.jpg)
Out of an abundance of caution, the unlabeled half-gallon bottles of water from the Tunnel Road and Charlotte Highway distribution sites featuring green lids should be used as non-potable or gray water only. View the picture here.
While the water has not been found to be unsafe, there have been reports of discoloration, so water from those bottles should not be consumed. Buncombe County will work with the manufacturer and the appropriate monitoring authorities to ensure the water meets the highest levels of safety. In the meantime, this water should not be consumed.
D-SNAP Extension
The USDA has extended the deadline for Buncombe County residents to apply for help buying food through the Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (D-SNAP) to 4 p.m. Friday. Individuals and households not currently receiving Food and Nutrition Services benefits who were impacted by Hurricane Helene can apply for D-SNAP. Apply in person at Buncombe County Health and Human Services, 40 Coxe Ave., Asheville from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday. As of this afternoon, there was not a long line, so please come down and apply.
The online application process and call center are no longer available.
At close of business Wednesday, Buncombe County had issued 4,276 cards with a total benefit amount of $2,553,456. Additionally, Buncombe County issued 370 cards for customers approved through the state’s call center process. We also have about 6,000 people who we will be following up with who started that registration process through e-pass.
This extension is only for residents in Alexander, Buncombe, Haywood, Macon and McDowell Counties only.
Spectrum Updates
Spectrum has restored service to nearly 93% of customers in Buncombe County with just over 7,000 customers remaining offline as of Oct. 23.
Restoration is taking longer than they initially anticipated due to the amount of damage and repairs required, challenges to safely access certain areas, and the need to return to make repairs in areas where infrastructure is being rebuilt. They are facing specifically challenging rebuild conditions in a number of areas including the Biltmore Forest where in addition to miles of network repairs, they need to rebuild one of the nodes that delivers services to the area. In the Black Mountain area along the Swannanoa River, they are working to repair a major fiber artery for the network. Similar work is being done on our network on the east side of Weaverville. Our crews continue to work through challenges in these and other areas and are looking to restore services as quickly as possible.
Once service has been restored, customers will automatically receive a credit for the time they were without service.
As of this morning 34 Duke Energy customers remain without power. Crews also have been tasked with cleanup, identifying and removing all remaining Duke Energy debris including broken poles, power lines, and transformers that weren’t removed during the initial restoration process.
Water and Food Distribution Sites
Water and meals are available at distribution sites open today and through the weekend at:
- Sky Lanes Bowling Alley
- Black Mountain Ingles
- Swannanoa Ingles
- Linwood Crump Shiloh Community Center
- Pack Square Park
- Buncombe County Sports Park
- Fairview Ingles
Early Voting Locations
All 10 locations will be open Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Locations are:
- Black Mountain Library
- East Asheville Library
- Enka-Candler Library
- Fairview Library
- Leicester Community Center
- South Buncombe Library
- UNCA Health & Counseling Center
- Weaverville Community Center
- Dr. Wesley Grant Southside Center
- West Asheville Library
Check wait times at buncombecounty.org/vote.
Community Care Stations
The Community Care Station at A.C. Reynolds, offering showers, laundry, and more will still operate there. Other Community Care Stations include:
- At Home Store parking lot
- Big Lots/Innsbrook mall
- Buncombe County Sports Park
- Bethel United Methodist
- Swannanoa Ingles
- Swannanoa Owen Pool
- Morgan Hill Baptist Church
Water Restoration Update
Turbidity at North Fork Reservoir: Treatment at the North Fork Reservoir to manage high sediment levels is ongoing. As of lyesterday, the level was 25. Under normal conditions the turbidity levels is under 1.
North Fork Auxiliary Spillway: The auxiliary spillway is dry under normal conditions. The reservoir at North Fork was 8 feet below normal before Hurricane Helene, but reached full status on the night of Thursday, Sept. 26, rising 8 feet in 12-14 hours. The level indicators top out at 10 feet above full pool, and the lake reached that point the morning of Sept. 27, meaning it rose an additional 10 feet in 12 hours. It stayed at this level just before noon on Sept. 27. Staff were not able to get an exact reading because the indicator had topped out and it was too dangerous to access. The lake rose at least 18 feet during the storm. The auxiliary spillway activates at approximately 7 ½ feet above full pool, with buckets filling up and mechanically tipping as they are designed to do. The excess rain that landed in the watershed and reservoir naturally flowed out of the emergency spillway by mechanical activation. It is possible that water from one or both of the spillways at North Fork washed out the main transmission lines.
The dams have been inspected by engineers for the third time yesterday, and while there are repairs needed, they are safe.
Buncombe County Solid Waste
Today, household bagged trash drop-offs can be made at the North Buncombe Pool until 3:30 p.m.
Debris collection is continuing in Fairview, Swannanoa, and North Buncombe. Set out storm debris at the right of way separated it into large appliances, vegetative debris, hazardous waste, construction debris, and electronics. Trucks will make several passes.
Don’t forget that if you are a Waste Pro customer, you will need to sign up for service with FCC Environmental to continue household trash and recycling pick-up after Jan. 1. Go to www.buncombecounty.org/solidwaste for more information. We know this is really tough to add one more thing as we’re going through our disaster recovery response, but please go ahead and get signed up so they can be sure to serve you in the new year.
City of Asheville
ART Transit Services: Starting this Sunday, October 27, ART will resume regular scheduled hours for most bus routes. The schedule is 5:30 a.m. to 11 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays and holidays. Buses are no longer offering flag stops. Transit riders need to wait at a designated bus stop to board their bus.
ART service will continue to be free of charge to all community members until further notice. Also, Shuttle service is still providing transportation between the WNC Agriculture Center and American Red Cross shelters.
Please visit ashevillenc.gov/transit for more information.
Afterschool programs resume from 3-6 p.m. starting Monday, October 28. Currently the City is only able to offer after school program opportunities to students who were previously enrolled. For more information about these events and additional programming, please visit ashevillenc.gov/parks.
Storm Debris: A contractor with experience in natural disaster debris removal and work has begun to get this debris out of neighborhoods and business districts. Temporary storm debris sites are necessary to process and ultimately remove debris from our community. The City continues to pursue temporary debris sites in all geographic areas.
While sanitation crews will begin collecting paper bagged leaves starting on Monday, October 28, the City asks to consider waiting as long as you can to set out bags of leaves for collection to help crews move as efficiently as they can through the ongoing storm debris removal process.
The next community briefing will be on Monday at 11 a.m. and can be viewed on the Buncombe County Facebook page.