SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
To western North Carolina now, a week since Helene knocked out power there - communications, roads and left many people without water. Overall, more than 200 people have died from the storm and its effects. That number is still climbing. Laura Hackett of Blue Ridge Public Radio joins us now from Asheville. Thank you so much for being with us.
LAURA HACKETT, BYLINE: Yes. Thank you so much for having me.
SIMON: What's it like to be there?
HACKETT: Yeah. I think a lot of people are still in shock. You know, some folks have evacuated. Some are working and volunteering around the clock just doing whatever they can to feel OK right now. It's interesting because every pocket of western North Carolina is different. In Asheville, some places are OK, while others, you know, are caked in this polluted, scary mud. Some businesses are open. Others have been wiped away. And most places in the county still do not have running water.
Over the last few days, our team has been driving into these harder-to-reach areas where the most devastation has occurred, just really peeling back the layers of what's happened here. I just went out to Fairview, a small valley town where they had a lot of mudslides, where homes and people were lost. And some roads there are still unreachable and search and rescue is still happening there as well, even though this storm happened more than a week ago.
SIMON: What kind of help is on the ground from FEMA and other agencies?
HACKETT: There is now federal aid moving through, though that's definitely taken longer in these more isolated areas that I was just describing. So especially where the roads are blocked. There is enough bottled water and dry food for now. Many folks are subsisting on those snacks and granola bars. Real meals are a little bit more difficult, you know, given that there's so many places without power. I did talk to one man, Allen Dye, who has been one of the many who have formed a community network in his small river town of Swannanoa.
ALLEN DYE: So we have not had a lot of help. I understand why, but we're hopeful that that's going to be happening soon.
HACKETT: He said so far, it's mostly been neighbors helping each other get by. He told me about a group of computer programmers who have done rescues with their canoes. There are also a lot of people here with ATVs, and they have been using them to deliver meals to their neighbors. Overall, they're really just willing to do whatever to help each other survive right now.
SIMON: And, of course, a lot of people are living without electricity or running water. How do they get through the day and night?
HACKETT: Again, many people are still in shock that they're going to have to continue in these conditions for such a long time. You know, roads are going to take months, which is delaying water system repairs. Water system repairs are going to take weeks in some places. There's still 300,000 people without power. You know, I've met people who are sleeping at their friends' or their neighbors' houses right now.
But I am seeing some really creative solutions. In Asheville, there's a grassroots project called the Flush Brigade, where people are crowdsourcing buckets and trucks and delivering non-potable water to neighborhoods, especially in public housing, where people have struggled to flush their toilets without running water. Another example I saw in Swannanoa - there are instructions about how to register for FEMA plastered in paper all over a climbing wall at a playground. So it's amazing really just how they're filling in gaps however possible in this really dire time.
SIMON: Laura, how are you and your colleagues - our colleagues - at Blue Ridge Public Radio doing?
HACKETT: Thank you for asking, Scott. You know, our team has been working 14-hour days. You know, in a week, we've shifted from our regular programming to specifically airing only things that people in our community really need right now, so where to get water, food, updates on when utilities may come back online. We created a blog that gives constant updates on these fronts, too. And we can tell they're using it. You know, radio has become super vital here. In a situation where internet and cell service are still so spotty, the radio signal is able to reach so much more of the community. And people are really telling us that we are a lifeline for them right now. And it's a big responsibility, but we're proud to do it.
SIMON: Well, we're proud to be your colleagues. Thanks so much, Laura Hackett of Blue Ridge Public Radio.
HACKETT: Thank you so much, Scott. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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