PBS News Hour

JOHN YANG: The remnants of Hurricane Helene have been wreaking havoc hundreds of miles from where it made landfall in Florida three days ago.

Western North Carolina is one of the hardest hit areas.

Laura Hackett is a reporter for Blue Ridge Public Radio in Asheville.

Laura give us some sense of what it's been like in Asheville the last few days.

LAURA HACKETT, Blue Ridge Public Radio: Yeah, it's been almost total infrastructure loss in Asheville.

It's been really hard.

There's no water in the city currently, cell service has been gone, internet, power.

We're just starting to get a little bit back online.

Some people are starting to get cell service.

So it's been really challenging.

Water is definitely the most dire thing right now.

We don't have water yet in the city.

Folks are trying to bring it into Asheville, but because hurricane Helene wiped away large swaths of the highway, it's stopping tractor trailers from getting into the region.

So that's the situation we're in right now.

JOHN YANG: I know that you said that cell service is out and that roads have been are closed?

Are there people who can't call for help and or people who the help can't get to them?

LAURA HACKETT: Yeah, that's been one of the most challenging aspects of this as well.

There's somebody in Asheville who's keeping kind of a grassroots database, and so far, around 1,000 folks have last time I checked yesterday, I've submitted they're trying to find missing people for welfare checks because they haven't heard from them.

So yeah, folks have been really having a hard time connecting in places in the area like Swannanoa and Biltmore Village, which went completely underwater during when we did have the big floods.

Search and rescue missions are still going on, but it's been really hard because trees have fallen down.

There's telephone wires everywhere.

You know, we have a really mountainous train out here, and so there's just a lot of roadblocks, both, you know, topography wise and communication wise.

That's stopping emergency responders from being able to get to people quickly.

JOHN YANG: What do we know about casualties?

LAURA HACKETT: As of this morning, a press conference with Roy Cooper confirmed that there were 11.

Governor Roy Cooper of North Carolina confirmed there were 11 fatalities in the state and Buncombe County, at a press conference this morning, confirmed 10 fatalities.

So, I -- officials have hinted that they think that it's going to be a larger count, but there are 10 confirmed in Buncombe County right now.

JOHN YANG: Has this area ever seen anything like this ever before?

LAURA HACKETT: No, no.

People are calling it.

The number keeps getting bigger.

People started calling it a 100-year flood.

Then some people started calling it a 500-year flood.

Some folks have called it biblical damage.

The only thing that we can really compare it to, is the great flood of 1916 which I was doing a little reading out on before this happened.

And that was before the most significant flood.

And this has -- this is surpassed that.

And when the flood of 1916 occurred that had wiped away railroads, power plants and had 80 fatalities, but the water this time was greater and more widespread.

JOHN YANG: Any estimate of when things are going to get back, when internet service is going to get back, when roads will be opened again and water running water is restored.

LAURA HACKETT: Yeah.

So water in Asheville, the city, shared information today that said it might not be for up to a few weeks for water.

So that's really tough right now.

Cell service is looking a little bit more optimistic.

We have -- we're working with cell providers, particular Verizon AT&T, to put up some temporary cell service towers.

So folks are getting a little bit more service.

They can finally call those loved ones and, you know, check in and tell them that they're okay.

Power is still all for less a little under 100,000 folks in the area.

So, you know, it's, I think it's going to be at least a few weeks to really get everything back on board.

And that's not even to mention the roads.

Whole roads are wiped away right now.

It's really tough.

It's going to be a long road.

I don't think anybody in this community was really prepared for this?

JOHN YANG: Laura Hackett of Blue Ridge Public Radio in Asheville, North Carolina.

Thank you very much.

LAURA HACKETT: Thanks for having me.