(The Center Square) – Asheville and other parts of western North Carolina were cut off from the world on Saturday, with no roads open into or out of the most populous city in the region and electricity and cell towers limited or inoperable.
Fatalities from the storm Helene in the South were more than five dozen, and the Buncombe County numbers – where Asheville is county seat – were not included due to trouble reaching next of kin, said the Emergency Services director. Nearby Spruce Pine collected 24 inches of rain between Tuesday and Saturday, dwarfing the 11-plus in metro Atlanta in a 48-hour period that eclipsed records dating to 1878.
Helene, a Category 4 hurricane when she hit the Big Bend of Florida on Thursday night, is forecast to leave behind between $95 billion and $110 billion in damage and economic loss. Property damage alone is forecast by Moody’s to run $15 billion to $26 billion.
President Joe Biden on Saturday granted emergency aid to North Carolina through a declaration.
“To say this caught us off guard would be an understatement,” Buncombe County Sheriff Quentin Miller said.
Commerce and tourism will be impacted for some time by the loss of Interstate 40 between Asheville and Knoxville, Tenn. Two eastbound lanes fell into the Pigeon River about 4 miles into North Carolina.