Graham County was fortunate enough to only be hit with downed trees and steady rainfall, in the wake of Hurricane Helene invading Western North Carolina on Friday.
At Wednesday’s press deadline, much had already been written about the widespread devastation the storm dropped on areas mostly east of Graham County. Bryson City, Cherokee and Sylva were susceptible to a mixture of flooding and power outages, but the greater Asheville region experienced the greatest blow: major floods washed homes, entire communities and sections of roadways with powerful currents. Power outages
As of Tuesday evening, over 150 deaths have been directly linked to the hurricane; sadly, more than 600 individuals are still unaccounted for. The Center Square released a story Tuesday, projecting that the storm has caused $160 billion in damages.
But in the fallout came the human instinct of helping a fellow human – and Graham County answered the call. Internet and cell service was reportedly wiped out from Charlotte and west in North Carolina, but as services were slowly restored, dozens of individuals, businesses and organizations pledged to collect supplies for delivery to Buncombe County. Collection locations were set up at the Graham County Sheriff’s Office, as well as the Robbinsville Post Office and even private businesses like Stiles Heating & Cooling.
The uphill battle to recover will continue well beyond publication of this edition; I-40 between Clyde and the Tennessee state line will remain closed until October 2025, after a portion of the eastbound road was washed into the Pigeon River. Over 400 roads were deemed closed once the storm hit land, but none were in Graham County. That number had dwindled to 220 on Tuesday.
Sunday, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) issued a Major Disaster Declaration for individuals in Buncombe, Clay, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Polk, Rutherford, Transylvania, and Yancey counties – as well as the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians – to make those affected eligible for individual assistance.
The loss of 911 telecommunications had everyone on-edge, but volunteer fire departments were manned across the county in case an emergency needed to be reported. Members of the North Carolina Department of Transportation, the U.S. Forest Service and countless volunteers cleaned up fallen trees for most of the weekend.
Between North and South Carolina, Duke Energy’s outage map showed 592,338 locations were still out of power Tuesday night. Of that, 297 were in Franklin and 1,803 were around the greater Sylva area.
A large number of Graham County workers and equipment have been dispatched to other sections of North Carolina to assist local resources in areas heavily damaged by the flooding. The Graham County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday that it had deployed personnel to assist the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office with patrol operations, as well as help affected individuals in both Avery and Transylvania counties.
Local impact
Mail delivery in zip codes beginning with 287, 288 and 289 were suspended until further notice Monday night.
Graham County Schools went to a remote-learning schedule Sept. 28-29, then cancelled school district-wide until Wednesday after the county lost emergency communications. Several sporting events were also postponed; an updated list of games appears on page 12 of this week’s edition.
Area institutions like Tri-County Community College, Southwestern Community College and Western Carolina University cancelled classes for the entire week of Sept. 30 – Oct. 4. All recreation sites in both the Pisgah and Nantahala National forests were closed until further notice.
Locally, supplies ran low in the wake of the panic the aftermath brought on. Ingles was cash-only until at least Wednesday’s press deadline, due to the building that houses the corporate card servers in Black Mountain being damaged by the storm. Individuals were also unable to use their store accounts to charge supplies.
Fuel tankers were able to deliver gas and kept a healthy supply on hand for most stations in Robbinsville – save for Shell, which had ran out of fuel by Monday evening and told the Star that there was no estimate for when more could arrive. Shell’s fuel trucks deliver to Robbinsville from the Asheville area.
Anyone having difficulty connecting to a loved one or friend can call 2-1-1 in North Carolina (888-892-1162, if out-of-state) to request a welfare check. The American Red Cross can be reached at 800-733-2767.
Marshall McClung also contributed to this report.