By ANA RISANO
Staff Writer
Moore County has turned out to support its neighbors in the North Carolina mountains, assisting in relief and recovery efforts amid devastation left by Hurricane Helene.
As new details have emerged of the devastation, the needs and rescue and recovery efforts are shifting with most of western North Carolina closed off except for emergency personnel.
Locally, police and fire staff have been called to provide assistance and relieve exhausted crews in the mountains. Firefighters from Southern Pines, Aberdeen, Pinehurst and West End headed to the mountains on Sunday morning, following an emergency deployment order issued by the state. That order is in effect until Oct. 4 but could change.
Southern Pines Fire Chief Mike Cameron said fire departments across the state participate in a “rostering program,” where if an area isn’t impacted, the local crews provide support to areas in need.
The firefighters headed to McDowell County, where they were assigned to the Marion Fire Department to relieve the local firefighters. West End Fire & Rescue also posted on Facebook that more staff made it to Banner Elk.
Following a check-in on Monday morning, Cameron said the firefighters from Moore County have been clearing roads and responded to a handful of calls. He said a lot of roads in the Marion area have at least one lane open for travel, but there are still a lot of downed trees and power lines.
“Our folks seem to be doing well,” Cameron said. “They are just clearing roads and filling the gap.”
On Monday afternoon, the Southern Pines Police Department was also called to send five officers into Buncombe County.
“(The) officers will be asked to provide security with food and water distribution sites, assist with crowd control, provide fuel escorts and general patrolling of the business district to prevent looting,” Chief Nick Polidori said in an email.
The officers are expected to be in Asheville for about four days. Depending on needs by western law enforcement agencies, he said they may deploy a second team.
Amanda Delgado has brought two 36-foot horse trailers full of donated supplies from Red’s Corner to a main drop spot at the Statesville Regional Airport as of Monday. She said she has heard from pilots and paramedics that there are security and safety issues as a result of Helene’s devastation.
Moore County residents have been collecting donations since the weekend, with groups organizing bulk deliveries by road and pilots coordinating deliveries by air — the only way some communities can be accessed.
Delgado, a horse trainer, equestrian coach and retired Army medic, had gone to another drop spot set-up at the Concord-Padgett Regional on Sunday but was rerouted to Statesville because of security issues.
By Sunday night, she heard that mostly helicopters are going in because of safety and accessibility. She said it was safe traveling to Concord and Statesville but was instructed to not go past Statesville.
“Pilots, EMS, all the leadership personnel are directing people to go to Statesville as a drop-off point for supplies,” Delgado said. “They are urging people not to drive into Asheville and Boone. It is not safe there.”
As major roads begin reopening in the mountains, the state Department of Transportation continues to tell people to not travel in western North Carolina.
“There are many closed roads that are not listed on this site as many areas are not able to report at this time,” according to a warning on driveNC.gov. “All roads in Western North Carolina should be considered closed and non-emergency travel is prohibited.”
Cameron and Delgado said they’ve heard that people are being stopped at barricades and told to turn around if not emergency responders.
The closer Delgado drove to Statesville, her phone would alarm roughly every 10 minutes, saying “Travel prohibited. Do not enter.” She said there were also signs up saying western North Carolina travel is prohibited.
“We need to tell people how bad it is. We need to tell people that it is dangerous to drive into Asheville and Boone. Civilians do not need to be going.”
Because of her background, Delgado asked to help provide medical aid but was told a big focus currently is recovery. She said the reported death toll is not reflective of the “catastrophic devastation” some pilots have reported.
On Monday, Gov. Roy Cooper’s office confirmed 11 North Carolinians have died due to impacts from Helene. Buncombe County, which includes Asheville, later stated there have been 30 confirmed deaths in its county. Emergency scanner traffic on Sunday indicated authorities had recovered several bodies from landslides in Buncombe County, with helicopters taking them to an undisclosed site. More accurate casualty counts are being hampered by poor communication and difficulty in rescuers getting around.
“The destruction is truly beyond comprehension. Pilots who have done 25 years in the military have said this is worse than (Hurricane) Katrina,” Delgado said. “They said they have been in war zones and have never seen anything like they’ve seen over the last few days.”
According to a Moore County Airport representative, a helicopter and several aircrafts have delivered items west over the weekend. Around 2 p.m. on Sunday, Slim Thompson, Rob Hedge and Noah White with Sovereign Aerospace were at the Moore County Airport, packing food, water filters, toiletries and tools for getting communications up.
White, 15, is a pilot in training. He said he’s helping because “it’s for a great cause.”
Thompson, who also flew supplies on Saturday, said they plan to make two drops, one at the emergency communications center and another at Mission Hospital in Asheville.
He said there is a need to get communications up to aid with search and rescue efforts. He said the last few days have been focused on organizing, especially for people like him running supplies.
As communications come up and airport runways become operable, Thompson said more relief supplies will be able to get to the people in the mountains, pointing to the full lobby at the front of the airport.
But when talking about the local efforts to support people in the west, he emphasized that donations are good, but now is not the time for untrained individuals.
“There will be a need for a civilian Dunkirk,” Thompson said, referencing the boats that helped evacuate soldiers from Dunkirk, France during World War II. “But not right now.”
A collection site set up at Cox’s Double Eagle Harley Davidson over the weekend sent four trailers full of supplies west as of Sunday around 3 p.m., with a few trailers scheduled to go out by Monday morning. That site closed on Sunday.
Traci Cortes, a volunteer with the Eagle Springs Fire Department, said all of the goods are going to a coordination site in McDowell County to then be dispersed to specific areas. A local group, Just Moore Jeeps, has been helping with transport.
Cortes and other volunteers emphasized the need for tarps, adult diapers and water filters. Around 3 p.m., they received a pallet of water bottles and about a dozen gas cans.
A West End Fire Department pick-up truck and trailer was preparing to head west at that time, loaded with supplies. Firefighter Erick Duplessis said the department plans to go to Banner Elk — or as close as they can get.
“We plan to take it to harder hit areas,” Duplessis said. “We will go as far as we can go.”
Red’s Corner’s donation boxes will be in place for the next few weeks, along with other drop-off locations across the county, including West End Fire & Rescue. The Moore County Airport in Carthage will continue to collect goods in its front office.
Moore Equine Feed and Supply, on May Street in Southern Pines, has opened an account for monetary donations, which will be used to send pet and livestock supplies west.
“People are going to be impacted for weeks and months, and if we as a community can keep pushing to keep it going, we can keep helping,” said Delgado. “The rural communities are going to need it most.”
More information:
* Kalawi Farm plans to hold a fundraiser on Oct. 3 from 6-8 p.m., selling hot dog plates. All of the funds will go to Baptists on Mission, which is helping with relief efforts.
* Aberdeen Coca Cola Bottling Plant has set up a fund for purchasing drinks. To donate, call the main office at (910) 944-2305.
* For updates on drop-off sites, visit the Major Events and Hazards Group on Facebook, which has also served as a spot for crowdsourced updates on status and relief efforts.
* Monetary donations can also be made through the American Red Cross, which has disaster relief teams on the ground. With money, organizations can purchase exactly what is needed.
Updates are also available on:
* NC Weather Authority on Facebook
* Official updates on evacuations, water levels and shelters: https://www.readync.gov/
* The United Way: https://nc211.org/
Managing Editor Abbi Overfelt contributed to this article.
