Transylvania County reviews Hurricane Helene response, warns housing needs will outlast initial recovery

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 installed a STARLINK link at the emergency operations center to restore some critical communications, and first‑responder radio channels and mutual‑aid strike teams filled information gaps while the county relied on written briefings and physical distribution of information to fire departments and community centers.

Jamie said Rosman and Brevard water treatment plants lost power and required generator repairs; county electricians and a private vendor, Carolina Energy Systems, helped restore service. The county ran a public feeding plan with Anchor Baptist Church, Transylvania County Schools and jail staff; nonprofits and faith groups provided thousands of free meals. Fuel shortages and crowding at pumps prompted traffic‑control plans so emergency vehicles and utility crews could move safely.

Damage assessment began quickly because damage documentation is necessary for FEMA assistance to counties, municipalities and individuals. Jamie said FEMA has paused door‑to‑door application work in parts of western North Carolina because of safety concerns and the county is working to establish a fixed Disaster Recovery Center (DRC) to provide application assistance and additional services.

Housing needs, Jamie said, exceed FEMA’s limits for many households. He noted FEMA assistance caps at about $42,000 per case and that FEMA hotel vouchers are not accepted locally; as a result, the county is coordinating with the Housing Assistance Corporation, El Centro, local builders and architects to match temporary housing and repair resources and to develop case‑by‑case solutions.

Operational data Jamie provided included a spike to roughly 600 calls for service on Sept. 27, thousands of radio dispatch contacts, three confirmed dam failures in the county, and river gauges that reached levels not seen since the 1916 storm in parts of the watershed. He also said more detailed strike‑team reports and damage‑assessment maps will follow.

Jamie thanked county staff, volunteers, nonprofits and partner agencies including the sheriff’s office, fire and rescue departments, Duke Energy and out‑of‑county strike teams. He urged residents who need temporary housing, repair help or to offer RV/mobile hookups to register with the Housing Assistance Corporation so case managers can match needs and offers of assistance. The manager closed by warning commissioners the recovery will take months to years and will require sustained community coordination.