Latest Updates: Hurricane Helene impacts, recovery efforts

LAST UPDATED SEPT. 30, 10:10 p.m.

Burke County begins what will be a slow recovery of its entire infrastructure as a result of the historic and catastrophic damage from Hurricane Helene.

Though not obvious to many, municipal, county, state, federal, and emergency crews have been hard at it since Friday. Ever so slowly services are crawling back to life, one block at a time, one house at a time, as crews wrestle with downed powerlines, fallen trees, impassable roads, and inoperable cell and internet service.

In Burke County, like all of western North Carolina, the receding water reveals increasing devastation that was hidden beneath the raging flood waters.

Our lifestyle revolves around four central services: water, power, cell telephone, and internet. Lose any two and life is manageable. Lose all four and things grind to a halt.

The complications cross all sectors of our community: health care, transportation, education, utilities, power and water, food, gasoline, extensive property damage, parks and recreation. Barriers to communication — no cell, internet, social media — intensely impact residents’ ability to manage emergencies.

The magnitude of Helene’s fury and the destruction in its path has garnered national attention. Residents report being contacted by friends and relatives from afar who heard about the trauma from cable news networks.

The recovery will be long, but steps forward will be rapid. The Paper will be updating its website continuously with developments as they occur.

HERE IS WHAT WE KNOW

Electric power has been restored to 60% to 65% of homes and businesses in Morganton. Crews from Greenville, Wilson, and other towns are assisting in the recovery. However, some businesses and residents could remain without power until the end of the week.

Morganton’s municipal water and sewer plants are operational and water quality testing will begin soon. Meantime, any water from any water source should be boiled before drinking, according to health experts.

70.6 percent of Burke County power customers (24,344 of 34,475 customers) were without electricity. Burke County Public Schools will be closed for the rest of the week.

The Morganton campus of the NC School of Science and Mathematics is closed.

President Biden has granted Gov. Roy Cooper’s request for a Federal Major Disaster Declaration for Tropical Storm Helene providing immediate federal help for Burke County.

The declaration means that FEMA will be able to speed additional help to the county, and provide Individual Assistance to people living in Burke, as well as Public Assistance to reimburse local governments, state agencies, and nonprofits or other eligible organizations for funds spent repairing facilities and infrastructure.

A Burke County Relief Center has opened in the Foothills Higher Education Center on South Sterling Street near Interstate 40 in Morganton and offers water, canned foods, children’s necessities, cleaning supplies, and other needed items.

UNC Health Blue Ridge established an Incident Command at its Morganton campus. In the midst of the storm the hospital lost power at both its Morganton and Valdese campuses. Its generators immediately took over, and power has since been restored. Like most of the area, the hospital experienced a temporary water outage at Morganton, and a contractual agreement enabled transferring potable water from Catawba County. Importantly, this has not affected patient care.

Non-emergent surgeries temporarily are canceled until it’s safe to resume normal operations and the staff can safely return to work.

The hospital is assessing outpatient clinics for any damage or utility outages and will reopen them as soon as possible.

Today, Valdese Express Care, Cajun Mountain Express Care, and McDowell Express Care have reopened with more expected to follow tomorrow.

Countywide, Duke Energy estimates 15,943 customers are without power. In North Carolina, there are 309,035 customers without power.

Around 39,680 Rutherford EMC members were without power. This was down from a peak of 61,000 just after Hurricane Helene moved across our area.

Cooperative crews from less-impacted regions of the state have joined forces with Rutherford EMC’s local crews to navigate hard-hit communities and tackle outages. Restoration points are inaccessible in many areas due to flooding or damaged roadways, and damage to power poles and lines is severe across the system.

Grocery stores and restaurants discarded frozen foods and produce as required by health codes that set emergency guidelines. Replenishment efforts are underway.

Hardware stores are sold out of chainsaws and generators. Truckloads of those are inbound to restock inventory.

Aviation traffic at the Morganton-Lenoir Airport is busy. As of mid-afternoon Friday, there were five helicopters in operation, including several Black Hawks and a couple of National Guard choppers. These were delivering food and other emergency supplies for Burke and Caldwell counties. NC Rep. Hugh Blackwell, Speaker of the House Tim Moore, and Burke Sheriff Banks Hinceman were aboard another helicopter taking aerial tours of the area.

The Town of Valdese is clearing a landing pad for a federal/military fire and rescue helicopter on Old Rock School grounds to be used as a landing zone in case needed. The town’s pre-agenda meeting is postponed until Oct. 7.

Valdese Lakeside Park is closed until further notice.

Water service is restored in Valdese, and customers are advised to boil water. Extensive power outages remain and are being restored. Additional information forthcoming. Public works and cleaning crews from Maiden, Duke Energy, and locally have been working throughout the town to collect debris and fallen trees.

Mimosa Golf Course is closed for the week.

PREPARATIONS

Meteorologists forecasted record-setting creek, stream, river, and lake levels with this weather event. They underestimated the power and fury of Helene. Imagine the power of a storm that can lift trillions of tons of water from the Gulf of Mexico, haul it north and dump it over western North Carolina.

Helene made landfall Thursday night as a Category 4 storm with 140 mph winds, the strongest storm on record to hit the Big Bend region.

The devastation to western North Carolina cannot be underestimated. Or for that matter, described at this point with clarity.

Helene’s approach had area officials and leaders scrambling to predict the storm’s impact on businesses, municipal infrastructure, school schedules, sports and other outdoor events throughout the region. Television crews from Charlotte were onsite Wednesday afternoon interviewing residents about Helene and emergency preparations. Burke County emergency personnel and utility workers were loading trucks, calling in works and taking proactive steps to react quickly to whatever the storm brought.

Travelers on I-40 witnessed on Thursday caravans of utility trucks and river-rescue crews with inflatable boats heading into Burke County and points west.

Within the City of Morganton, Chief Jason Whisnant of Public Safety and his team reviewed their emergency plan for flooding and tropical-type storms.

“We do this every year as hurricane season approaches. Understanding although rare, we do get tropical systems like the major flooding of 2004,” Whisnant said. “Part of this preparation is communicating with our patrol units and distributing information on ‘flood-prone’ areas. These are areas within the city that flood and are close to residential neighborhoods. We will be vigilant in monitoring those areas over the next 48 hours.”

The department’s emergency call-back plan can activate 20-plus personnel on the scene within an hour’s notice. This plan is in place for any major incidents, weather events, or fires, he said.

Morganton’s Electric Services Director Brooks Kirby conducted similar precautions, checking their trucks while stocking them with spare parts. They also preemptively checked transformers to see if they were up to par.

Morganton contracted with a standby tree-trimming company. They will also lean on the support of ElectriCities of North Carolina.

The electric services throughout Burke geared up for power outages.

Rutherford Electric Membership Corporation, along with other electric cooperatives, monitored the storm. N.C. Electric Cooperatives’ senior vice president and chief operating officer Nelle Hotchkiss said that cooperatives train year-round for a situation like this.

“Any time a tropical system is forecast to impact our state, electric cooperative personnel move from preparation to action,” Hotchkiss said. “This storm is no different. Our trucks are fueled. Our materials are stocked. Our equipment is tested. Our line crews are prepped, in place, and ready to respond.”

Rutherford Electric relies upon other cooperatives for help. To monitor the outages in North Carolina, visit https://outages.ncelectriccooperatives.com/outages/maps.

Meteorologists forecasted record-setting creek, stream, river, and lake levels with this weather event. They underestimated the power and fury of Helene.

Burke County opened a shelter at Oak Hill United Methodist Church (2239 NC-181, Morganton) starting at 8 p.m. Thursday night. This shelter provides refuge for residents in need during the most intense period of the storm.

Gov. Cooper declared on Friday a State of Emergency.

Emergency Management Director Mike Willis readied his teams for flooding in the following areas: Lookout Shoals dams, Bridgewater, Rhodhiss, and near the Catawba River which may see potential road closures later this afternoon.

Burke County Assistant 911 Director Chris White reported that additional team members are in place. Storms can cause a high volume of 911 calls in addition to the typical medical emergencies, fires, and crime reports.

“Normal emergencies don’t stop because storms are coming,” White said.

Emergency 911 should only be used for true emergencies, otherwise the lines can become overwhelmed and response time impacted. Non-emergency calls should be made to the department’s administrative line, 828-437-1911. Calls regarding power and utility disruptions should be directed to local providers.