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.