Last Monday I drove around roads I'd covered a few weeks earlier. There is less debris. There are less damaged-beyond-repair cars. But the place is still muddy/dusty. I noticed that also when I drove in Asheville though the flooded area.
Major intersection and damaged bridge between Old 70 and US 70. Sometimes this signal light is working, sometimes it's not, since some traffic is coming from the far right leaving the downtown area (if you could call it that) of Swannanoa.
"Local homeowners who lost their homes or sustained serious damage in Helene’s floodwaters can begin applying next week to a federal program that may buy the home outright, or pay to have it elevated or rebuilt at a higher level..."
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The bridge over the Swannanoa River for Blue Ridge Rd is now open again! My apartment is on the other side of US 70, and Old US 70 (the 2 signal lights in the distance. Some of the reddish roofs that you see to the left of center are lower apartment buildings...I'm up the hill even further behind the woods, most of which survived.
I went across this one lane bridge on Thursday...it's needing a sign saying it's one lane!
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Photo courtesy of FEMA
BUNCOMBE COUNTY, N.C. (WLOS) — The keys have been handed over to the first Buncombe County family receiving a manufactured home from FEMA.
The home was placed on their property on Thursday, Nov. 7, helping that family regain a small sense of normalcy.
About 142 Buncombe County families have qualified for homes like these, which are being staged by FEMA in Hickory, N.C.
The manufactured homes can be lived in until families have a new home to transition to, but the sites must have power and water access and not have the potential to flood again.
