124 deaths in North Carolina; Federal funding for disaster cleanup efforts

Asheville leaders say they have completed a key step in repairing the water system. The city burned oil at midnight to repair its broken water system.

The majority of Asheville residents have been without water for two weeks after Hurricane Helene caused catastrophic damage to the region.

At 1:30 a.m. Thursday, work crews reconnected a 36-inch bypass pipe at North Fork Reservoir, a crucial step in the repair process. This bypass connects the container to the distribution system. The North Fork Reservoir is responsible for providing more than 70% of the city’s water.

Restoring water service may still be weeks away, but repairing the central distribution mechanism is a major milestone, Assistant City Manager Ben Woody said Thursday.

In a normal construction cycle, installing the bypass would take about two years, Woody said at a briefing earlier this week.

“We move at the speed of light,” he said. “But that too will surely happen.”

To complete this phase of the project, T&K Utilities, the project’s contractor, had to dam sections of a newly created stream in 20-foot lots to reach portions of the distribution system.

The next hurdle to water restoration is twofold: The water in the North Fork Reservoir needs to be treated and other breaks in the water main need to be repaired.

The Helene flood turned the water in the reservoir from one of the cleanest in the country to a sediment-soaked mess. Woody said the city is working to create a treatment system that will help settle the millions of suspended clay particles.

Once the water is treated and the breaks are repaired, it will take additional time to refill thousands of miles of water pipes in the city’s system.

EPA talks climate change and local collaboration

Also Thursday, local leaders explained how they are working with state and federal officials on the restoration process, including water restoration.

Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer, Gov. Roy Cooper, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials and others gathered for a news conference in Black Mountain.

They gathered at the North Fork Reservoir Dam to highlight the city’s collaborative efforts to restore water service. The dam won national recognition in 2021 for its recently upgraded spillway, a $37 million project that hardened it against major storm events and, officials at the conference said, may have mitigated even worse impacts from Hurricane Helene’s flooding.

EPA officials said they are working with the city to bring high-quality, safe and clean drinking water to Asheville, but have not yet provided an exact timeline for water cleanup.

“Many water systems across the country are over 100 years old, so not only are they weathered, but some of them are in disrepair,” Regan said.

The EPA has received $50 billion from the Biden administration to invest in water infrastructure across the country. Regan said the agency plans to use them to harden water pipes against climate change, which could continue to bring severe storms and high rainfall to western North Carolina.

“It is important that there is a thoughtful group of leaders, like in Asheville, who understand that climate change is real,” Regan said. “We will see stronger storms. That’s why they made early investments that paid off.”