South Raleigh News

Today, Governor Roy Cooper visited Ashe, Watauga, and Avery counties to meet with community and business leaders regarding relief and recovery efforts. The Governor plans to visit Jackson and Haywood counties tomorrow to meet those affected by the storm and express gratitude to emergency personnel and volunteers for their hard work. Relief operations continue as coordinated efforts bring supplies into Western North Carolina.

"Today, I met with hundreds of people in Ashe, Avery and Watauga counties and heard about the help they are getting and still need," said Governor Roy Cooper. "The resilience, compassion and determination of the people of Western North Carolina is inspiring and we will continue working around the clock to get them the help they need."

President Biden approved 100% FEMA reimbursement for six months yesterday. Individuals can apply for assistance at disasterassistance.gov. President Biden also approved active-duty military support for ongoing operations in Western North Carolina. Military helicopters, personnel, and equipment have been deployed. Over 1,000 North Carolina National Guard members are conducting search-and-rescue missions while distributing food, water, and supplies.

Efforts are underway to provide necessities using ground resources and air drops from the NC National Guard. FEMA has delivered over 5.4 million meals and 6.3 million liters of water; more than 36,000 individuals have registered for assistance through FEMA.

Approximately 259,000 customers remain without power across the region from a peak of over one million outages; power has been restored to over 700,000 customers.

To report missing persons or request non-emergency support, call NC 211 or 1-888-892-1162 if out-of-state.

Twenty-three shelters are open in Western North Carolina housing 1,244 people; additional shelters may open as needed.

Search-and-rescue operations involve 55 teams with over 1,600 personnel from North Carolina and beyond interacting with more than 5,400 people during assists, evacuations, or rescues.

Travel remains dangerous with about 500 roads closed as of Wednesday afternoon. NCDOT urges against unnecessary travel in Western North Carolina while crews restore critical routes; access is limited to local traffic or hurricane response efforts only.

Cellphone providers work on restoring communications affected by storm damage through temporary towers; rapid progress is reported. Restoring communications aids in locating people needing supplies or assistance.

Sixty storm-related deaths have been confirmed in North Carolina by the Office of Chief Medical Examiner; numbers may rise in coming days. For emergencies or if someone is believed endangered call 911; for unreachable contacts call NC 211.

Governor Cooper activated over 1,100 National Guard soldiers/airmen for search/rescue operations delivering critical supplies using specialized vehicles/aircrafts deployed within Western North Carolina. President Biden approved up to 1,000 active-duty military deployments from Fort Liberty aviation assets/equipment currently supporting operations there.

Dangerous road conditions necessitate avoiding travel into impacted areas—donate via nc.gov/donate or seek volunteer opportunities at nc.gov/working/volunteer-opportunities/volunteernc instead due ongoing emergency operations needs maintaining open routes essential responding efficiently amid challenges presented post-storm cleanup process affecting many residents adversely throughout regions directly hit hardest overall impact felt statewide indirectly too since declared major disaster federally enabling expedited federal aid rollout among other measures taken address crisis situations rapidly evolving dynamically confronting communities everywhere involved deeply touched personally somehow tangentially connected otherwise perhaps directly experiencing losses firsthand level practically speaking realistically assessed generally considered manageable context relative scope perspective observed generally accepted norms applicable governing protocols usually encountered similar instances 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