Federal authorities forgot the town, but Helen did not.
Hurricane Helen tore through the Southeast more than a week ago, killing an estimated 232 people, and some of those hardest hit are still waiting for the federal government to arrive.
About 75,000 people remain without power in North Carolina, and the isolated Appalachian town of Bat Cave, with a population of just 180, remains stranded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Residents said the elderly and injured were airlifted out by the National Guard and Henderson County authorities in pursuit of Helen, but a six-person team of Louisiana State Police remained on foot to “keep an eye on everything.” ” is all there is to it.
The Category 4 storm is the deadliest hurricane in the continental United States since Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in 2005.
According to local residents, military helicopters fly right next to the uncompiled bat cave.
Residents fear that if federal authorities show up, they will either stop repair work on the building or tell homeowners to evacuate because rebuilding is simply impossible.
Chelsea Atkins, 38, a health researcher from Buffalo, New York, thought she was going to die when Helen hit the bat cave.
“The tree came in through the sliding glass door and all the water came in,” she told the Post. “It destroyed our fireplace, cupboards, all the furniture and everything else.”
On the morning that Helen's remnants attacked, she and her husband Andy Wells, 40, stood in the front door of a small white brick post office with their neighbor Kendall and her fiancé Curtis McCartt, 58. I was evacuated.
Atkins lost her rescue cat, a calico named Macaron, when the floodwaters pushed in the door of her post office.
“It was wild,” Atkins told the Post.
“I can really endure a lot, but I look at my neighbors and say, 'Are we going to die? ” he asked. ”
FEMA called Atkins to arrange for an inspection of her home, but the inspection never came due to road closures.
But the Post managed to negotiate downed power lines and collapsed sections of the road to reach the bat cave.
“FEMA is not here,” Atkins said.
“No one was bringing supplies in except civilians. … It was a civilian operation from day one.”
“I've never seen anyone in a FEMA uniform…at this point, I don't care if FEMA comes,” he said. “I don't want someone to drag me out of here because I work in a dangerous place.”
McCartt has gathered 16.5 feet of lumber to erect supports from the basement foundation to the third-floor ceiling to prevent the remaining portion of the attic roof from collapsing.
Helen's death toll was among more than 100 in North Carolina alone.
In one of the areas hardest hit by the storm, about 30 miles northwest of Asheville's Batcave, 70 people died and infrastructure was severely damaged, with concerns about potential water and soil contamination.
The White House said in a statement Saturday that it will “spare no resources” to provide access to federal resources that will allow the Southeast to “purchase essential supplies and begin the path to recovery and rebuilding.” Ta.
Atkins' neighbor, McCartt, a former Los Angeles fire chief and EMT, estimates that 12 homes along the winding stretch of Highway 64 were swept away.
Fifteen feet of the bridge that connects most of the town was washed away. Currently, metal plates have been placed over the gap to allow residents to cross on foot, but they cannot withstand the weight of cars.
McCartt hasn't met anyone from FEMA.
Mary Ann Tierney, the FEMA regional administrator assigned to Buncombe County, which includes Asheville, said the agency has received 27,000 applications for storm-related assistance, more than half from Buncombe County. . Approximately $27 million was allocated to the state and $12 million to Buncombe for needs and evacuation assistance.
“This is a long journey, but FEMA will be with you every step of the way,” Tierney added.
with post wire
