Three weeks after Hurricane Helene gutted western North Carolina, thousands of Asheville residents still lack clean drinking water. North Fork Reservoir, the source of 80 percent of the city’s water, immense damage and nearly two million people have been directed to boil their water before using it. Hundreds of roads have been designated as essential travel–only routes.
Debris removal continues. As difficult as the situation is in Asheville, the conditions in more remote regions of the Blue Ridge Mountains are particularly dire. The storm unleashed catastrophic mudslides and flooding in the towns and villages deep in the mountains around Appalachian State University, one of the area’s major hubs.
Many roads leading in and out of these areas were inaccessible to vehicles, and some rescuers and nurses in on horses to deliver food and supplies. The in North Carolina is nearly 100. Located in Boone, the university known locally as App State is less than 100 miles north of Asheville.
The town had expected a few inches of rain, but Boone Creek, a major waterway running through campus, inundated the university’s academic buildings. Students and faculty had only a few hours to evacuate. A stone’s throw from the Dogwood Residence Hall, a gaping sinkhole opened outside Legends, a venue for student events.
The Blue Ridge Parkway, a student hot spot for scenic drives, dates, and graduation photos, is a mess of tree limbs and unstable hillsides. Classes just resumed last week. A.