Burke 911 answered 6 times the number of calls for help
Volunteer Corey Olsen (right) delivers a bag of ice to Morganton resident Tabatha Boyd on Monday afternoon at the former Kmart store on Bost Road. A large nonstop flow of people brought coolers to stock up on free bags of ice, provided by the Burke County Government.
Burke County’s situation in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene is bad enough as it is. Folks who grow impatient and lash out at essential workers are only making matters worse.
Burke 911 Assistant Director Chris White, the county’s designated public information officer for the event, said he’s been getting reports of people being rude to workers trying to repair power lines.
White said it’s vital for people to keep their frustrations in check.
“We’re asking for patience right now,” White said. “One thing we’re hearing from the line crews is that when they have to block out one lane of traffic, people are giving them a hard time and not giving them room to work. Their work is priority right now, and it takes priority over anybody’s travel.
“If you’re not going to let them restore power, we’re going to be here a while.”
Even without the occasional surly motorist, it will still likely be days before the power companies can get all customers back on line.
911 CENTER FULLY OPERATIONAL
Burke’s 911 center was up and running again by 11 a.m. Monday, however, following a temporary interruption of service over the weekend.
White said Burke answered 2,700 calls between midnight Thursday and midnight Friday, nearly six times the average number.
But a fiber optic cable that connects the center to ESInet — Emergency Services Interoperability, the engine behind the new Next Generation (NG911) technology the county employs — was washed away by flood waters.
During the downtime, Burke’s 911 calls were rerouted to Catawba County. White said the NG911 system worked flawlessly and not a single call was missed. Burke sent several telecommunicators to Catawba County to help with the increased call volume.
“Everything automatically routed to Catawba County as designed,” White said.
Although the Burke 911 Center is operational, all non-essential county services were closed as of Monday afternoon. White said he was awaiting word from County Manager Brian Epley about Tuesday’s closings. Epley was unavailable for comment Monday.
Currently, all the county’s department heads are being redirected to the emergency effort, White said. Most of that work consists of transitioning from the response phase to the recovery phase, conducting damage surveys, and coordinating donations, volunteers, and debris removal.
Meanwhile, the state is helping out in Burke, flying in communications equipment that should expedite recovery efforts. White said the state is supplying the county with Starlink satellite cell phones and mobile cellular towers.
Despite the damage, Burke County had no confirmed fatalities as of Monday afternoon, and Emergency Services Director James Robinson said he was impressed with the efficiency his team has shown in dealing with those who are injured or sick.
“I’m thoroughly impressed with my crew’s responses,” Robinson said. “These folks are working tirelessly. There are just no words to express the appreciation for what they’re doing.”
Burke County Sheriff Banks Hinceman said there has not been an uptick in crime due to the impact of Tropical Storm Helene, but did say that his officers have been plenty busy over the last few days.
“We had a lot of flooding and a number of evacuations, especially on Friday and Saturday,” said Hinceman, “and we had to do a lot of controlling traffic in those situations.”
The sheriff also said his officers have been doing a lot of “welfare checks” since Helene exited the area.
“Folks will call and tell us, ‘We haven’t heard from Grandpa for two days,’ and we’ll go out to Grandpa’s house and make sure he’s OK,” Hinceman said.
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP
As for what the average person can do to help the situation, Robinson advised people to limit travel to essential trips only.
“We appreciate peoples’ support and staying home as much as possible,” Robinson said. “Travel is still a challenge. If they have a medical emergency, call 911.”
White agreed.
“If you’re going to be out and traveling, you’ve got to exercise a lot of patience, because traffic is not back to normal yet,” White said. “There are still a lot of roads that are washed out and a lot of roads that still have trees down in them, and power lines.”
White also said residents should also conserve water because Burke’s water plant is operating at a limited capacity.
“If you take 30-minute therapy showers, you’re part of the problem,” White said. “You’re creating more issues and taxing the water supply.
The numerous downed power lines across the county can also present a hazard. White said all downed lines should be considered live since power is incrementally being restored.
Burke County residents should also be aware the county is contracting with a debris removal service and should not take storm debris to the county landfill. He said folks should separate vegetation (like tree branches), white goods (appliances like refrigerators and washing machines), and building materials (construction debris, wood, drywall) into piles, and the county will pick it up.
The service will conduct multiple passes, so homeowners don’t have to worry about doing all their clean-up at one time. The county is adhering to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) guidelines for debris removal.
Finally, White said those who want to help can drop off donations at the Foothills Higher Education Center, and those in need of help can pick up supplies there.
The center is at 2128 S. Sterling St., Morganton, just off Exit 105 from Interstate 40. Donations are accepted from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and can be picked up from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. For any questions or to reach the Donation Team, call 828-764-3204.
If you are in need of volunteer services or would like to volunteer to assist, contact the volunteer hotline at 828-764-7068. Volunteer services include but are not limited to property cleanup, animal care, and food assistance for those affected by the hurricane.
The Volunteer Hotline phones will be open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.
In addition, the Red Cross shelter at Oak Hill United Methodist Church is open.
Marty Queen may be reached at 828-445-8595 or marty@thepaper.media.
