With the loss of the bridges, more than 20 residents will be out of reach of first responders, county officials said. Because the bridges that once carried vehicles over the rivers were washed away by hurricanes and have not been rebuilt.
“There are a lot of people we can’t get emergency access to,” Barriere said.
The rainstorm is the latest blow to mountainous Avery County, which has a population of 18,000.
County officials estimate more than 400 residents were displaced by Hurricane Helene and about 120 homes were destroyed or severely damaged.
Construction of temporary housing, large-scale debris removal and restoration of riverbanks are slow, Barrière said, adding that many displaced residents are either staying in hotels, with family or on their own properties. But they are living in camps.
“It’s been extremely slow,” Barriere said of recovery efforts. “In areas it’s normal, but in other places it’s far from normal.”
Robin Ollis, founder of Bridges for Everyone, an organization that built the washed-out structures, said she feared families with children and the elderly would be stranded.
Since the violent hurricane came through the hills and hollers of Avery County, residents have been struggling to cope with what happened to their hometowns, he said.
Ollis said there is gloom and confusion about recovery efforts.
Helen was killed. At least 223 people In the Southeast, about half of those are in North Carolina, officials said.
It displaced tens of thousands of people across western North Carolina, where the federal government has already spent $500 million on cleanup efforts.
In some places, entire blocks where houses once stood are washed away and waterlogged cars rot in the weak winter sun.
Buncombe County is expected to lose about $600 million in revenue this winter on travel, lodging and related expenses.
More than 100 small businesses in Asheville, North Carolina, have already closed due to infrastructure damage or loss of income, or both.