In Storm-Ravaged North Carolina, Necessities Of Life Difficult To Come By
Many thousands of residents in the western part of the state have no clean water, as well as no electricity or gas with which to boil water. People were collecting wood to build fires for cooking. Millions of others underwater in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, and elsewhere wondered how and when life would return to normal.
The powerful remnants of Hurricane Helene that deluged western North Carolina with fierce winds and raging stormwaters left a wide swath of the state in desperate need of potable water. As of early Sunday afternoon, 145 water systems were either without power, suffering infrastructure damage or under boil-water alerts, depriving individuals, businesses and health care systems of a fundamental resource. (Blythe and Atwater, 9/30)
Amid cleanup efforts, a Buncombe County resident told CNN she has no power, running water or cell phone reception. Clutching firewood in her hands, Meredith Keisler, a school nurse, said: 鈥淲e鈥檙e collecting wood because we have a grill to make fire, to cook food,鈥 she said. About 20 miles east of Asheville, Krista Cortright said her boyfriend鈥檚 grandmother had no way of getting out of Black Mountain due to flooding. Cortright told CNN the couple had to get to her since she had limited supplies and she is diabetic. It typically takes the couple 25 minutes to travel from Marion to the grandmother鈥檚 house. On Sunday, due to road closures, it took them 2.5 hours. (Almasy, 9/30)
As western North Carolina continues the long road to recovery from Helene, here鈥檚 an initial list of organizations where individuals can make donations. (Henkel, 9/30)
From Tennessee and Florida 鈥
At least 54 people were trapped on the roof of a hospital in Tennessee on Friday after floodwaters due to Hurricane Helene quickly surrounded the medical center. Everyone was rescued safely, Sen. Bill Hagerty said in a statement. Unicoi County Hospital -- located in the northeastern part of the state on the border with North Carolina -- took on so much flooding that those inside could no longer be safely evacuated and had to relocate to the roof. (Kekatos, 9/27)
As surging water from Hurricane Helene inundated the Tampa Bay area Thursday, Tampa General Hospital stayed dry, thanks to a temporary floodwall that protected the hospital. In a video posted by the hospital, which sits on an island in Hillsborough Bay, a fence several feet tall keeps the floodwaters at bay as Helene churns through the area. (Raza, 9/27)
The combination of storm surge from the Gulf of Mexico and lithium-ion batteries in vehicles has proven to be a recipe for disaster, as Florida agencies report responding to numerous fires in the wake of Hurricane Helene.聽Photos and videos from the Tampa Bay area show the aftermath of highly combustible batteries being exposed to saltwater, leaving homes damaged and cars destroyed. (Wulfeck, 9/28)
