Recovery efforts continue in Asheville after Helene flooding
Jeremy Knighton, assistant chief of the Asheville Fire Department in North Carolina, gives the latest updates on the recovery efforts in the city after being devastated by Helene's deadly flooding.
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00:00Jeremy Knight in assistant chief of the Asheville Fire Department. We do appreciate you being here
00:05with us this morning and all of us saw the devastation and the images across Asheville
00:10and now about two and a half weeks after Helene we want to get a current update on the current
00:15situation. Yeah thanks for having me. So today's day 19 for us in this response and we're we're
00:23focused on making that transition into recovery. We have we're starting to get services restored,
00:30we're starting to reconnect some of our the technology pieces and the infrastructure that we
00:37so desperately count on during sunny day times. So we were we're starting to have some winds
00:45as far as those reconnections with our water system and the the multitude of services and
00:51partners that are on the ground and that coordination is is really happening at a fast
00:56pace. You see the damage there it's it's it's I can't fathom I'm I'm a native I've lived here
01:03all my life and just to see the resiliency of our communities neighbors helping neighbors
01:08it's it's unbelievable and I expect nothing less from from the folks here. You kind of hit on it
01:15but obviously Asheville a bit of a hub so many mountain communities were left without power and
01:19water. How are people at the returning stage to that especially in the surrounding areas? I imagine
01:25you still have a lot of people in the hospital in your town or in the hotels in your town because
01:30they can't get back to their home. Yes we have several that are obviously displaced. We also have
01:38many responders that have been brought from around the nation. Last I checked yesterday I was in a
01:45meeting and it said 38 states were here helping us in western North Carolina with this response
01:51and recovery effort as well as our federal and state partners. But the hotels again are you know
01:57normally this time of year we would be preparing for the the fall foliage season and leaf season
02:03and however this year definitely has a a different look. Yeah and we can hear it in your voice again
02:10being an Asheville native this is especially hitting hard for you as well. So what are your
02:14biggest challenges now as the emergency manager and with the needs of the Asheville Fire Department?
02:20Yeah obviously just returning those critical services right. We obviously have a you know the
02:26health and safety of welfare of the folks that are residents here and the visitors in our community
02:31but also those basic health and human service needs as well. Shelter, food, the you know long-term
02:38housing. All those things we're starting to deal with now and and that we've we've we've been
02:43thinking about but it's really as we're getting in there we've we've got access to the majority
02:48or all of our city now. We do have lots of folks still in shelters but again just those basic needs
02:56and recovery that that we're after mainly around those human health and human service needs.
03:03And what do you want people to know about Asheville obviously as a community? What is also
03:07still needed for your area? Yeah I think that what I want folks to know is this is a we you know we
03:13are a resilient group here. We've we've been we've been knocked down a couple times and
03:21however we're continuing to stand back up. We we are we're seeing the little wins every day
03:28and we're starting to reconnect those services but also now we have to start thinking about
03:33what new normal looks like. We're still dealing with our day-to-day stuff you know the and the
03:39weather is a big one right. The the cooler temperatures but also we're in the middle
03:44we're beginning entering fire season. We're seeing some of these low humidities and so just you know
03:50preparedness messages still even though we're in such a recovery there's still preparedness to
03:55think about and all the different you know safety measures and and things like that. We want folks
04:00to be as safe as they can but also you know reach out for help and and connect themselves to those
04:06services and use the services and the people and donations and things that are available to them.
04:11Jeremy Knighton, Assistant Chief of the Asheville Fire Department. Thank you so much for joining us
04:16here at AccuWeather Early and everyone here at AccuWeather just wrapping our arms around
04:19Asheville and your community and we're thinking about you all. Thank you.