North Carolina Construction News staff writer
Gov. Roy Cooper continued touring areas impacted by Hurricane Helene this week, with a visit to the Sibelco Quartz Mine in Spruce Pine on Oct. 8, a facility that is integral to the global production of solar panels and semiconductor chips and a major employer in Mitchell County. The facility has been temporarily shut down due to impacts from Hurricane Helene.
“Today I visited Burnsville and Spruce Pine where more heroic work is being done by volunteers and first responders to save lives and get relief to people who need it,” Cooper said. “We’ll continue our around-the-clock work to surge resources and aid into Western North Carolina, helping communities recover and working to re-open facilities like the Sibelco Quartz Mine that are critical for both local and global economies.”
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is working to get food, water and baby formula to impacted areas in Western North Carolina. DHHS has distributed over 30,000 gallons of water to Mitchell County and 25,000 gallons to Yancey County. Also, more than 95,000 meals ready to eat (MREs) have been distributed to Mitchell County and over 55,000 to Yancey County. Eight pallets of formula via the National Guard have been distributed to 34 feeding sites across Western North Carolina.
More than $37 million in FEMA Individual Assistance funds have been paid so far to Western NC disaster survivors and more than 123,000 people have registered for Individual Assistance. Approximately 2,600 people are now housed in hotels through FEMA’s Transitional Sheltering Assistance. Federal partners have delivered approximately 9.78 million liters of water and approximately 7.7 million meals in North Carolina to support both responders and people living in the affected communities.
The Major Disaster Declaration now includes 27 North Carolina counties (Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba, Clay, Cleveland, Gaston, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Lincoln, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mecklenburg, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Swain, Transylvania, Watauga, Wilkes and Yancey) and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
North Carolinians can apply for Individual Assistance by calling 1-800-621-3362 from 7am to 11pm daily or by visiting www.disasterassistance.gov, or by downloading the FEMA app.
North Carolina Emergency Management and local officials are cautioning the public about false Helene reports and misinformation being shared on social media. NCEM has launched a fact versus rumor response webpage to provide factual information in the wake of this storm. FEMA also has a rumor response webpage.
Across Western North Carolina, more than 107,000 customers remain without power as of Tuesday, down from a peak of more than 1 million. Overall power outage numbers will fluctuate up and down as power crews temporarily take circuits or substations offline to make repairs and restore additional customers.
Travel remains dangerous, with hundreds of roads closed. Many of these roads are primary routes connecting the region. As connectivity and reporting measures improve, these number may increase.
NCDOT is asking people to avoid unnecessary travel to or in Western North Carolina. NCDOT has posted at ncdot.gov an interstate detour map for travelers to avoid western N.C. NCDOT currently has more than 2,050 employees and 1,100 pieces of equipment working on approximately 4,700 damaged road sites.
Due to dangerous road conditions and the need to maintain open routes for emergency operations, travel to Western North Carolina is strongly discouraged. Instead, consider the following options for donations and volunteer opportunities:
- If you would like to donate to the North Carolina Disaster Relief Fund, visit nc.gov/donate. Donations will help to support local nonprofits working on the ground.
- For information on volunteer opportunities, please visit nc.gov/volunteernc
For information on resources for recovery help from the storm, please email IA********@nc***.gov.
