Helene has devastated sections of the western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. The devastation in some areas is unreal. Not only have the main artery roads, interstates and bridges been wiped out, but also communication lines, fiber optic cables, transmission towers, cell towers, the works have been destroyed.
There was little to zero coverage of the disaster that was unfolding in the main stream media. Asheville, a major city in the western reaches of North Carolina, was completely cut off by land for two days. Who knew? Two major interstate highways intersect at Asheville. However, both were unable to be used to get there.
Finally on Sunday some ability to get to Asheville from the south became available. However, it will be a long time before eastbound I-40 in western North Carolina will reopen. The river running alongside the highway has washed out the eastbound lanes.
The roadbed will need to be completely rebuilt. While the road crews in this area are familiar with mud/rock slides that close this section of the road from time to time, this is entirely different. The eastbound lanes appear to be situated on compacted soil. Replacing this is going to take considerable amounts of time.
I-26 north of Asheville is closed and will remain so for some time. A bridge near the North Carolina line with Tennessee collapsed. There are re[ports of a second bridge collapse. Again there is no easy fix to these problems.
I-40 east of Asheville has been closed in several areas due to immense flooding.
The town of Chimney Rock has largely been destroyed due to flash flooding.
Many small towns have been completely cutoff from the outside world to the destruction of the infrastructure that makes our every day easy to live.
Marshall, North Carolina pic.twitter.com/8iUDIQnQVN
— Ｎｅｒｄｙ 🅰🅳🅳🅸🅲🆃 (@Nerdy_Addict) September 28, 2024
The size and extent of the crisis is similar (although in many ways worse) to Hurricane Katrina. And in NC we are seeing the same type of incompetency in responding to this crisis that Katrina saw. Why weren’t some assets pre-positioned to be available? Is it too much to ask for competency from an organization that is supposed to be able to be able to provide assistance quickly after an event like this?
Sunday was Day 3. The standard rule of thumb from emergency officials is for everyone to be self-sufficient for 3 days. After that, if an adequate response is not forthcoming from those who are supposed to be ready to help, society will start to breakdown.
The response from government officials at the state and national level begs to be called incompetent. Governor Cooper asked people not to go to WNC. Why? We have all seen how self-starters have made a difference in helping people in crises like this. Could it be that Cooper is trying to suppress the ineffectiveness of what his people have accomplished? Is Cooper a post turtle?
Why has the response from the federal government been so slow? Private organizations like Samaritan’s Purse have been on the ground from the get-go. Mountain folks in this area are can-do and do not rely on the government. However, this extent of this disaster is taxing the ability of private organizations. It would be nice if DC showed that they cared.
One would think that the Harris/Biden administration would be jumping through hoops to show their competence in this kind of circumstance. Sadly, that has not been the case. Then again, most of WNC is MAGA country except for Asheville. Will WNC be the next East Palestine?