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Transylvania County reviews Hurricane Helene response, warns housing needs will outlast initial recovery
Summary
County Manager Jamie reported on rescues, communications blackouts, water and shelter operations and damage assessment after Hurricane Helene, saying housing is the top recovery priority and urging residents to register needs with the Housing Assistance Corporation.
Transylvania County Manager Jamie gave commissioners a detailed account of the county’s emergency response to Hurricane Helene and said the most urgent recovery need is housing.
Jamie said the county moved from preplanning into immediate rescue and recovery operations in late September after National Weather Service modeling prompted mandatory evacuation orders for mapped areas. Door‑to‑door evacuation notices were delivered in English and Spanish, and the county deployed high‑clearance vehicles and swift‑water rescue teams. At least 66 people were rescued in multiple locations, and teams conducted about 15 water rescues, the manager said.
Communications infrastructure suffered major failures when both primary fiber lines were cut, producing near‑total outages of VoIP and cell service. County staff…
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