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Water situation in Asheville dire

An overhead shot of the line at Harris Teeter at 12:45 on Sept. 29, 2024.
Fletching Drone Photography
An overhead shot of the line at Harris Teeter at 12:45 on Sept. 29, 2024.

Nearly 100,000 Asheville residents may not have access to water for weeks, according to a press release shared by the city on Sunday afternoon.

“Extensive repairs are required to treatment facilities, underground and aboveground water pipes, and to roads that have washed away which are preventing water personnel from accessing parts of the system,” the city’s press release said.

“Although providing a precise timeline is impossible, it is important to note that restoring service to the full system could potentially take weeks.”

This news comes as Asheville residents are already facing severe water shortages. On Sunday morning, hundreds lined up at a Harris Teeter in North Asheville with hopes of purchasing water and other goods that are in short supply.

Mel Salla, left, stands with others in front of Harris Teeter in North Asheville before its 8 a.m opening.
Laura Hackett
Mel Salla, left, stands with others in front of Harris Teeter in North Asheville before its 8 a.m opening.

Mel Salla, a resident of the River Arts District neighborhood, said she arrived at 6 a.m. to make sure she could purchase water from the grocery store, which opened around 8 a.m. on Sunday morning.

Before the grocery store even opened, the line was astoundingly long – with hundreds of people winding through the store’s parking lot and along Merrimon Avenue. The grocery store allowed 10 people in at a time.

Officials from the City of Asheville and Buncombe County have not released a plan for distributing food or water to its residents yet. At a press conference this morning, Buncombe County Manager Avril Pinder said that trucks of food and water are on their way, but have been stuck in transit.

At that conference, officials also shared that Weaverville is without power and water, but many roads in the town are now clear.

Residents with access to electricity are directed to vigorously boil water for at least one minute before any consumption.

Laura Hackett joined Blue Ridge Public Radio in June 2023. Originally from Florida, she moved to Asheville more than six years ago and in that time has worked as a writer, journalist, and content creator for organizations like AVLtoday, Mountain Xpress, and the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce. She has a degree in creative writing from Florida Southern College, and in 2023, she completed the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY's Product Immersion for Small Newsrooms program. In her free time, she loves exploring the city by bike, testing out new restaurants, and hanging out with her dog Iroh at French Broad River Park.