FEMA staff were “not evacuated entirely,” but instead are working out of the centers, “which are fixed locations that have security at them.”

Parson's arrest comes amid a spiral of misinformation and rumors on social media about federal responses to Helene, which are focused in part on the Rutherford County towns of Chimney Rock and Lake Lure. These include rumors that Chimney Rock will be bulldozed, and government agencies are blocking help to the town.

The FEMA official said the agency is trying to combat a lot of rumor and disinformation “that is swirling” in disaster relief and recovery areas, “which can be challenging because a lot of it is, ‘I heard this, I heard that,’” the official told USA TODAY.

The official said FEMA will continue to assess its security posture, working with local law enforcement.

This story will be updated.

Ryley Ober is the Public Safety Reporter for Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. She is a graduate of Indiana University and was the Citizen Times Summer News Reporting Intern in 2022. Email her at rober@gannett.com and follow her on Twitter @ryleyober

Expert Pitch

Newswise — WASHINGTON (October 14, 2024) – Residents in Asheville, North Carolina are still without clean drinking water, weeks after Hurricane Helene devastated large parts of the U.S. Southeast. State and federal officials are trying to treat the North Fork Reservoir directly; usually clean several feet below the surface, the reservoir remains murky brown from sediment.

According to USA Today, “Water remains the biggest need for residents in Asheville, with an estimated 417,000 people in the metropolitan area, recovering after Helene.” The North Fork Reservoir supplies more than 70% of the city’s water customers.

Faculty experts at the George Washington University are available to discuss health risks and the dangers of contaminated drinking water. To schedule an interview with an expert, please contact GW Media Relations at [email protected].

Health

Jose Lucar is an infectious disease physician and associate professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

Aileen Chang is an associate professor of medicine at the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences. She also serves as assistant director for research at GW's Rodham Institute for Health Disparities. She has international experience managing vector borne diseases. She can discuss how standing water can contribute to mosquito borne illness.

Critical Infrastructure & Water Systems

Caitlin Grady, associate professor of engineering management and systems engineering, studies the form and functions of interconnected infrastructure across water, food, and energy systems. Her research seeks to create a more sustainable and secure environment. Current projects include modeling embedded nitrogen trade and its influence on water quality, climate change impacts on hydropower and the U.S. electricity grid, and managing critical infrastructure under uncertainty. She can discuss critical infrastructure resilience in the face of climate change and natural weather events as well as the process to getting the water system back up and running.

Danmeng Shuai, professor of civil & environmental engineering, specializes in catalysis, nanotechnology, and public health microbiology. His group aims to understand the fundamentals of how microbes and chemicals interact with (catalytic) nanomaterials, and leverage these interactions for beneficial engineering applications such as environmental pollution control and remediation, renewable energy production, food quality and safety improvement, and infectious disease prevention.

“The biggest challenge associated with resuming drinking water supply is the water stagnancy in the pipes. When water does not flow in the distribution systems, including water mains, service lines, and premise plumbing systems, disinfectants are quickly consumed and they are not replenished by fresh drinking water released from the drinking water treatment plants,” Shuai says.

“Pathogens like Legionella pneumophila can regrow in the drinking water distribution system. So it is important to flush the pipes and replenish them with fresh drinking water, which can be done by the utilities and also individual customers. It’s recommended to ask the customers to flush their premise plumbing systems when the water is back to normal. Also it’s recommended to drink boiled water in case pathogens are in the drinking water.”

Yun Shen, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, is an expert on drinking water safety. She studies the transmission and control of environmental pathogens, including the transfer, persistence, infectivity/virulence, and inactivation/removal of pathogens in a variety of environments (i.e., wastewater, drinking water, soil, and indoor air). Shen says the flooding may cause overflow of the water and wastewater treatment plant and bring pathogens to drinking water, food, and built environments. She also adds that another important question would be the possible risk of the pathogens in the built environment (including both water and air) after flooding.

Politics of Natural Disasters

Alicia Cooperman is an assistant professor of political science and international affairs. Her research focuses on local and global challenges in water politics and policy, political economy of development, civil society and accountability, and climate change. Her broader research agenda studies the politics of natural disasters, natural resource management, and climate change mitigation and adaptation. Cooperman’s work is forthcoming or has been published in American Political Science Review, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Political Analysis, Comparative Political Studies, Global Environmental Change, and WIREs Water, among others.

-GW-

Environmental Science Food and Water Safety Healthcare Public Health Hurricanes National Infrastructure