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Macon Co. interim manager: County saw 2 fatalities, less damage than much of WNC

Macon County Emergency Management Director Warren Cabe was named interim County Manager
Lilly Knoepp
Macon County Emergency Management Director Warren Cabe was named interim County Manager

Macon County fared better than many Western North Carolina communities in Hurricane Helene. Emergency Management Director and interim County Manager Warren Cabe shared a final assessment of the damage at the end of last week.

The main area of widespread damage was the Cullasaja community, close to Highlands. Overall, 59 structures were damaged in the storm, Cabe said, and four are almost uninhabitable. He says there could be more damage in isolated communities.

Cabe – Macon’s Emergency Management Director since 1996, with the exception of three years – compares Helene to Hurricane Ivan, which killed five people in the Peeks Creek disaster in the county.

“That particular incident was extremely more severe than this event: more loss of life, more injuries and the property damage was greater,” Cabe said.

“I think some of the counties to the east are seeing Peeks Creek-type damage in significant areas of their counties. So Macon County, even though we took some damage and we took some hits and we had some issues, we still fared very well compared to our neighbors.”

Two fatalities have been confirmed in the county. Macon County Sheriff’s Office court officer Jim Lau has been confirmed as one of the people killed. The other has not yet been identified by state officials.

Macon County terminated its State of Emergency declaration on Oct. 18.

N.C. 911 system concerns 

Cabe says he has concerns about the state’s 911 communication backup system in light of Helene. The system did not fail in the county, he said, but consumer phone and internet outages slowed the county’s ability to confirm the status of people who were reported missing after the storm.

“The communication failures that affected individuals and businesses, and the ability to use electronic payments was something that we've never really dealt with before. We've had fuel shortages. We've had other things happen. But to have all those come on the tail end of a serious weather event, it’s something that we just never have seen,” Cabe said.

The lack of internet created a cash-only society for a few days after the storm which was a problem for business owners and community members.

The lack of communication also contributed to the high number of missing people early on.

“Typically, in these events, you always have a significant number of missing individuals at the start of the event. And that list gets lowered very quickly. Because most of the time, it's just a lack of communication and this happened to us in Ivan. It's happening across Western North Carolina this time, and it's basically folks who are okay, they just don't have a way to communicate,” Cabe said.

Cabe says 911 worked in Macon County throughout the storm but communication issues have lingered as internet and phone lines have been cut during the repair process on multiple occasions.

“I think some questions need to be asked of what redundancy exists at the state level, because that system is a statewide 911 system,” Cabe said. He explains that the internet comes into Macon County’s EMS services from both Georgia and South Carolina so that the service has a backup. He says that isn’t the case at the state level.

Macon County moves forward

There is a disaster recovery center in the county at 183 Holly Springs Plaza. Community members can apply for the Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (D-SNAP) and FEMA assistance. The deadline to apply for expanded D-SNAP is October 24.

Just as the damage was being accessed in the county, Cabe was unanimously named as interim county manager following Derek Roland’s resignation. Cabe was sworn in on Oct. 8 and spoke with BPR on Oct. 17.

“Certainly it will be challenging but it's an honor to be offered that position and I appreciate the support of the board to put that trust in me to see if we can work some things out there and keep the county pointed in the right direction,” Cabe said.

“It's actually exciting. I'm a person that needs challenges,” Cabe said. “I like new things and I think that will be a challenge.”

The interim role runs through June 2025.

He says that his priorities will be employee retention, as well as keeping the new Franklin High School and Highlands School projects on track.

The new Franklin High School broke ground on Oct. 18. The project, which is estimated to cost about $100 million dollars, received $62 million earlier this year.

The current Franklin High School has seven separate buildings, with some construction dating back to the 1950s.

There is a ballot referendum on the November General Election ballot to raise the local sales and use tax by one-quarter percent (0.25%), in part to help fund the school project.

Lilly Knoepp is Senior Regional Reporter for Blue Ridge Public Radio. She has served as BPR’s first fulltime reporter covering Western North Carolina since 2018. She is from Franklin, NC. She returns to WNC after serving as the assistant editor of Women@Forbes and digital producer of the Forbes podcast network. She holds a master’s degree in international journalism from the City University of New York and earned a double major from UNC-Chapel Hill in religious studies and political science.