By Clayton Henkel

NC Newsline

Governor Roy Cooper and top members of his administration got a firsthand look Monday at the devastation Hurricane Helene brought to North Carolina’s mountains. Thirty-four storm-related deaths have been confirmed in the state with 600 more reported as missing in Buncombe County.

Major General Todd Hunt, Adjutant General of the North Carolina National Guard, said the National Guard has almost 800 people on duty with a primary focus still of search and rescue or recovery, followed by the distribution of much-needed supplies.

“This morning, we brought in 100,000 gallons of water and commodities on a C-17. We’ve also done 100,000 pounds through our helicopter lifts that we have,” said Hunt.

N.C. Department of Transportation Secretary Joey Hopkins said over 300 roads remain closed due to damage, landslides, rockslides, fallen trees or mud on the road. Some roads are breached, some bridges are gone.

“Right now, I-40 in the western part of the state is probably the worst damage we have,” said Hopkins. “There’s about four-mile section where we lost eastbound 40. We are hopeful that we can open 40 on the east side of Asheville in the coming days. Right now, that is open but it’s only open to people responding to the storm.”

The NCDOT is continuing to tell motorists if you don’t have a reason to be in western North Carolina, do not travel on the roads.

Hopkins said more than 1,600 employees in his department are working around the clock to repair the damage. Over 73 contract crews are also helping speed up progress.

On Tuesday, Florida is sending crews who will bring assets including temporary bridges to help the state make temporary repairs.

“Many of our crews that are working have not been home. They do not know what their own damage is and due to the communication issues, they have not been able to find out from their own families how they’re doing,” said Hopkins in praising their dedication.

The state has secured housing for 250 people on the recovery team, another sign of how protracted the clean-up from Helene is expected to be.

Secretary of NC’s Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) Kody Kinsley said one bit of good news was that all 22 acute care hospitals in western North Carolina had their power restored and were back on the grid.

“Today, we went to Mission Hospital to see firsthand the heroic efforts of the individuals of that hospital over a thousand staff that have been sleeping there every day to ensure they could continue operations in supporting their community,” Kinsley said.

NCDHHS is also working with insurers to identify North Carolinians who are at home on oxygen and other medical supplies, proactively reaching out to have emergency management bring resources to them.

“We’ve activated our patient transfer system, so that hospitals all across the state are stepping up to bring individuals in need of critical care out of hospitals in western North Carolina if they can’t get the care immediately,” Kinsley said.

N.C. Emergency Management Director Will Ray said the state is coordinating with FEMA to increase the amounts of commodities arriving in the storm-ravaged counties.

“Currently we’re on a cycle now of 40 trailers a day of food and water in addition to what we’re procuring on the open market or have in our warehouses that we are working to distribute into the entire impacted area across North Carolina,” Ray said.

Another challenge facing the US Army Corps of Engineers and FEMA will be determining what is the long-range solution to get the region’s water systems back online.

Mission Hospital is bringing in upwards of 20 trucks a day of water to support the hospital’s operations in addition to package sterile water so they can continue operations.

“We know it’s a huge challenge for the hospital and we’re working actively with them to determine other potential strategies, (what) mid-term solutions that will get running, pressurized water into the facility as soon as possible. It’s the top priority for us,” Kinsley said.

Deputy Editor Clayton Henkel manages the N.C. Newsline website and daily newsletter, while also producing daily audio commentaries and the weekly News and Views radio program/podcast.