Pools, bottles, creeks: How one Western NC community is finding water after Helene damage
It’s a welcome sight for a weary community: signs offering free water that dot the roads in Black Mountain.
Resources from around the state and nation are pouring into Western North Carolina — a region devastated by flooding from Tropical Storm Helene. And while the town’s water system, like so many others across the region, still isn’t fully operational, bottled water is plentiful. Pop-up stands in parking lots offered the much-needed commodity along with food.
Black Mountain Presbyterian Church offered lunches, and restaurants from around the area offered hot meals.
At the Black Mountain Parks and Recreation pool, volunteers directed people to the pool, where residents siphoned non-potable water. Around a corner, people used hoses to pump potable water. Across the street, residents used containers to gather creek water.
Water is a resource they took for granted before, residents say. It’s more valuable now than ever.
“You don’t really, really recognize how lucky we were before,” said Lashonda Lytle at the parks and recreation center. “You’re not able to live your normal life.”
Lytle said her employer expects her to return to work Monday But Lytle’s unable to shower or wash clothes and she’s her 83-year-old mother’s caregiver.
“And that’s a huge obstacle for me,” Lytle said about leaving her mother to go to work in a Helene-devastated community.
Laura Weaver of Black Mountain said her husband has been trying to build a portable shower above their house. Weaver became emotional when talking about taking care of her large family.
“Emotionally, it’s been just getting all of our kids fed,” she said Friday at the Presbyterian church, where parishioners and volunteers were feeding members of the community.
There’s also the emotional trauma of the storm and remaining without much information about the world outside of their community.
“We felt like we were on an island,” she added. “Just not what’s not going on, if my parents are ok or whether my sister was ok.”
Weaver on Friday afternoon ate macaroni and cheese at Black Mountain Presbyterian. Dozens of people milled around, shoving boxes with canned goods, water, hygiene products and baby formula, among others.
Organizers said donations were pouring in from “everywhere.”
Down the street from the church, another pop-up food bank offered meals, canned goods and supplies. Residents walked from their homes carrying large sacks of goods.
Anthony Lee, of Graybeard Realty, handed out donations out of a trailer in a parking lot.
“There’s still families in need,” he said while toting a large case of water to a table.
This story was originally published October 4, 2024 at 4:29 PM.
